WILDWOOD – Champion marble shooters from across the country will gather in the Wildwoods to compete in the 92nd Annual National Marbles Tournament Monday, June 22 through Thursday, June 25 – all vying for the title of “King” and “Queen” of Marbles.
The Tournament will take place at Ringer Stadium on the Wildwood Beach from 8 a.m. to noon daily and is FREE for spectators.
Players selected from local tournaments held in cities throughout the United States will convene in the Wildwoods for four days of serious marble competition and fun on the island’s award-winning beach and nationally-recognized boardwalk. The “mibsters,” boy and girl marble players ages 8-14, will compete for national honors, college scholarships and many other prizes and awards during the annual tournament. More than 1,200 games of marbles will be played throughout the tournament at Ringer Stadium, located on the beach at Wildwood Avenue in the Wildwoods, with the top eight shooters advancing to the semi-finals competition.
The marbles game in which competitors will participate is called Ringer. It is played by placing 13 marbles in the form of an “X” in a 10-foot circle, with players then alternating shots to knock marbles out of the ring. The winner is the individual who is first to shoot seven marbles out of the ring.
The top two male and top two female players will compete in a ‘Best of 15’ series for the championship. The victorious male and female will literally be crowned King and Queen of Marbles as the victors of the tournament, and as part of the tradition, the male winner will give a congratulatory kiss to the cheek of the winning female. The crowning of the “King” and “Queen” will take place on Thursday, June 25 immediately following the championship game.
This year’s tournament will feature students from the Wildwood Middle School, some of whom began learning the basics of playing marbles in 2013 and advanced their way to the Nationals. The girls’ returning marbles champion for the Wildwood school district is 7th grader Griselda Bautista; 5th grader Lisbeth Garcia will also be competing; and the boys’ marbles champions for the Wildwood school district are 6th graders Jose Sanches Cruz and Oscar Sanches. The marbles program for the middle school has now almost doubled the amount of participants since its inception.
The National Marbles Tournament is a real slice of Americana that harkens back to a simpler time. The National Marbles Tournament was first held in 1922. The national committee operates the tournament which is composed of a group of volunteer men and women from various walks of life and from around the country who have a common interest in the game of marbles.
For additional information, visit www.NationalMarblesTournament.org or call 304-337-2764.
For additional information about the Wildwoods, visit www.WildwoodsNJ.com or call 800-992-9732.