Picture a typical Friday at UF. Turlington Plaza is filled with its usual crowd of students, professors, fraternity members and the occasional shouting preacher. You could find this assortment of people walking across the pebbled ground of Turlington any day of the week.
But on Fridays, Turlington becomes a playground in a UF tradition that has held a six-year reign over a corner of the plaza: four square.
Every Friday, a group of students take over one corner of Turlington to play four square from 11:30 a.m. well into the evening. They might play until 6 p.m. one week and continue until 9 p.m. the next.
When UF student Eric Martin-Taylor transferred here his junior year, he quickly discovered the Friday phenomenon.
“At the time, I had broken up with my girlfriend of three years and I just needed something to do and to get out of my apartment. Four square has probably been one of the best things I’ve done,” Martin-Taylor said. “It’s mostly just a really good way to meet people, and (it’s) stress relief.”
The rules are simple. There are four squares, laid out on the ground with tape or chalk. One person stands in each square.
The person in the designated “king square” serves the ball toward a player, who lets it bounce once and then hits it underhanded toward another player.
This continues until someone lets it bounce twice in his or her square or hits the ball out of bounds. Players can’t hit the ball overhanded and can’t hit it before it bounces.
When they get out, the next person in line jumps in as all players except the one in the king square rotate positions.
The game gets more complicated when the king square person adds rules. One regular player started a rule once that everyone had to say a different prime number when they hit the ball. Another rule might be that you can only hit the ball if you’re standing in the shade.
One of Martin-Taylor’s favorite rules, “inception,” lets players hit the ball in the air before it bounces.
If there’s a dispute over whether someone is out, then a duel between the two players in question decides the outcome.
In the evenings, they’ll sometimes play nine square in the center of Turlington. Only twice have they had enough players to attempt sixteen square at the plaza.
The four square group is always shifting. There is a core of students that show up nearly every week, while others turn up every once in a while and some people with time between classes give it a try.
The common denominator among the players is four square. Some are computer science majors, while others might study astronomy.
Kevin Fillipps, who graduated in May from UF with degrees in marketing and psychology, started playing four square at Turlington when he was a senior at Gainesville’s Eastside High School.
Fillipps, 22, has played since 2006, only a year after the tradition began. When he became a Turlington four square regular, he heard from others that a local church group had started playing there in 2005.
Since 2006, the group has grown in size and extended its playing time.
Fillipps, who now works at SumTotal Systems Inc., a software company in Gainesville, still comes out some Fridays to play after work.
People play four square for fun, but injuries are a reality the players accept.
Fillipps hit the ground during a game and dented his knee once. Another time he dove for a ball and partially dislocated his shoulder.
“You dive for a ball at any point, you’re probably going to fall,” he said.
Martin-Taylor, 22, hasn’t injured himself as severely as Fillipps has playing four square, but he has probably received the most injuries. He’s been scraped and bruised during the game countless times.
Four square regulars call Martin-Taylor “Safety First” because he wears elbow pads, kneepads and gloves when he plays. He also brings a couple of first-aid kits with him that he received from the UF infirmary during previous four square-related visits.
It’s just part of his playing style.
“I definitely know how far it is to the infirmary from here,” he said while playing on Turlington one Friday.
Martin-Taylor isn’t the only player with a nickname. One student who always shows up in black clothes and sunglasses earned the nickname Neo after the character from the Matrix movie series. Another player was christened “Retro” because he was older and wore shirts emblazoned with that word.
While the players have fun, Friday four square isn’t without its trials. Bicyclists often accidentally ride through their game. Occasionally, people talking on phones wander into one of the squares.
One time, a woman stopped in the middle of the four square field to talk on her cell phone, then started yelling at the players when a ball grazed her, Martin-Taylor said.
While he understands that sometimes people aren’t paying attention, once they walk through the area during a game, there’s a good chance they’ll get hit.
“Sometimes people get hit. They give us the evil eye,” Fillipps said. “We’re kind of outcasts in some people’s eyes.”
A preacher in Turlington got hit once and tried to convince police that the players had aimed at him on purpose, Fillipps said.
Sometimes a ball will fly wild and hit a bystander, but the players are quick to apologize, Martin-Taylor said. They also have a ‘baby rule’ in which they stop playing if a young child or stroller is nearby to avoid accidentally hitting them.
New players are always welcome at four square.
Teresa Wren, who transferred to UF this spring, was walking through Turlington when she saw people playing and decided to join in on the fun. She hadn’t played since middle school but loved the game.
While more men usually play than women, there are several girls like Teresa who play regularly, she said.
While some of the more experienced players may use fancy moves, that shouldn’t deter new people from joining in the fun, Martin-Taylor said. If someone new joins, players will help him get used to the game.
“New people add a new element,” he said.
He’s used a variety of strategies to get people to join the game.
“’Hey you, why don’t you come play?’ doesn’t work,” he said. “But surprisingly, pointing at them and saying, ‘YOU! Come play!’ actually (does) work.”
