Over-the-line was first played in
Mission Beach in
San Diego, California, in the 1950s and continues to thrive in the area. It is seen largely as a novelty game in the inland counties (and, debatably, the beach counties as well), but still persists as a physical education activity at local high schools, and most visibly in the practice of an annual tournament held on
Fiesta Island. By far the locale's most notorious activity, the annual "OMBAC World Championship Over The Line Tournament", organized by Old Mission Beach Athletic Club, is a prominent event in San Diego's beach sports life. The tournament has a history of adult-themed team names, often with variations of the sport's equipment — namely bats and balls — that are seen as explicit enough to discourage most youth attendance. As such, the tournament has gained a negative reputation over the years for these hedonistic and sexual overtones. Despite its infamous reputation, however, the game has grown in popularity among the San Diego populace and governing bodies over the years, even surpassing about 60,000 spectators during the two July weekends the annual tournament was hosted in 2011. To help highlight the sport rather than the spectacle and encourage more family-friendly participation, OMBAC has made strides to cut back on these and some of the tournament's other, more offensive, elements by discouraging slogans such as "beer, babes, and bats on the beach". The annual World Championships now gathers more than 1,200 teams from all over the world separated into multiple divisions. Players range in age from 18 to 80 years old and are split by gender. In an effort to help further the sport, an OTL Players Association was established several years ago. They currently host several additional tournaments each year. == References ==