The youngsters knelt around a ring under the Bloomfield Bridge. At a nearby baseball field, the crowd cheered and applauded at the game, but the hurrahs didn't stir these kids. Neither did the early evening drizzle. The only sound they heard was the tinkle of agate hitting glass.

Penelope Bauer, 12, of Friendship, and Sarah Ireland, 14, of Polish Hill, were focused on getting ready for the 86th annual National Marbles Tournament next week in Wildwood, N.J.

"It's something I look forward to in the year," Sarah said of the tournament, where she will meet with marble lovers from all over the country, many of them now in their 70s or 90s.

"When you get into marbles, it stays with you for the rest of your life," she explained.

Sarah came in second at the Allegheny County Marbles Tournament in late May, and she has been practicing every day in hopes of winning the championship at the national tournament, which starts Sunday and runs through next Thursday. This is her last opportunity to win -- the tournament is for ages 7 through 14.

The winner of the national tournament receives a $2,000 scholarship, but for Sarah, the title of National Marble Champion is what is most meaningful.

Sarah's hope of winning has a tenable foundation: For the past five years, Allegheny County has produced national champions. Both the girl and boy winners of 2008 were from the county.

This year, Penelope was the winner. In 2007, her sister, Alexandra Bauer, won the National Marbles Tournament.

While team sports and video games occupy an increasing amount of youngsters' free time, playing marbles is still popular with families here, often spanning generations.

Ed Ricci is one example. Mr. Ricci, of Shaler, goes to the South Side every afternoon to coach marbles, his hands still smeared with ink from his job as a copier repairman.

His daughter, Amber Ricci, was the National Marble Tournament champion last year at age 12. His wife, Maureen Ricci, whom he met in Wildwood, does most of the organizing for the county marble programs. Their 4-year-old daughter, Sierra, is learning to play.

Mr. Ricci's older sister, Denise Ricci, was the national runner-up in 1978.

His mother, Caroline Ricci, has keepsakes from his grandfather, including a gauge to measure marbles, records of the national marble champions since the first tournament in 1922 and "The Great American Marble Book," published in 1973, which Mrs. Ricci has repaired with duct tape.

The ring her late father, Walt Lease, built in front of her house on St. Michael Street in the South Side is still a place for youngsters to practice shooting.

Caroline Ricci's neighborhood is filled with champion mibsters. Stephanie Zlokas, who lives next door, won the national championship in 1995. Carly Miller, who lives across the street, went to Wildwood in 2004 and won. The following year, Carly's cousin, Jamie Miller, was the marble king.

Playing marbles has a hidden charm, known only to those who play. Mrs. Ricci, 64, recalled the first time she played at the National Championship at the age of 14.

"My father made me. I didn't want it," she said. "[Later] I wanted to do it, but I was too old."

When marbles were introduced at his school, Ben Eddings, of the South Side, said he shot for the first time and "it was kind of weird." But that weird game turned out to become his favorite, and he was the runner-up at the county marble tournament this year.

"It makes your thumb strong. Intellectually, you have to think of all the things that happen," he said.

Brandon Matchett, of the South Side, was the champion among the boys in the county tournament. The agate marbles have formed calluses on his knuckles, and the concrete ring has hardened the skin on his knees.

Concentration and determination are prerequisites for a marble player, said Dan Lagamba Sr., a marbles coach who lives in Lawrenceville. "You can't come and think you might hit the marble. You must think you will."