I would like to introduce and explain a game to you called “Míla”, (μήλα) which translated means “apples”. It is quite popular in Greece. It is a lot of fun with many players and you can either play it e.g. in a school yard during breaks, with your family members or some friends in your garden. Moreover, the game is easy to learn. For the game “Mila” you just need a minimum of three players (two throwers and one catcher between the throwers who are in the middle) as well as one soft ball.
In the beginning every player in the middle has zero “apples”. The “throwers” stand on two sides with the catcher in the space between them. The players (throwers) try to throw the ball and hit someone in the middle. The person who has the ball in the hand has to throw it in a certain kind of way to one of the players in the middle, so the person is not able to catch it. Otherwise if one person in the middle catches the ball, the person gets one “apple” (one live) more. Then the ball goes to the other side to the players who didn´t hit the person in the middle. But if one of the players in the middle don´t have any “apples” (zero apples) left; the person has to leave the field. The goal as a “catcher” is to reach as many apples as possible, so you avoid leaving the field with no apples.
To make the game more interesting and more diversified, there are many funny and interesting features and order in this game:
If the person has enough lives, he can even share his apples with another person outside of the field. So, the person, who offers his apples to a random player, loses the half of his apples and the other player gets the “apples” and can stand in the middle of the field again. But you can also share apples to other “catcher” in the middle during the game. An option to get more apples is to wait until one thrower shouts a certain number of apples he wants to offer to the standing persons in the centre. The persons can try to catch the ball and receives the already mentioned explicit number of lives.
By shouting “stroma” which means “blanket” in English, you have to roll the ball to the other side of the field and the players in the middle have to try to let the ball roll through their legs. Otherwise, if the ball hits one of the legs, the player loses one “mila”.
Another feature is the move called “bomba” (bomb). When you hear it as a “catcher”, the players in the middle shout “manula” (mother) and go down to the ground. The player who has the ball throws it in the air and tries to hit one of the players. However, the players in the middle are not allowed to catch the ball during the order.
You can also say the terms “ντομά” (tomato) and “πατάτα” (potato) as a thrower. When you shout “ντομά”, you also have to say one of the players name in the middle. And the mentioned player taps or tries to kick out the ball of the player trying to hold the ball in place between his legs.The player always walks round the players body with the ball after saying each syllable of the word tomato and touching the ball with his foot. But as soon as the person finished saying each syllable of the word, he can try to catch or escape from the throwing ball of the player who had the ball between his legs. The function “πατάτα” is quite similar. The thrower just has to keep the ball in his hands and the mentioned player in the middle says every syllable of the word “πατάτα” and touches the ball with his hands every time the player walks round of the person with the ball.
Of course, after each round you can also either switch the players in the middle (the catcher) or the other way around. By switching the players, you avoid boredom of every player and it has the effect everybody has the chance to play one of the positions as a “thrower” and “catcher”.
Source: Summer activities