An Evening of Entertainment and Sport

I don't want to say that evenings in Uganda are boring but unless you go out every night you do run out of options. So we have developed a new sport. Geckoing.

Origins of the Sport:
Geckos live every where in Uganda. In anything enclosed, like a house, latrine, shed, roof, or box you'll find at least two geckos there. They are cute, fast, but very shy. They may run if you see them or they may freeze. They also poop on anything that is beneath them. This is the origin of Geckoing. My wife has had enough of their mess. Trying to get rid of them before they stain your ceiling, walls or furniture is the object of the sport. (While a large percentage of Ugandans wrongly think geckos are demonic, this has caused confusion between Geckoing and the sport of Dragonslaying. With these similarities one can see how confusion develops.)

The Game
Play begins just before supper time and may last for hours. With the night, the geckos come out to feed on the insects that are always buzzing around. The early moments of the game are spent analyzing the opponent. Does it run straight or zigzag? Is there hesitation in the throwing motion? Is he a sweeper or smacker? In the singles version the contestant takes a throw pillow from the furniture and tries to knock the gecko off the wall and down to the floor. Pillow size and weight are essential to minimize household damage. Then the player pounces on the gecko and if successful, the player throws it outside. The doubles version calls for a lanceman and a wrangler. The lanceman knocks the gecko to the ground with a stick or whip where the wrangler seizes it and throws it out. The winner is the player with the most geckos caught inside and tossed outside into the night.

A Few Simple Rules
1. You cannot kill or maim the gecko during the course of play. This immediately stops play. A lost tail may cause a delay in play but since tails grow back, no harm no foul!
2.Spotlighting to immobilize the gecko is not allowed in eastern Uganda; however it is popular in the West.
3. The gecko must be caught by the wrangler in their hand or a dust pan and put outside to score.
4. While early in the sport's history, aerosols were used to slow the competition, now with the advent of both modern strategies and equipment these sprays are no longer used.

As in all sports there is the risk of injury to competitors. The sport has been endorsed by both the Uganda Gecko Homeboard  (UGH.ugh .co) and the Kilimanjaro Intellectual Outdoor Sideral Society (Kil-It-Out-side Society)