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This Swiss team game is played by 16 to 18 strikers and the same number of fielders. As in rounders, a projectile is hurled into the air in this case an oval ball of hard rubber weighing 78g and known as the Hornuss. The Hornuss, or hornet, is so called because of the buzzing sound it makes when it flies through the air at a speed of 300 kilometres per hour. The strikers stand at the home base and hit the Hornuss with a 2-metre-long, flexible pole sending it as far as they can, which can be up to 300 metres. The fielders use the Schindel, a flat wooden shovel, to catch the Hornuss or simply stop it in its tracks.
The earliest reference to Hornuss is found in the records of 1625 of the consistory of Lauperswil, canton Berne, in a complaint about the breaking of the Sabbath. In the 19th century this amateur sport was very popular in the Emmental and in Entlebuch. Jeremias Gotthelf described Hornussen in his novel, «Uli der Knecht». Similar games exist in cantons Valais and Graubünden.
In 1902 the federal Hornussen association was founded, which organises a competition every three years. In 1988 there were 232 clubs in the association, with around 6,900 members. During the season inter-association and -cantonal events are held, as well as group and elite events. The so-called Ries, a dedicated sports ground, enables Hornussen groups to practise daily during the summer.
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