News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Standing Stone State Park is hosting the 41st National Rolley Hole Championship Saturday.
Rolley Hole is a game where teams of two roll marbles through twelve holes with the first team to complete the course winning the game. Park Ranger Jonathan Williams said the game originated in the region of southern Kentucky and northern Tennessee.
“A lot of the folks start out as young children and then they work up,” Williams said. “Normally we have kids camps here that focus on marbles as well and it’s just something that we like to see that tradition continue.”
The tournament also contains live music, food vendors, and various marble makers. Williams said the competition will feature the best players in the country.
“They come from all over,” Williams said. “The ability of these players to shoot a marble, roll a marble, and put backspin on a marble is fantastic to watch and something I can’t do so it is a highly competitive event.”
The event won the 2021 Tennessee Governor’s Arts Award in Folklife Heritage. Williams said it is important for parks to keep the culture and heritage alive.
“Since it is a game indigenous to this small area it’s just a way to keep it passed down year by year and decade by decade,” Williams said. “It is one of those things that you are afraid of if you lose it or if you no longer play it’s going to be lost to time and we just try to keep everything going on.”
Williams said he loves the event so much that he could not pick a favorite part but he greatly enjoys seeing people have a good time.
“Overall it is such a great event and everyone that comes to it has a lot of smiles,” Williams said. “It’s just awesome just to see the excitement in everyone.”
Standing Stone State Park has held the tournament each year since 1983.
