- Registration is required for this event.
- Registration will open on January 22, 2026 @ 6:30pm.
- A library card is not required.
Program Description
Event Details
This talk looks at the myriad of amateur sports and organized games that St. Louisans play from mud pits to video screens. They play for trophies, championships, or the joy of winning.
St. Louisans play games on clay, on ice, on sand, on screen, on water, in water, on grass, on asphalt, in mud. They play games with stumps, ropes, poles, barrels, sticks, stones, pallinos, gaga balls, castles, tree trunks, mallets. And watch out for the game where you get pelted with bags if you make a foul.
The talk will also salute the place in nearby Illinois which is keeping alive a sport that appeared in the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis ---the sport has never been played in any other Olympics.
Recommended reading from the Library: St. Louis Sports
The presenter is Doug Schneider, author, St. Louis walking tour guide, Scottish country dancer, fan of architecture, Route 66 enthusiast, who graduated from Brown University, one of the eight Ivy League universities, with a Bachelor's in History; and from the University of London with a Master's in Linguistics.