Romania – Oină

Equipment
1 ball (a spherical ball made of leather, filled with horse, pig, or bovine hair, 8 cm in diameter and 140 grams in senior games and around 7 cm in diameter and 100 grams in U-18 games),
1 bat (at least)
A pitch (a rectangle, 70m long by 32m wide divided into).

1. Size of teams
There are two teams of 11 players, one attacking side or “at bat” (“la bătaie“) and one defending side or “at catch” (“la prindere“). The roles switch at half time.

The defending players are placed in the following positions:

  • 3 midfielders (“mijlocaşi“)
  • 3 advance side players (“mărginaşi de ducere“)
  • 3 return side players (“mărginaşi de întoarcere“)
  • 1 back player (“fundaş“) that is free to move within the back zone
  • 1 forward player (“fruntaş“) that is free to move within the batting zone

The attacking players change roles as the game progresses. The roles are chronologically ordered this way:

  • waiting one’s turn
  • serving the ball
  • batting
  • waiting to enter the game (make a run)
  • running the advance corridor
  • staying in the back zone
  • running the return corridor

Each team has a captain (“căpitan” or “baci“”). The midfielder 2 is usually used as captain because he can throw the ball at an attacking player in any in game position. For this reason, the midfielder 2 is also known as a baci.

2. Rules
The team at bat is selected by a ritual where the players have to grab the bat, thrown by the referee, and the last one to be able to place at least 4 fingers on the bat wins. The game begins with the team at bat, with one of the players throwing the ball while another player of the same team has to hit it with a wooden bat (“bâtă“) and send it as far as he can towards the adversary field. After that, if the ball is caught by the adversaries, the player can run (if he wishes, or if he is forced to run by the referee) the advance and return corridors/lanes (“culoarele de ducere şi întoarcere“), without being hit by the defenders. If he stops the ball with his palm, it is not considered a hit. The player is not allowed to catch the ball, and he must release it immediately. If the player doing a run is hit he goes out of field and into the back zone, or he finishes his tasks, depending on which lane he is running.
 
3. Scoring
At catch players score 2 points for each player hit with a ball, unless the ball touches the palm or the back of the palm.

At bat players score by batting beyond certain lines, like so:

  • the ball crosses the 65m line in the air and doesn’t go out of bounds (doesn’t cross the lateral lines), whether or not the defense touches the ball in the air – 2 points
  • the ball falls in the back zone – 2 points
  • the ball is touched in the air by the defense, and goes out of bounds in the air from within the back zone – 2 points
  • the ball goes out of bounds in the air from within the back zone without being touched by the defense – 1 point
  • the ball crosses the 60m line (the back line) in the air and is caught by the defense – 1 point
  • the ball crosses the threequarters line in the air and falls in the threequarters area – 1 point
  • the ball goes out of bounds in the air from within the threequarters area – 1 point
  • the ball is diverted out of bounds in the air from within the threequartees area by the defense – 1 point
  • the ball falls on the threequarters area of the back line – 1 point
  • the ball is diverted from within the threequarters area in front of the threequarters line by the defense and is not subsequently caught in the air – 1 point

 

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