When people think of sports at Ames High, the first thought that comes to their heads is usually either football or basketball. While this is fair, considering the large crowds that both sports seem to stir up, there is another, less organized sport that also has gained much popularity. This sport is four-square. “It’s just one of those things that sort of happened, and then everybody started doing it,” senior Joe Lunaburg said. Four-square at Ames High is a fairly recent trend. Though people have been doing it for years, it seems that its popularity has reached its peak this year. Four-square is typically played during both lunches and even some other periods during the day. Sometimes during second lunch, lines can be up to thirty people long, thus requiring a second game to be started. The rules for this brand of four-square are very different from the rules that most of us grew up playing during recess. Your hands are not allowed to touch the ball during the game, and the game is played with a soccer ball. “The game starts with the ‘king’ in square 1 serving the ball, and then whoever he serves it to can hit it to any other square than their own with anything but their hands. It can’t hit your square twice before you hit it, otherwise you’re out,” junior Sam Roberts said. “What makes Ames High classy is that if the king’s serve is unruly or unfair, then somebody can call ‘gentleman’s serve’ and then the king has to re-serve. If the king gets called ‘gentleman’s serve’ twice in one reigning, then he is out.” Most sports seem to have a following of “die-hard” fanatics or fans, and four-square is no exception. Some even continue to play during the the coldest of winter days. “I four-square, therefore I am,” junior Bryan Emerson said. “Four-square is an expression of the inner-self,” junior Ian Hansen added. To many of its players and fans at Ames High, four-square is not just a game, but a way to make friends and take your mind off of the everyday stresses of being a high school student. “Honestly, playing four-square is sometimes the highlight of my day,” junior Daniel Parsons said. “It’s enlightenment through a soccer ball, and it’s a very friendly group.” “It kind of feels like sometimes people are on their own at Ames High, but it’s not like that in four-square. Four-square connects people and brings them together better than other fads at Ames High,” Roberts said. “In four-square, everybody knows what’s going on and everyone is friendly to one another. In four-square, everyone is on the same level.” Though most fads at Ames High seem to fall to irrelevance (ie planking, silly-bandz, and …), four-square seems to be one that is here to stay for a very long time.