Skip to content

Playground’s “4-square” goes grownup in BART lot

on October 15, 2008

Video by MARTIN RICARD

Every week, young adults and the young at heart gather at the Rockridge BART station to play one of the most hallowed of playground games: four-square.

With cars and trains zooming by above, the group — known as 4 Square of the East Bay — takes over a row of parking spaces, sharing the lot with medieval sword fighters and bike polo players, to compete for fun and for camaraderie.

For many of them, it provides relief from the day-to-day stress of their jobs and hectic lives.

“I was sitting at a desk for three-and-a-half hours, not moving much,” said Gus Feldman, 25, a regular player. “So it feels good, after all of that, to get out here, hang out with some friends and … play an eight-year-old’s game.”

This video story takes a look into the world of four-square as these players see it. This game isn’t just for third-graders anymore. It’s for grownups, too, and they mean business.

 

http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg

http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg|http://oaklandnorth.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/foursquare.jpg

5 Comments

  1. Travis on October 31, 2008 at 4:56 pm

    Nicely done! Feel free to join us every Thursday at 9pm at the Rockridge BART. Be there and be square.



  2. Tina on November 3, 2008 at 1:30 am

    Ha! Loved this. I spent my youth attached to a Four Square court. I thought the game had evaporated decades ago. Wonderful article.



  3. […] Rockridge BART is the place to be on Thursday night. Oakland North covers the four square games that happen there weekly, complete with video. East Bay West Online (Oakland North’s sister site), also has a fun […]



  4. Shawn on November 3, 2008 at 12:48 pm

    Back in the day (mid-80s), we used to do Nine Square in the Berkeley High courtyard. Server is in the middle square, Paul Lynde-style. I miss that game.



  5. Lee on November 11, 2008 at 12:33 am

    Travis, I totally nailed your feet!



Oakland North welcomes comments from our readers, but we ask users to keep all discussion civil and on-topic. Comments post automatically without review from our staff, but we reserve the right to delete material that is libelous, a personal attack, or spam. We request that commenters consistently use the same login name. Comments from the same user posted under multiple aliases may be deleted. Oakland North assumes no liability for comments posted to the site and no endorsement is implied; commenters are solely responsible for their own content.

Photo by Basil D Soufi
logo
Oakland North

Oakland North is an online news service produced by students at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and covering Oakland, California. Our goals are to improve local coverage, innovate with digital media, and listen to you–about the issues that concern you and the reporting you’d like to see in your community. Please send news tips to: oaklandnorthstaff@gmail.com.

Latest Posts

Scroll To Top