Street Racket - A New PE Activity from Switzerland
Marcel Straub
Street Racket is an affordable racquet-and-ball game, easy to learn, and has more than 600 types of variations. It's currently played in more than 80 countries and over 2,400 schools, engaging an estimated 150,000 players per day.
Street Racket promotes "instant play," the most effective engagement and participation tool for large groups at low cost and in a variety of spaces. The creative game helps improve hand-eye coordination and cognitive skills for individuals and groups.
The multi award-winning concept is also featured in the hundred.org global collection as one of the 100 most impactful and scalable educational innovations in the world.
Inclusive Design & Learning Benefits
Street Racket is inclusive and reaches out to all students. Therefore, kids will have more healthy playtime while learning, creating active classrooms and promoting physical literacy. Students are encouraged to develop new games, to be creative and participate in the school program, a great way to promote empowerment.
Above all, the games can be played at home, in the neighborhood, in parks and elsewhere – so schools and teachers act as sports and health promoters – so the effects will go way beyond the school perimeter and the lesson plans.
Curriculum & Accessibility
Our unique content, with more than 1000 activities, can be accessed online so all the schools and teachers can plan their PE lessons in a very easy and fun way. The Street Racket curriculum offers new games every week and a very broad database of games.
Gameplay Flexibility
Street Racket makes good use of the school's existing infrastructure, outdoors and indoors. The courts can easily be done by hand in a few seconds with some chalk, paint, spray or duct tape and they can vary in size to adapt to any given surface. Do you want more intensity or focus on accuracy? Would you rather play on the ground or against a wall? It's your choice. Just draw your court and play!
The many game forms can be enjoyed alone, in pairs or in groups at any age and any playing level. And it's very easy to create exciting variations of the game or come up with entirely new activities!
The simple but very effective rules are the key to long rallies and rhythmic sequences of play and action combined with ideal motor skills learning! That's why Street Racket is the perfect instrument to engage girls WITH boys, the young WITH the elderly and top players WITH beginners. We promote equal opportunity and gender equality and put the focus on cooperation before competition.
Minimal Requirements
No structures to set up or to build, no special materials, no logistics, no maintenance. Just draw and play! The rules are simple, no special infrastructure is needed, and you only require a racket and a ball, as well as chalk (or paint, tape, sports markers) to make the courts.
Cross-Curricular Applications
Street Racket can be used in physical education, at recess, within the class or for the whole school. Street Racket is also effective and innovative for learning through movement. Lessons in mathematics, language training and other subjects no longer take place sitting still, while motivation, focus and concentration decrease quickly, but in an active, social and healthy way. A child should not and does not want to be sitting quietly for long periods of time – with Street Racket those important short movement sequences are immediately possible.
Check out the new Street Racket unit SPARK just added to their elementary PE programs. You can purchase individual Street Racket rackets and balls as well as class sets from the Gopher website. Reach out for more information about Street Racket.
About the Author
Marcel Straub— Founder and Director of Street Racket
Marcel Straub invented Street Racket in 2017 while serving as head of the center for competence in physical education in Zurich, Switzerland. He left his leadership position in sports promotion to develop this innovative concept. Over 5,000 permanent Street Racket courts now exist throughout Switzerland.