It's a Whole New Ballgame for Inventor. By Cathy Bergstrom, Des Moines Register May 2000 Pleasant Hill man's Blastball! hobby gets nationwide exposure. Bryan Bravard got a big surprise when he arrived in Orlando, Fla., this spring to promote his invention. He already knew that his brainchild of a kids' game, Blastball!, would appear in a catalog that goes to thousands of schools and parks and recreation departments across the country. But when he saw the game featured on the cover and inside page, "I was just pleasantly elated." The game's inclusion in the catalog is the culminated of two and a half years of promotion and networking for the Pleasant Hill man. Blastball is a backyard game Bravard played as a youth and resurrected as a way to get young children excited about baseball. The game uses a foam bat and ball, and noise-making base and boundary markers. Players hit the ball off a tee and run to the base. If the hitter makes the base before the outfield catches the ball or fields it and yells "blast," he or she is safe. The key to making the game interesting for young kids is the smaller number of players and simplicity, Bravard said. "It still teaches the same fundamentals, but hopefully the pace is more suited for the younger person's attention span." The Pleasant Hill recreation department ran an experimental league in 1998, and last year Ankeny ran a league. Both departments plan to offer the game again this summer, and Bravard is promotion Blastball! to other cities in Iowa. He hopes the game will have appeal nationally and internationally. Bravard, 36, is marketing director for ServiceMaster in the Des Moines area and Blastball! has been a consuming hobby for the past couple of years. Last fall, he negotiable a licensing agreement for the game with Sport Supply Group of Dallas. He will receive a percentage of games sales. One of Sport Supply Group's subsidiaries, U.S. Games, publishes catalogs for the institutional market with a mailing list of about 80,000. The summer 2000 catalog markets Blastball! for $59.99. U.S. Games initially plans to make about 500 sets available and base further production on orders. New game concepts are rare, said Bob Parks, general manager of U.S. Games. Schools, parks and recreation departments are looking for "things to get kids excited about sports and activity." The game's simplicity, noise-making base and the ability to keep kids active make the game attractive, he said. "You don't want kids standing around with idle time." The catalog is new, but Blastball! has already drawn a good response, Parks said. The company has received an order from France for 100 sets, he said. Bravard also is working with another Sport Supply Group subsidiary to develop a retail version of the game. If kids play the game at school or in a league, they might want to later play it at home, he said. By introducing it first to the institutional market, "we're trying to get a grass-roots thing going." Blastball! is available for order by calling U.S. Games at (800) 327-0484. Source: Des Moines Register