Hornussen

Hornussen is also known as the farmer’s golf. It is an ancient yet traditional Swiss sport, emerged in the 17th century. The name has been derived from the usage of the puck which is also known as "Hornuss" or "Nouss". The sport is played with the aid of metal sloped bat and a rubber hornet. The hornet can be flicked in the air up to 300 m. 

Hornussen is a team sport where two teams compete with each other on the field. The objective of the sport is to strike the hornet with the metal bat as far as possible. Each competing team takes turns to flick the hornet, while the opposing team tries to strike down the hornet with a wooden paddle. They also try to throw the paddles in the air so that they can successfully block the hornet’s passage. Scores are only awarded if the hornet directly falls on the ground without any contact or blocking from the opposing team. The team with maximum scores wins the match.

History of Hornussen

The sport was developed in the early 17th century. The earliest record of Hornussen is found in the 1625 consistory of Lauperswil. Earlier, two men involved in the sport were fined with an amount of 20 francs as they were playing Hornussen game on Sunday. In 1655, the first record of competitive Hornussen game organized in Trub was documented. Later, in 1841 the sport successfully debuted in the "Uli, der Knetch" novel by Jeremias Gotthelf. By the 19th century, the sport begins to popularize in Emmental and Entlebuch, both situated in Switzerland. 

In 1902, the Federal Hornussen Association was formed, which started conducting the Hornussen matches in every 3 years. By 2011, the popularity of the sport leads to the formation of 270 clubs, with approximately 8,300 official registered members. By this time, various inter-associations, along with the inter-cantonal events, started to emerge in Europe. 

In the year of 2012, the International Hornussen Association was organized, which majorly governs all the international matches and focuses on worldwide promotion.