Organisation
The International Shockball League (ISL) is currently a free-form organisation. The first season (2046) of ISL play is an exhibition series intended to show the world the game and to work out the details. It is also intended to bring franchises, potential owners, arenas, and other important infrastructure together and hammer out an organisation.
The ISL is thus, for all intents and purposes, completely insignificant in the first official season of Shock game-play. There are even only two teams, and they are simply labelled "Red" and "Blue". These teams have a flux of players coming and going. Later it is intended that demand will organise the ISL into several divisions and all of the traditional artifacts of high level spectator sports will come into existence; however, the first season is far more free-form.
Finally, the reality of the day is that transportation over long distances is cheap and comfortable for those who can afford it. Manned missions are reaching out into the solar system, with research outposts established as far out as moons of Neptune. Teleportation technology is reaching further and further. And thus distances seem smaller and smaller. The ISL is truly international as a result, not weighed down ideologically by traditional geographic limitations, and Shock itself is an international phenomenon from the start, so the resultant league(s) could have several cross-overs in the ever-more-global community of 2046.
Time will tell... and the creators of Shock, Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Snyder, are fully open to discussion with others who might wish to create parallel leagues, as their interest is in making this sport as big as possible.
The ISL is thus, for all intents and purposes, completely insignificant in the first official season of Shock game-play. There are even only two teams, and they are simply labelled "Red" and "Blue". These teams have a flux of players coming and going. Later it is intended that demand will organise the ISL into several divisions and all of the traditional artifacts of high level spectator sports will come into existence; however, the first season is far more free-form.
Finally, the reality of the day is that transportation over long distances is cheap and comfortable for those who can afford it. Manned missions are reaching out into the solar system, with research outposts established as far out as moons of Neptune. Teleportation technology is reaching further and further. And thus distances seem smaller and smaller. The ISL is truly international as a result, not weighed down ideologically by traditional geographic limitations, and Shock itself is an international phenomenon from the start, so the resultant league(s) could have several cross-overs in the ever-more-global community of 2046.
Time will tell... and the creators of Shock, Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Snyder, are fully open to discussion with others who might wish to create parallel leagues, as their interest is in making this sport as big as possible.