THE WILDWOODS — Champion marble shooters from across the country will gather in the Wildwoods to compete in the 91st Annual National Marbles Tournament June 16 through June 19 – all vying for the title of “King” and “Queen” of Marbles.
Players selected from local tournaments held in cities throughout the United States will unite 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.
This year’s tournament will feature New Jersey’s only entrants, two students from the Wildwood Middle School, who began learning the basics of playing marbles in 2013 and advanced their way to the Nationals. The girls’ marble champion for the Wildwood school district is 6th grader Griselda Bautista; and the boys’ defending marble champion for the Wildwood school district is 6th grader William Portalatin. The marbles program for the middle school has now almost doubled the amount of participants since its inception.
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 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.-12 p.m. daily and is free for spectators.
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.
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