In February 2013 one of our Cornubia residents, Caroline Foyle, and her husband Jim made the decision that they needed to simplify their lives by making the move to an over 55s Lifestyle Resort.
Following Caroline’s breast surgery, radiotherapy, and ongoing chemotherapy, she and Jim, both keen rock ‘n ‘rollers, were anxious to get on with their lives as intended and attended the 2013 New Year’s Eve Dance in the Resort’s club. It was at this function that Jim noticed a man, who needed two walking sticks to remain upright, trying to dance. It struck Jim that ‘this bloke’ and other resort home owners with restricted mobility, could not participate in many mainstream activities.
In this moment, Jim resolved to create a mobile game that majority of residents would be able to play. He calls the game ‘Stymie’ and it’s a game of skill and concentration where the aim is to hit a coloured puck onto a white puck, then eventually hit the white puck into your team’s goal posts.
It took Jim several months to come to fruition – but ‘Stymie’ was first played at their resort in June 2014 and Infinite Care Cornubia is the only other place in the world who has had the privilege of playing!
Jim tells us that the word Stymie means to hinder or prevent the progress of something. It was originally a golfing term, denoting a situation on the green where a ball obstructs the shot of another player. He used it to name the game as it was a, “reasonable descriptor for part of a player’s strategy of preventing the opposition scoring a goal!”
Jim would be happy to see it more widely played and be the mentor for anyone wishing to produce a set of equipment. He also has an outdoor version called Skewball and as the name suggests, it uses balls instead of plastic discs. Unlike Stymie, Skewball needs nothing more than a patch of short grass as the playing surface and can even be played in the local park!
Anyone who is interested in knowing more, or connecting with Jim, please contact [email protected] so we can put you in touch!
