National Rolley Hole Marbles Championship

Grown men kneel in a dusty yard, knuckles in the dirt. They aim and snap a sharp flick of the finger. This is the National Rolley Hole Marbles Championship.

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On the border of Kentucky and Tennessee a particular type of marbles is played – Rolley Hole. The game has a complicated strategy and a devoted following. Think of a cross between golf, croquet and billiards and that’s the intense level of play here at the National Championship games.

For the last 42 years, Standing Stone State Park has hosted the Rolley Hole championship games. The park has dedicated marble yards, including the main event pavilion – a 40′ x 25′ clay dust court. Teams of two will play a twelve-round game, often lasting for hours. The play-offs are expected to run well into the night, with a champion crowned near midnight.

A Marble Festival has sprung up along with the championship games. It’s the signature event for Standing Stone State Park. Here you can buy, sell, or trade marbles.

And because it’s Kentucky/Tennessee, bluegrass music comes along for free.

There were games for the kids, local BBQ vendors, and an art glass marble demonstration. I bought a beauty from this craftsman.

The marbles used in competition aren’t so pretty, though. They are small marbles, locally made from hard flint that wont chip or crack. They are often passed down through generations.

Half a dozen marble courts were outside where other variations were played, like British, Ringer, and School Yard. Young folks were busy honing their skills.

Indoor carpeted courts hosted Tennessee Square competitions – another variation of marbles with large marker balls. The rules of this game were also too complicated to comprehend. At some point players got to claim the big marble stones.

Champion marbles seems to be a young man’s game. You’ve got to have good knees to squat and kneel. I saw only one young woman playing. It looked like she was learning from the older guys.

Back at the main yard, the Rolley Hole games were in full swing. The crowd watched intensely, dead quiet. No applause, no commentary from the sidelines was heard, just like a pro golf game. The players themselves were in deep focus, constantly moving around the court making invisible marks in the clay dust.

It was like watching a cricket match with its indecipherable rules and protocols. I had no hope of understanding Rolley Hole, and because the crowd was so quiet I didn’t feel it was proper to ask questions. So we just enjoyed the show for what it was – a peek into another world.

We left Tennessee late in the afternoon, well before the champions were crowned. Glad I finally got to see this event. It’s been on my radar for a long time.

The National Rolley Hole Marbles Championships