Xtreme Ball - A fictional sport on a world scale

[AndesMts27]

Xtreme Ball is a sport I invented when I was about 8 years old. The rules of the sport are not entirely concrete, although I am working on that (more to come when I have it ready), but the main purpose of the sport was to give me an excuse to design logos and uniforms and have fun creating a fictional universe. It’s essentially a mixture of soccer, hockey, and team handball. Most of the action is played like soccer, but players can catch the ball and play like team handball. If a player has the ball in their hands, they can be checked like in hockey, and a lot of the penalties are similar to hockey. Fighting is also allowed.

 

At this point, there are 16 major leagues around the world who compete yearly for the World Club Championship. I have created a history of world champions going back to 2004. There also is an International World Cup that happens once every 4 years. The last World Cup was held in 2021 and was the fifth one in history.

 

Similar to soccer, players primarily play for a club team (think Manchester United, Barcelona, etc.). During select windows throughout the year, however, they also can play at an international level. For example, for much of his career, Lionel Messi played for both FC Barcelona AND Argentina. The club season runs from about October to the beginning of May, with the international season playing games over the summer. International play rotates through a four-year schedule to determine which major tournament gets played each summer. I'll explain all of this more at a later time, but I wanted to start this thread to give me a place for all of this to live because it means a lot to me, but I don't feel like creating a whole website for it. Eventually, I'll get into all the international tournaments and extra stuff, but for now, I wanted to post an overview of the 2024 club season that I wrote up a little while ago. Hope people enjoy it!

 

I’m going over all 16 regions before we get to the World Championship, but I’ll keep them all very brief, I promise.

China

In the last year of the playoff system for the non-CANAM regions, it was the fourth seed that won China’s national title. Beijing, Langfang, Harbin, and Hong Kong took the top four spots in that order during the regular season, but after sweeping Beijing in the first round, Hong Kong took down Langfang in 5 games in the national finals. After dropping the first two games of the series, they managed to fight back to win three games in a row to earn their 4th national title.

 

 

Japan

In one of the stranger seasons in Japanese history, Tokyo took a long time to find their rhythm and barely managed to squeak into the playoffs with the 4th seed. They’d fall to the eventual national champions Osaka in the first round before Osaka fought past Kawasaki in a national finals series that played two overtime games including the clinching victory for Osaka.

 

 

CANAM (Canada + USA)

2022 World Champions Oklahoma dominated the regular season in the CANAM region, but after playing three game 7s in the playoffs, the Worcester Lightning were able to win their 4th regional title, adding to their 2008, 2010, and 2019 titles. They looked to pick up their 2nd world championship in Istanbul after winning the title in their first appearance in 2008. The runners up and Western Conference champion San Francisco finally made it to the regional finals after years of losing out to rivals San Diego and the powerhouse that has been Oklahoma over the past 5 years. Unfortunately, the experience of Worcester was just too much, resulting in a 9-1 thrashing in game 7 of the finals.

 

 

Northern Africa

The Northern Africa title race went right down to the wire, with 2022 regional champ Alexandria sitting on 62 points and Abidijan, who had never won a regional title, sitting just above with 63. Many thought Abidijan wouldn’t have the experience necessary to close out such a close race, but it was Alexandria who fell on the final day, while Abidijan won their last game to win the region with 66 points for the first time in club history.

Western Europe

It was a similar story in Western Europe. Rome, who have not been to the World Championships since 2012 when they lost in the world championship game, went into the final day needing a win to level themselves with Dortmund, who had never won the region. They were unable to get the job done, and Dortmund’s 6-0 victory over Paris was icing on the cake for an incredible season that saw them rise nearly 80 spots in the world rankings.

 

 

South America

Lima has become a presence in South America, and this year was their masterpiece. The club from the Peruvian capital dominated the rest of the region en route to their second consecutive title and their third in the last four years (2021, 2023). With their high-flying playstyle that steam rolled over most teams in South America, many experts were left wondering if this could be the year the region breaks through to win a world title.

 

 

Australia

In a season in which the top two teams in Australia traded blows all year, it was Perth who had the better regular season but Sydney who got the last laugh. The Spiders dropped game 1 of the finals, but took games 2, 3, and 4 to capture their third national title, tying them with Brisbane and Melbourne for the most all time.

 

 

Middle East

It was a classic battle of offense and defense in the Middle East this season. Jeddah let in a league-low 129 goals, but they were no match for Dubai’s 189 goals scored. Dubai captures their second regional title in the past three years (2022), but it didn’t seem likely the Middle East champs would make a splash at the World Championships.

 

 

Central America

The power in Central America has officially shifted. After winning 8 regional titles, Mexico City joined the CANAM region for one season in 2022 before coming back and winning the region last season. This season though, the historical kings of the region struggled, finishing 5th, their lowest finish ever in this region. Once again, the title came down to the last day in this region. After falling to Panama City in the penultimate game week, 2022 regional champ Havana knew their work would be cut out for them in the final week. They’d need a Panama City loss to pull even on points and a big swing of goal difference in order to claim the title. Panama City put any hopes to rest by taking the game into overtime, guaranteeing themselves a point and the regional title.

 

 

Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe produced one of the stories of the season. At the halfway mark, Krakow - the two-time defending regional champions - sat in 9th place, officially the bottom half of the table. Tallin, who finished 2023 128th in the world looked poised to shock the world and win their first regional title. In Krakow’s 18th game, their 19-year-old captain Kristoffer Magnussen returned from a knee injury he suffered in Denmark’s quarterfinal loss to England at the Euros. From there, Krakow won 10 of their final 12 games to make an unbelievable comeback and win their third-straight regional title.

 

 

Oceania

In one of the more dominant performances around the world, Suva won their region-best 6th title. The last time they won led to an impressive knockout-round appearance back in 2022, and after dominating the region this season, they looked to impress again.

 

 

Russia

Another region that will be doing away with playoffs next year, Russia didn’t even need them in 2024. It was the top-seeded St. Petersburg who captured their 7th title. Despite Lokomotiv being only 2 points behind in the regular season standings, many are saying this could be the best team to ever come out of Russia. Though they are one of the founding 8 regions of the WXBA, Russia has never had a world champion. The closest they’ve ever come was 2007 when Dynamo lost to Hong Kong in the world final. Will this year be the breakthrough?

 

 

Southeast Asia

Following one of the biggest cinderella runs in history last season, Taichung looked to go one step further by winning the world championship this season. However, going into the final day of the regional season, they dead even on points with Jakarta. While Jakarta led comfortably, Taichung was deadlocked with Hanoi. Despite going all out, Taichung couldn’t get the win in regulation, and to make matters worse, their OT win saw them finish just one point behind Jakarta, who had been chasing them all season.

Scandinavia

Death, taxes, and Malmo winning the Scandinavian region. The number one team in the world has now won six of the last eight regional titles. Despite their dominance of what is considered one of the top four regions in the world, Malmo still has only one world championship (2020). Their core players will be looking to break their bad luck streak this year to solidify their claim as one of the best teams ever.

 

Southern Africa

Another region that finished how everyone thought it would, Southern Africa saw Nairobi win their 11th regional title. No one else was even close, with Kinshasa and Johannesburg finishing joint second 15 points behind.

 

 

North Atlantic

Finally, the region of the defending world champions Nottingham. Unfortunately, the first ever North Atlantic team to defend a world championship fell short, finishing third in the region. The story of the region was Sunderland, who won the title in 2021, but soared higher than they had before and putting up an insane 97 points. Their formula for domination was simple, score the most goals and give up the fewest. They led the region in both categories.

 

 

World Championships

With the 16 representatives chosen, they were divided into four groups based on their world ranking heading into the tournament. The groups were as follows:

Group A: Malmo, Worcester, Suva, Abidijan

Group B: Krakow, St. Petersburg, Jakarta, Dubai

Group C: Hong Kong, Sunderland, Sydney, Panama City

Group D: Osaka, Dortmund, Lima, Nairobi

The favorites for this year’s tournament were Malmo, Worcester, Krakow, and Hong Kong. Three of those four were previous world champions, with Krakow being the lone team of the selected four that are still chasing their first title. Krakow though, was one of the hottest teams in the world heading into the tournament and looked poised to continue their streak.

Quarterfinals

Osaka def. Worcester 2-1

Sunderland def. St. Petersburg 3-2

Krakow def. Hong Kong 6-5

Malmo def. Lima 4-3

There weren’t many upsets in the group phase, but Group D proved the analysts focused on Lima as a potential dark horse were at least partially vindicated. The South American champions won all three of their group games to top Group D…which earned them a matchup with the number one team in the world who came in second in their group purely because of goal difference. It was an unlucky break for Lima, and they fell valiantly in a tough matchup. Interestingly, all four games were decided by one goal, with Osaka stifling Worcester, Sunderland outlasting St. Petersburg, and Krakow taking down Hong Kong in a barn burner.

Semifinals

Sunderland def. Osaka 4-2

Krakow def. Malmo 4-3 OT

For the third year in a row, a British team earned a berth in the world championship game. After two seasons of Nottingham playing for the ultimate victory, Sunderland kept the streak alive by defeating Osaka in the semifinal. Osaka managed to score a late goal to close the gap, but most of the game was controlled by the English side. In a true heavyweight battle on the other side of the bracket, two of the best teams in Europe went the distance and then some. Despite all their ambitions, Malmo once again came up just short of their final goal. With the victory, Krakow earned just their second opportunity to win their first world title.

World Championship Game

Sunderland def. Krakow 4-3

For the second year in a row, the North Atlantic wins the world championship! This time the Portsmen of Sunderland will take home Xtreme Balls greatest prize, defeating a talented team from Krakow. Kristoffer Magnussen will have to wait at least another year to get his hands on a first title, despite rallying his team back from the brink of despair when he returned from injury. After three title game appearances and two victories in the past 3 years, the North Atlantic region is quickly rising the ranks of international prestige. Sunderland was dominant in the group phase, and did what they needed to do in the knockout phase, never allowing more than three goals in any of their elimination games. It’s Sunderland’s first ever world championship, the fifth year in a row a first-time champion has been crowned.

 

[officeglenn]

@AndesMts27, first of all, thank you for fixing the broken image links.

 

But this is veering too far into sports fan fiction territory. Please refer to the Concepts Forum Guidelines, specifically the part that reads:

 

Quote

• This is a graphic design forum. All concept threads must be focused on graphic design.
  • Sports fan fiction, simulation league and other story-based concepts are not permitted. 
  • Only provide enough background information to make any artistic choices make sense.
  • Artwork must be the focus of both the post and any feedback.
  • If a thread is unbalanced toward stories or simulations, with little effort put into design, it will be locked. This determination will be made at the moderators’ discretion.

 

You're focusing too much on simulating results and not enough on the graphic design here. The results of matches don't have any bearing on artistic choices. Why does the team from China have a pirate on the front of their uniforms? That's more interesting and germane than who they beat to get to the playoffs.

 

I'm willing to leave this open to give you a chance to rectify things, but other mods may feel differently so it might get shut down. But if you're still more interested in the simulation side of things, then I would suggest taking this to a separate website or fictional sports forum. 

 

Edited June 21 by officeglenn

[AndesMts27]

@officeglenn apologies if this is too story driven. Future posts may be more design oriented, but I was hoping to share the storylines/simulation results a fair bit too. I thought this might be a good place to merge both. If that sounds like something that's unwelcome, feel free to shut it down. I understand. I used to follow other threads that were similar, but if that's not what this site is anymore, I'm okay with keeping this somewhere else.

[LMU]

We haven’t allowed story-driven concept threads for five years.

 

 

[Blindsay]

5 years already? Man. 
 

 

Do you think that there’s any chance of a comeback? Or would trying again doom those threads to a similar fate? 

23 minutes ago, LMU said:

We haven’t allowed story-driven concept threads for five years.

 

 

 

[AndesMts27]

@LMU Sorry friend. Like I said, it was a misunderstanding on my part. 

[officeglenn]

On 6/21/2024 at 4:00 PM, Blindsay said:

Do you think that there’s any chance of a comeback?

 

No. We axed them for reasons, and those reasons still stand. 

 

It looks like OP isn't going to add anything, so I'm going to lock this thread.