Tag, you're it!

I grew up playing a lot of games that required no formal organization and little or no equipment. Kids spent a lot of time out doors back then. In the winter, you were sledding, skating or building forts. For the rest of the year it was DONKEY, kickball, dodgeball, jumprope, circle games (like Old MacDonald and Lady in the Castle), Simon Says, statues, Red Light Man, Hide and Seek, and tag (and it's offshoots, frozen tag and stoop tag). 

As far as I know, although it looks like jump rope may be on its way, none of these games have gone pro. Other than tag.

Yes, there's now something called World Chase Tag, which has its tagline - hah! - Don't Get Caught, and which is "dedicated to the promotion and enjoyment of the most played and universal sport in history: Chase Tag™. (Personally, I've never heard tag called Chase Tag, but if you want to trademark something, you probably couldn't get away with just plain Tag.)

World Chase Tag is definitely not your someone's-backyard-on-a-summer-night game of tag.

World Chase Tag™ is the world’s leading Competitive Tag organisation. Over the past three years we’ve gone from casual Meetups in Hyde Park to international events which have received hundreds of millions of views. Our tournaments are contested by the best Parkour athletes and Ninja Warrior competitors from around the globe and our footage has featured on ESPN, Fox Sports, Channel 4, Fuji TV, CBS, BBC and many more.

"Parkour" and "Ninja Warrior" are pretty much all you need to know if you're wondering whether you can brush off your childhood skills and qualify. It gives me a headache just looking at them. 

How does it all work?

While the basics of tag remain the same -- one person chases an opponent in an attempt to touch them with their hand or "tag" them -- the league has introduced some rules to make it more exciting.

The "Chase Off" format -- the sports' most popular format -- is played by two teams with two teams consisting of a maximum of five athletes.

A match consists of a predetermined number of chases -- usually 10-16 -- which are 20 seconds in length. 

A Chaser and Evader -- one from either team -- compete, with the winning athletes staying on as the Evader. The loser is replaced by a teammate who becomes the Chaser.

A team is awarded one point when their athlete successfully evades their opponent for the entire duration of the chase and the team with the most points after the chases wins the match. (Source: CNN)

And the game doesn't just take place any old where. It happens on a 12M x 12M Quad that includes a bunch of interconnected platforms that the Chaser and the Evader scurry around at breakneck speeds. For me it would be more breakneck break neck, but that's why I'll never be a professional tag player.

Whenever I see something simple and just plain fun get codified and all ruled-up, I'm a bit torn. But if you're really good at jumping rope. If you're really good at Frisbee. If you're really good at tag. And you're competitive and want to make more than a game out of it, have at it.