What is Gaga?
If you ever attended a Jewish summer camp, community center, or Hebrew school, you probably have memories of Gaga (and I’m not talking about the Grammy-winning American pop star). For many, gaga, meaning “touch-touch” in Hebrew, has become a nostalgic part of the American-Jewish youth experience.
The game takes place in a small octagon, or “pit,” with walls around 40 inches tall. Players start the game by crowding the inside of the pit and throwing the ball in the air, screaming “Ga!” after each bounce, with the game officially starting after the third “Ga!” Then, in a wave of madness, players hit the ball with their fists and ping-pong it along the floor. If the ball touches you below the knee (or in some versions, the waist) or flies over the wall, you’re out!
Although the game has uniquely Jewish origins, in recent decades, Gaga has been sweeping the nation, earning prime real estate not only in Jewish community spaces but on public school playgrounds and at local summer day camps.
So, what makes Gaga so appealing? While it may seem like your average schoolyard game, let me assure you, there’s more to Gaga than what meets the eye (or the fist).
Gaga’s (Jewish) Roots
Believe it or not, Gaga’s been around for a while, around five decades to be exact. It’s most commonly believed that Gaga started being played in the U.S. around the late 1960s to early 1970s. Although there’s some debate over where Gaga originated, the most accepted belief is that it started in Israel, making its way to the U.S. via Israeli camp counselors working at Jewish summer camps.
Marc Stein, known as “Marco” in his Gaga playing days, remembers helping build a Gaga pit in the mid-70s, as a teenager, for the Valley Cities Jewish Community Center (JCC)—now just the Valley JCC—formerly located in Burbank, California. At the time, Gaga wasn’t as common at Jewish community spots as it is today, and the rules traveled by word of mouth. “You have to remember, there was no internet and no television. I think some of us in ‘78 went to Israel and saw it played there, but that was after we had already built our own court,” says Stein, who had never even played Gaga before constructing the pit.
As a product of Israel that, initially, was played almost exclusively in Jewish spaces in the U.S., to many, Gaga is the Jewish sport—something devised and popularized by our own community. “It’s funny because if you’re in more of a secular context, like public school, it’s a handball, but then if you go to Hebrew school or a Jewish camp, it’s a Gaga ball,” says Bridget Stern, an eight-year camper, and now counselor, at the Jewish Camp Ramah in Ojai, California.
In its early days, Gaga was all DIY. “If you wanted a Gaga court, you had to figure out how to build one,” says Stein, who recalls using donated telephone poles to construct the pit for the Valley Cities JCC. With their humble roots, you may be surprised to learn that many Gaga pits today are professionally constructed and sold by sports manufacturing companies like Sports Resource Group (SRG), based out of Minnesota, for upwards of a thousand dollars!
The Gaga Boom
According to the Gaga Ball Official Rules site, it wasn’t until sometime between the 1990s and early 2000s that the rest of the country caught on to the game that’d made a name for itself in Jewish communities. Since then, Gaga pits have been rapidly popping up at schools and camps all over America, with a commercial market for Gaga pits becoming ever more competitive. SRG started manufacturing their Gaga pits in 2008 and Sales Manager Brandon Carlsoon says the demand hasn’t decreased, with schools being their main customer. In fact, some elementary schools are now implementing Gaga into their physical education curriculums.
While Gaga pit building used to be a communal construction effort, usually with simple wooden designs, there are now innovative variations geared towards creating durable, easy-to-assemble, and even portable Gaga pits. Carlsoon says the walls of SRG’s pits are made from the same boards they use for ice hockey rinks and require no tools to assemble.
Although the game is mostly geared toward younger kids, there have been attempts to make Gaga a more serious sport with the creation of the National Gaga League which involves registered teams and referees. Nonetheless, professional Gaga leagues have yet to take off. Some believe the game will never get to that point—“I don’t think it’s going to be a college or professional sport, it’s just an addition to playgrounds and schools,” says Carlsoon.
A Game About Inclusivity
Perhaps Gaga’s amateur limits are exactly what make it so special. Not only is the game easy to learn, but you don’t have to be an athletic prodigy to be good at it. “It’s really fun to play because it doesn’t take the most amount of skill. It’s not a lot of running, the ball’s bigger, and people don’t get hurt often,” says counselor Stern.
But don’t get the wrong impression, Gaga is still competitive. My memories of playing the game during Hebrew school recess include heated arguments over whether the ball hit my kneecap and not my shin, and the winner bragging for the rest of the day (or summer).
Gaga’s balance of playability and competitive spirit make it fun for everyone. Stern explains it’s one of few camp sports that’s enjoyed equally by all genders. Even when it was first introduced in the U.S., the game was inherently co-ed. Marc Stein remembers the inclusivity of Gaga in the 1970s recalling that boys and girls always played the game together.
“When somebody says, Gaga, for me, it’s the teen lounge at the Center on Tuesday and Thursday nights,” says Stein, who is still in touch with the Valley Cities JCC members he used to play Gaga with, who now live in cities all over the U.S..
While Gaga certainly evolved over the half-century it’s been played in the U.S.—with advancements in pit-building technology and its popularization among non-Jewish spaces—wherever it is, the Gaga pit remains an epicenter of community. Acting as a gathering place for Jewish youth for decades, the possibilities for community-building and inclusive competition are plentiful as the game expands its influence to youth communities across the United States.