Standing Stone State Park, in nearby Hilham, Tennessee, is also helping preserve traditional marbles play. Once they start playing they really love it.” 'From 10 to 14, they really begin to develop their power and their spin. “Most of the time the kids really get into it at about the age of 10,' said Cherry, who coaches marbles teams in schools. But just across the state line in Clay County, Tennessee, Brian Cherry is introducing the game to a new generation. Most of those still playing today are older men, many in their 70s and 80s, and there is a feat that the game will die out.

'We play different games, but this game we’re playing here today, it came up in the '30s.' “The old timers before me were playing in their backyards here, I know, 60 years ago,' Houchens said. Enthusiast Buck Houchens says there used to be lots of marble courts in the area, but only a few are left. Here in the hill country along the border between the states of Kentucky and Tennessee, marbles play remains a popular sport among men of a certain age. Their goal is to earn points by striking much larger lemon-sized marbles and knocking them out of the square. Getting down on hands and knees, they fire grape-sized stone marbles from between the thumb and forefinger with tremendous force. Two, two-man teams are playing a game called Tennessee Square. The playing field is a flat piece of old carpet measuring roughly six meters on a side. On a warm, late-summer Saturday morning in the tiny community of Etoile, Kentucky, a small crowd gathers under a shade tree to watch a game of marbles.

Playing marbles with diamonds