The Marble League (formerly known as the MarbleLympics) is an annual event where marbles from different teams compete against each other in a number of different sports events. It is run by Jelle Bakker with Jelle's Marble Runs. The JMRC previously aided in the running of the competition before disbandment, with the JMA taking their place. So far, there have been six Marble Leagues and a one-off Marble League Winter Special. All competitors are 16 mm in diameter.[1]
History
The Marble League was started in 2016. It grew out of the Knikkegen Marble League, a marble sports competition started by Jelle and Dion Bakker. In 2013 the KML grew in popularity due to appearing in a viral TV featurette about the growing popularity of marble sports tournaments. The next year the KML received applications from around the world, most of which the Bakker brothers had to decline. The growing popularity of the KML attracted the attention of Greg Woods who ran the Fruit Circuit. In late 2014, Woods met the Bakker brothers and they began planning an expansion to the KML that would add an international league. In 2015 this plan was expanded further to the entire tournament, becoming the Marble League 2016.[2]
Seasons Overview
| Year | Champions | Runners up | Third place | Beginning | End | Hosts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Savage Speeders | Mellow Yellow | Thunderbolts | August 5, 2016 | September 9, 2016 | N/A |
| 2017 | O'rangers | Savage Speeders | Mellow Yellow | July 1, 2017 | August 19, 2017 | |
| 2018 | Midnight Wisps | Savage Speeders | Oceanics | February 9, 2018 | April 28, 2018 | Snowballs |
| 2019 | Raspberry Racers | Green Ducks | Hazers | April 19, 2019 | June 11, 2019 | Oceanics |
| 2020 | Savage Speeders | O'rangers | Minty Maniacs | June 21, 2020 | August 16, 2020 | Team Galactic |
| 2021 | Mellow Yellow | Raspberry Racers | Gliding Glaciers | July 16, 2021 | September 10, 2021 | Crazy Cat's Eyes |
| 2022 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBC | TBC | Green Ducks |
Teams Overview
- Main article: Marble League Teams
As of 2021, there have been 35 teams, of which 28 are still active. The table below displays only the teams who have reached glory in the form of an overall podium finish in one or more Marble Leagues and their classification by number of championships won, then overall silver finishes and then overall bronze finishes
| Team | Champions | Runners up | Third placers | Total honors | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Savage Speeders | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| 2nd | Mellow Yellow | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 3rd | O'rangers | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Raspberry Racers | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 5th | Midnight Wisps | 1 | 1 | ||
| 6th | Green Ducks | 1 | 1 | ||
| 7th | Thunderbolts | 1 | 1 | ||
| Oceanics | 1 | 1 | |||
| Hazers | 1 | 1 | |||
| Minty Maniacs | 1 | 1 | |||
| Gliding Glaciers | 1 | 1 |
Marble League 2016
- Main article: Marble League 2016
The original Marble League logo used in 2016 and 2017.
The first annual Marble League was held in 2016 and was won by the Savage Speeders. There were 16 teams and 12 events. This was the only Marble League where there were no qualifying rounds, as it was the first year.
The sixteen inaugural teams are as follows: Pinkies, O'rangers, Rojo Rollers, Snowballs, Kobalts, Savage Speeders, Limers, Oceanics, Thunderbolts, Team Primary, Chocolatiers, Balls of Chaos, Team Galactic, Jawbreakers, Mellow Yellow, and Team Momo.
The championship was won by the Savage Speeders, with the Mellow Yellow and Thunderbolts in second and third respectively.
Final Standings
| Rank | Team | G | S | B | Tot. | Pts: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Savage Speeders | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 44 |
| 2nd | Mellow Yellow | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 41 |
| 3rd | Thunderbolts | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 41 |
| 4th | Team Momo | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 38 |
| 5th | O'rangers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 31 |
| 6th | Rojo Rollers | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 30 |
| 7th | Jawbreakers | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 21 |
| 8th | Balls of Chaos | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 21 |
| 9th | Kobalts | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 20 |
| 10th | Oceanics | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 19 |
| 11th | Team Galactic | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 18 |
| 12th | Team Primary | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 17 |
| 13th | Chocolatiers | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 16 |
| 14th | Snowballs | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| 15th | Limers | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| 16th | Pinkies | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
Marble League 2017
- Main article: Marble League 2017
The second annual Marble League was held in 2017 and was won by the O'rangers. The points system was changed for 2017, and a qualifying round was held for the first time.
Four new teams debuted in the 2017 season, including the Jungle Jumpers, Midnight Wisps, Shining Swarm, and the Quicksilvers.
The championship was won by the O'rangers, with the Savage Speeders and Mellow Yellow in second and third respectively.
Final Standings
| Rank | Team | G | S | B | Tot. | Pts: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | O'rangers | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 156 |
| 2nd | Savage Speeders | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 150 |
| 3rd | Mellow Yellow | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 119 |
| 4th | Midnight Wisps | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 118 |
| 5th | Team Galactic | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 115 |
| 6th | Pinkies | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 114 |
| 7th | Shining Swarm | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 112 |
| 8th | Chocolatiers | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 110 |
| 9th | Team Momo | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 106 |
| 10th | Limers | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 101 |
| 11th | Oceanics | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 99 |
| 12th | Thunderbolts | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 83 |
| 13th | Jawbreakers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 83 |
| 14th | Team Primary | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 71 |
| 15th | Jungle Jumpers | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 66 |
| 16th | Quicksilvers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 58 |
Marble League 2018
- Main article: Marble League 2018
In 2018, the first Winter Marble League was held instead of the regular Marble League. Additionally, it was the first edition to be held in a host stadium, in this case the Snowballs' Arctic Circle.
24 teams entered the qualifying rounds, split into three groups of eight. The top four of each group qualified for Marble League 2018. Although eight new teams entered the qualifiers, only four qualified, those being the Hazers, Raspberry Racers, Minty Maniacs, and the Crazy Cat's Eyes.
After injuries sustained by Momomo and Momomomo of Team Momo, Team Momo and Team Primary, the latter of which did not qualify, temporarily merged to compete as Team Momary.
The championship was won by the Midnight Wisps, with the Savage Speeders and Oceanics in second and third respectively.
Final Standings
| Rank | Team | G | S | B | Tot. | Pts: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Midnight Wisps | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 139 |
| 2nd | Savage Speeders | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 138 |
| 3rd | Oceanics | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 130 |
| 4th | O'rangers | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 121 |
| 5th | Balls of Chaos | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 116 |
| 6th | Hazers | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 111 |
| 7th | Snowballs | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 110 |
| 8th | Raspberry Racers | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 110 |
| 9th | Thunderbolts | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 109 |
| 10th | Crazy Cat's Eyes | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 96 |
| 11th | Team Galactic | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 95 |
| 12th | Team Momary | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 90 |
| 13th | Minty Maniacs | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 77 |
| 14th | Limers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 76 |
| 15th | Mellow Yellow | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 76 |
| 16th | Pinkies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 65 |
Marble League 2019
- Main article: Marble League 2019
The new Marble League logo that was introduced in 2019.
The 2019 Marble League's logo.
The fourth annual Marble League was held in 2019 and was hosted by the Oceanics. It was the first edition to have 16 events instead of 12 events. The 3-point penalty for disqualification was also dropped this year.
Two new teams debuted, the Indigo Stars and the Green Ducks.
The championship was won by the Raspberry Racers, with the Green Ducks and Hazers in second and third respectively.
Marble League Showdown
- Main article: Marble League Showdown 2019
2019 contained the first edition of the Marble League Showdown, a tournament where the teams who failed to qualify for Marble League 2019 competed to qualify for the next year's qualifiers. Marble League Showdown 2019 was the first tournament to use the "Marble League" branding, replacing the "MarbleLympics" name.
The championship was won by the Snowballs, with the Hornets and Rojo Rollers in second and third respectively.
Final Standings
| Rank | Team | G | S | B | Tot. | Pts: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Raspberry Racers | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 216 |
| 2nd | Green Ducks | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 204 |
| 3rd | Hazers | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 184 |
| 4th | Mellow Yellow | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 149 |
| 5th | Savage Speeders | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 146 |
| 6th | O'rangers | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 139 |
| 7th | Jungle Jumpers | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 138 |
| 8th | Team Galactic | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 134 |
| 9th | Balls of Chaos | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 131 |
| 10th | Midnight Wisps | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 128 |
| 11th | Crazy Cat's Eyes | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 125 |
| 12th | Chocolatiers | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 121 |
| 13th | Thunderbolts | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 119 |
| 14th | Indigo Stars | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 112 |
| 15th | Pinkies | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 97 |
| 16th | Oceanics | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 70 |
Marble League 2020
- Main article: Marble League 2020
Logo used in 2020
The fifth annual Marble League began in June 2020. It was hosted by Team Galactic. This was the first year that no new teams debuted, although this was the first year that the Hornets and the Bumblebees participated in the main Marble League after participating in the Showdown in 2019.
This season was won by the Savage Speeders, their second Marble League champion, followed by the O'rangers and the Minty Maniacs.
Marble League Showdown
- Main article: Marble League Showdown 2020
This Showdown was won by the Kobalts, with the Jungle Jumpers and the Chocolatiers coming in second and third respectively.
Final Standings
| Rank | Team | G | S | B | Tot. | Pts: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Savage Speeders | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 202 |
| 2nd | O'rangers | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 195 |
| 3rd | Minty Maniacs | 4 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 194 |
| 4th | Midnight Wisps | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 187 |
| 5th | Crazy Cat's Eyes | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 160 |
| 6th | Hazers | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 147 |
| 7th | Team Galactic | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 147 |
| 8th | Team Momo | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 135 |
| 9th | Raspberry Racers | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 133 |
| 10th | Oceanics | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 133 |
| 11th | Bumblebees | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 106 |
| 12th | Green Ducks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 101 |
| 13th | Thunderbolts | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 99 |
| 14th | Mellow Yellow | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 94 |
| 15th | Balls of Chaos | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 92 |
| 16th | Hornets | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 86 |
Marble League 2021
- Main article: Marble League 2021
The logo for Marble League 2021
The sixth annual Marble League began in July 2021. It was hosted by the Crazy Cat's Eyes. Because of the Hornets and the Jawbreakers retiring, there was a major change in the relegation system. The previously relegated teams from Marble League Showdown 2020 (the Turtle Sliders, Snowballs and Limers), as well as two new teams (the Gliding Glaciers coming back from retirement and the Solar Flares) were able to participate in the Marble League 2021 Qualifiers.
The Gliding Glaciers who returned after retirement this year, qualified for their first Marble League.
The season was won by Mellow Yellow, followed by the Raspberry Racers and the Gliding Glaciers.
Marble League Showdown
- Main article: Marble League Showdown 2021
This was the first Marble League Showdown with 8 events and a different scoring system. The Kobalts won the Showdown again, followed by Pinkies and Team Primary. Furthermore, the bottom four teams were not disqualified from the 2022 qualifiers as there are four new marble teams being added in the future.
Final Standings
| Rank | Team | G | S | B | Tot. | Pts: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Mellow Yellow | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 162 |
| 2nd | Raspberry Racers | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 157 |
| 3rd | Gliding Glaciers | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 153 |
| 4th | Hazers | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 149 |
| 5th | Crazy Cat's Eyes | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 149 |
| 6th | Team Momo | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 149 |
| 7th | Chocolatiers | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 145 |
| 8th | Thunderbolts | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 145 |
| 9th | Shining Swarm | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 144 |
| 10th | O'rangers | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 144 |
| 11th | Green Ducks | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 141 |
| 12th | Savage Speeders | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 140 |
| 13th | Indigo Stars | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 133 |
| 14th | Minty Maniacs | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 114 |
| 15th | Limers | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 99 |
| 16th | Rojo Rollers | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 85 |
Rules
Points System
- Main article: List of Marble League points scoring systems
Below is the current official scoring system, introduced in 2017.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 20 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
Disqualifications
- Main article: List of Disqualifications
Events
| Event | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marble Rally | 4 (Sand) | 12 (Sand) | 7 (Snow) | 11 (Dirt) 16 (Sand) |
14 (Sand) | |
| Hurdles | 12 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 7 | |
| Relay Run | 2 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 5 | |
| Sprint | 8 (10 m) | 4 (5 m) | 5 (5 m) | 10 (5 m) | 3 (5 m) | |
| Balancing | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Block Pushing | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | ||
| Collision | 3 | 3 | 15 | 15 | ||
| Funnel Spinning | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||
| Long Jump | 5 | 2 | 2 (Ski Jump) | 5 | ||
| High Jump | 7 | 8 | 13 | |||
| Sand Mogul Race | 12 | 9 | 11 | |||
| Biathlon | 10 | 8 | ||||
| Diving | 11 | 12 | ||||
| Elimination | 13 | 13 | ||||
| Halfpipe | 3 | 2 | ||||
| Steeplechase | 9 | 10 | ||||
| Team Pursuit | 9 | 6 | ||||
| Triathlon | 8 | 9 | ||||
| Underwater Race | 11 | 1 | ||||
| Archery | 10 | |||||
| Black Hole Funnel | 11 | |||||
| Bobsled | 4 | |||||
| Curling | 9 | |||||
| Football | 15 | |||||
| Ice Dash | 1 | |||||
| Ice Hockey | 11 | |||||
| Jousting | 6 | |||||
| Maze | 10 | |||||
| Marble Marathon | 16 | |||||
| Marblocross | 16 | |||||
| Newton's Cradle | 4 | |||||
| Precision Slalom | 10 | |||||
| Rafting | 12 | |||||
| Slalom | 4 | |||||
| Snowboard Cross | 8 | |||||
| Speed Skating | 5 | |||||
| Surfing | 14 | |||||
| Swing Wave | 1 | |||||
| Team Aquathlon | 14 | |||||
| Water Race | 6 |
References
- ↑ @Jelles_com. Twitter (11th January 2018). “The official size of marblelympic athletes is 16mm, but their friends from Sand Marble Racing are actually bigger with a diameter of 24mm!”
- ↑ Stynth, The Emperor, Vector (21st September 2021). RetRollSpective – Team Primary. Project Marblearth.
| Marble League | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tournaments | 2016 · 2017 · 2018 · 2019 · 2020 · 2021 · 2022 | |||
| Qualification | 2016 · 2017 · 2018 · 2019 · 2020 · 2021 · 2022 | |||
| Friendly Rounds | 2018 · 2019 · 2020 · 2021 · 2022 | |||
| Marble League Showdown | 2019 · 2020 · 2021 · 2022 | |||
| Stadiums | Bakker Bowl · Arctic Circle · Seven Seas Stadium · Andromedome · Felynia Coliseum | |||
| Miscellaneous | Marble League Records · Teams · Individual Performances · Appearances · Points Systems · Jelle's Marble Runs Committee · Jelle's Marble Association | |||
