Nowadays, you can participate in a wide range of sports at Penn State, from well-known games like soccer and flag football to lesser-known sports such as inner-tube water polo or Quidditch — yes, from Harry Potter. When it comes to sports at Penn State, the world is your oyster, and now, a new sport has entered Happy Valley: Halfball.

Halfball is a melting pot of several popular sports worldwide. It comes from the mind of Justin Horvitz, a freshman advertising major at Penn State, who has always wanted to build something of his own. With a strong sports background, playing soccer, volleyball, floor hockey, and rowing, Horvitz set out to invent his own.

It started when he was playing floor hockey. Horvitz believed the equipment was too expensive — it posed a barrier to entry to the sport.

“I wanted my sport to be simple,” he said. “All you would need is a ball, two goals, and a field.”

Pretty straightforward. His next step was actually designing the sport.

“The idea came up while watching the World Cup in 2022, and I imagined if soccer had a shot clock, it would encourage offense,” Horvitz said. “Then I turned on hockey and thought there should be multiple ways of scoring similar to how basketball rewards farther shots. Which led me to the NBA, and there were too many small fouls — it was weak. So I figured my game should be physical.”

Horvitz sampled working aspects of these sports, and others, to create Halfball. As in the name, there are two halves of the field. Players can run with and throw the ball to advance, but must run the ball over the half-field line to discourage cherry-picking. Similar to hockey, there are six positions: a goalie, a center, two specialized defenders, and two specialized attackers. Also similar to hockey, you can steal the ball by simply taking it from someone, even if it means getting physical.

To score, you can throw the ball into the goal for one point, dunk it over the crossbar of the goal for two points, or toss the ball up to a teammate who spikes it into the goal for three points.

It took some time for Horvitz to set the foundation of the game, but once he did, he advertised it everywhere — as advertising majors are taught to do. Folks can find flyers all over campus with a QR code that links to Halfball’s Instagram.

“I’m a communications major, advertising specifically, so this sport is a very good experience for my field because I have to go out and advertise my idea, giving me real-world experience.

“The majority of the people [following] the Instagram, I’ve gone up to them personally, pitched the sport, and asked them to join the Instagram. I’ve also put up posters all around common areas,” Horvitz said.

Halfball’s Instagram has garnered 300 followers so far through Horvitz’s personal approach. Nonetheless, the sport is being played recreationally rather than officially as a club or IM sport. Horvitz has tried to register with both parties, but the sport is young. Without a governing body, Penn State won’t recognize it as anything more than a recreational sport.

The Penn State freshman is in the process of trademarking the rules and logo, a step towards becoming more official. For now, Horvitz will continue to push his game out to the Penn State community, with hopes to grow the Halfball into a league.

“Right now, we’re in the phase of introducing it to people,” Horvitz said. “But, if everything goes to plan, we’d like to make it a draft league, with an end-of-season tournament to determine the best team.”

To support its journey or get involved with Halfball, visit its Instagram here.