Yooyuball - The Yooyu View

As you may know, Yooyu train their entire lives to get the chance to participate in this sport. But what do they do during all of that training? Well, here you can find out, because I have an exclusive interview with one of the Yooyu participants!

Kat (me): Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer some questions for us! Could you start out by telling the audience your name and your colour?

Yooyu: No problem, I’m on my break. Well, my name is Minka and I’m a fire Yooyu, the most common type.

Kat: Alright, Minka. How old were you when you started training to play Yooyuball?

Minka: I’m not quite sure, it has been so long. I think I started the day after I started walking. They really want you to get an early start on that training!

Kat: Wow! Have you ever wished that you were not chosen to participate in Yooyuball?

Minka: Sometimes, but mainly only when my muscles are sore from practice, but normally, no. I love the sport! The trainers are really nice and we Yooyu get a lot of attention!

Kat: Well that’s good that you get treated well! Do you think the Petpet Protection League would support the sport?

Minka: Heh, probably not. But what do they know? All they see is a bunch of Neopets throwing around a Petpet. But what the Yooyu sees is a thrilling, fun-filled sport which keeps us in great shape and keeps us quite healthy year round!

Kat: If the Petpet Protection League does go behind the scenes to see the sport in the view of the Yooyu, do you think they would approve then?

Minka: Probably no again. I have a feeling the Petpet Protection League just thinks of us as small, defenseless creatures. But we can really handle ourselves quite well! Especially since Yooyu have exceptionally hard shells!

Kat: Alright, moving on! What are the different colours of Yooyu that participate in the sport?

Minka: There are four colours: fire, snow, faerie, and mutant.

Kat: What is the difference between each of these colours?

Minka: The fire Yooyu, like me, have extremely hot shells. As the players throw us, we soar through the air at almost the same speed as Dr. Frank Sloth’s ray gun, or so some say. Snow Yooyu have freezing cold shells, causing them to move slowly in the air and on the ground. Faerie Yooyu can fly, so they are trained to fly in random directions while being tossed. And the mutant Yooyu have a spiked shell, which causes them to bounce in random directions on the ground.

Kat: Alright, so what exactly is it that you do during your training sessions?

Minka: Well, that’s sort of classified.

Kat: Oh, come on! It won’t hurt to tell us just a little! Please!

Minka: Oh, alright! I guess it won’t hurt to tell you a little bit. Well, while we are young, they mostly just get us used to being handled extensively by Neopets by holding us all the time. They also teach us to not be afraid of strange Neopets. As soon as we learn to curl up into a ball and roll around, which comes naturally about a year after we learn how to walk, they start teaching us to be in a ball for long periods of time. Then they would throw us while in our ball form to get us used to the feeling. But don’t worry; it’s not frightening at all for the youngsters! We Yooyu all think it’s a great thrill! As we get older and our shells harden, we learn to bounce and roll across the ground in straight directions, and randomly for faerie and mutant Yooyu. When we have learned all of these things real well, we start playing games with specialized professionals, not the teams that you see playing in the Altador Cup, of course. These professional players play gently and they aren’t as brutal as the real athletes. As we learn, we progress further and further to harder games until finally we play in practice games with the professionals!

Kat: Wow! Sounds quite thrilling! I hope you aren’t in any trouble for telling us all of that classified information!

Minka: Nah, I lied because my break was almost over, but I decided to extend it for once. The trainers won’t mind.

Kat: Okay, that’s good. How often do you practice and for how long?

Minka: We practice five days a week for about six hours every day with five minute breaks every hour and an hour for lunch.

Kat: That’s quite a lot of work! Don’t you get tired after all of that exercise?

Minka: Well, of course! But we Yooyu are naturally energetic, so we can last a lot longer than you may think. Besides, it’s like they say, “No pain, no game!” After awhile, we get used to the training and our muscles are only sore when they introduce us to new workouts which work different muscles.

Kat: Amazing how you can stand all that exercise! Are you excited about the upcoming Altador Cup?

Minka: Definitely! This is the most exciting part of the sport! Neopets from all around Neopia come to play Yooyuball. It’s also a great time to meet Neopets from other lands, make new friends, and to enjoy some friendly competition, or sometimes not so friendly.

Kat: How many Yooyu are participating in the Altador Cup?

Minka: There are 180 Yooyu total participating, 45 of each colour.

Kat: Wow! Why so many?

Minka: Well, there are eight participants in any game, four of each colour. The colours switch off in between the rounds they need to play in. The other four Yooyu are understudies just in case some of the Yooyu participants are injured, sick, or for some other matter. So those 12 are in each game. There will be 15 total games in the Altador Cup and there will be 12 Yooyu per game, so that totals up to 180 Yooyu!

Kat: Well, I guess that all makes sense! Are you one of those lucky 180 Yooyu being able to participate?

Minka: Sadly, no. I still have a bit more training to go through. But hopefully I will make it into the Altador Cup soon!

Kat: Well good luck with that! Let us end our interview here so you can get back to your training. Thank you for taking your time to answer these questions, and I hope to see you in the Altador Cup soon!

Well, this concludes our exclusive interview behind the scenes of Yooyuball training in the view of the Yooyu! Now the next time you watch a game of Yooyuball, preferably not while you’re playing though, think about what it’s like for the Yooyu and all that hard work that goes into training the ‘ball’ of the game, as well as training the athlete!