I’m not too sure if this is showing my age, but in my day we called it ‘on on’.

Apparently, it’s also known around the world as tips, tig, tiggy, it, tick, chasey or touch and go, and Seth came out of left field with ‘funners and jollers’.

Whatever you know it as, you probably left it behind years ago, and your knees thank you.

Not everybody feels the same way, and I guess that’s why World Chase Tag is proving so popular.

It’s even caught the attention of CNN:

World Chase Tag, [is] the first and only global league for professional, competitive tag, which has revamped the popular children’s game with some exciting innovations.

Created in 2011 by brothers Christian and Damien Devaux, the league has traveled all over the globe and has been broadcast on TV channels such as ESPN, BBC, and Fox Sports.

It has also gained a popular internet following, with the high-flying, high-octane action viewed over 350 million times on YouTube.

While the basics of tag remain the same — one person chases an opponent in an attempt to touch them with their hand or “tag” them — the league has introduced some rules to make it more exciting.

Here are the basics:

RT CNN “It has been described as one of the oldest and most played sports in history. But, World Chase Tag is the first and only global league for professional, competitive tag. https://t.co/YgDHqyRRy4 pic.twitter.com/zHfWnR18Ly“

— Anton Ehrola (@antonkarpp) January 28, 2020

I had a look at some of the more popular clips on YouTube, and I might be a convert.

This is the most-watched video on the official World Chase Tag YouTube account, with more than 37 million views.

For a highlights reel of sorts, here is a compilation of the best chases from World Chase Tag’s WCT 3, held in September 2018 in London featuring teams from Japan, Germany, France, USA, and the UK.

You may have noticed that there are different rules and format. Well done:

The “Chase Off” format — the sports’ most popular format — is played by two teams with two teams consisting of a maximum of five athletes.

A match consists of a predetermined number of chases — usually 10-16 — which are 20 seconds in length.

A Chaser and Evader — one from either team — compete, with the winning athletes staying on as the Evader. The loser is replaced by a teammate who becomes the Chaser.

Sounds like something out of the Harry Potter series. Quidditch, anyone?

WCT 4 took place on August 24 last year, again in London, with a team comprised of athletes from France and Switzerland coming out on top.

Yes, they called them athletes, and I think that’s fair.

Hurdling those tables and chairs may look daunting, but the Quads (as the area you compete within is called) can be adjusted for beginners:

This means tag is accessible to all levels, even youngsters who have just started doing physical activity.

“Chase Tag has become an exciting new entry point for kids to engage in fitness & sport by inspiring them to create their own Quad from whatever space and obstacles they can find around them,” the sport’s website states.

At the risk of sounding like a 65-year-old who lists their education on Facebook as ‘the school of life’, anything that gets youngsters exercising should be welcomed.

You can have a glance at the official website if you want to know more.

[source:cnn]