The Ga-Ga Craze

Ga-ga has made it to . No relation to Lady Gaga, the game is thought to have originated in Israel and is a variation of dodge ball.

"You have to hit a ball and if it hits you under your knee then you're out" explains fourth-grader Avery Smith. The rules are that you can only use one hand and the ball must hit a person or the wall before you can touch it again. If the ball goes over the wall, you're out. It's played elimination style, but due to its popularity at Hope, Principal Richard Tubbs enacted a line rule: "You form a line and once someone gets out the person in the front of the line gets in."

Tubbs often joins the students in the ga-ga court to "speed up the game."

"I love playing ga-ga. It's a great workout. Any parents out there, if you want to come join at recess time, we'd love to have you"

Ga-ga is new to Hope Elementary. A parent told Tubbs that his son enjoyed playing it at a YMCA camp over the summer and asked if they could bring it to the school. "The parent donated $100, and we talked to our local Home Depot, who gave me a $50 store credit. Then with a little extra money from our school we were able to put the whole court in for less than $200," explains Tubbs, who build the court with his son Jax, a fourth-grader at Hope. "I didn't really like it at first; now I really love it" says Jax of ga-ga.

It remains the most popular game for students at Hope Elementary, and the school is the only one in Carlsbad to offer the sport to students.