WILDWOOD – Seeking a crown and a cherished title, champion marble shooters from across the nation will gather on the beach here to compete June 16-19 in the 91st Annual National Marbles Tournament. They will be shooting for the title of “King” and “Queen” of Marbles. Will the crown go to local city students?
Representing New Jersey will be Wildwood Middle School students Griselda Bautista and William Portalatin will be among the participants vying for the crowns that will be awarded on Wildwood Avenue beach near “ringer stadium” June 19.
Players selected from local tournaments held in cities throughout the nation will unite here for four days of serious marble competition and fun on the island’s beach and boardwalk. Their days will begin at 8 a.m. Monday through Wednesday with final competition June 19.
“Mibsters,” boy and girl marble players ages 8-14, compete for national honors, college scholarships and many other prizes and awards during the annual tournament.
Wildwood Middle School had nearly 50 pupils interested in shooting marbles after school, according to Betty Harshaw. The teacher and chaperone, along with volunteer retired teacher Jerry Sieber, helped pass on their knowledge of the ancient game.
Harshaw recalled coming to Wildwood at age 9 as a mibster from Pemberton Township. Although it is in New Jersey, her school was grouped with greater Philadelphia marbles players. Thus, in 1968 she got one of her first glimpses of Wildwood’s beach and ringer stadium.
Bautista and Portalatin, both sixth graders, began learning basics of playing marbles in 2013. Both advanced to the nationals.
The marbles program for the middle school has almost doubled the amount of participants since its inception, Harshaw said.
More than 1,200 games of marbles will be played throughout the tournament at Ringer Stadium on the beach, with the top eight shooters advancing to the semi-finals competition. Youngsters who will be shooting cat eyes and aggies will travel from across the nation. Last year saw 25 boys and as many girls from Colorado, Virginia, New York, Kentucky, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
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 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 91st Annual National Marbles Tournament will take place from 8 a.m. to noon daily and is free for spectators.
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