It’s the new activity that is taking off everywhere: bubble football, more commonly known as ‘bubbleball’. Fun, safe, good exercise, and a laugh riot to watch, bubble football is a variation on classic football played by many of the same rules, but with one big difference that makes all the difference in the world: the bubbleball.
What do we mean when we say “football?” That often depends on who you ask. In the US and Canada, football is generally thought of as a game that is descended from a combination of soccer and rugby that was originally played in 1869 between Rutgers and Princeton, which then began to become the gridiron game we know today with the rules written up in 1880.
But just about anywhere else in the world, football means association football, sometimes referred to as soccer. So you may see bubble football referred to as bubble soccer in the USA.
Association football is one of the most popular games in the world, particularly in Europe, Latin America, and Australia. Played by over 250 million people in over 200 countries, it is the world’s most popular sport, especially notorious for the fanaticism of its fans and the national prestige of elite play. There are around 200 international, professional-level teams, governed by FIFA, and the game is played in both the olympics and the paralympics. The game is played by all ages and both genders, and is popular as a youth sport because of the great exercise and relative safety of gameplay. But – injuries are common, particularly ankle knee, and facial injuries. And it can sometimes be a little boring to watch, as well, due to the large field size and low scoring.
What in the world, you may be asking yourself, is bubble football? Only the most entertaining, action-packed, delightful to watch, safest version of the game ever invented! Combining all of the exercise and challenge of football with the safety of a pillow fight and the slapstick comedy of a Keystone Cops film, bubble football was invented in Norway, and is taking the sports world by storm.
As you can see, it is just a little different from the football we have all come to know and love. And by a little different, we mean whacky, hilarious, farcical, zany, unpredictable, and other fun words, as well.
Just like football, bubble football is played on a grass pitch of regulation size, with goalies and a referee. Often, time is kept according to regulation play, or games are simply ended when everyone has run and bounced themselves to exhaustion, or when everyone is laughing too hard to play anymore.
Have you ever been in a pillow fight? Now imagine YOU are the pillow. Imagine all of your friends or co-workers are also pillows. You just run up to them and – boing! Or, think back to riding the bumper cars at an amusement park. Remember how much fun it was to drive around and run into all of the other cars at full speed, knowing everyone was perfectly safe and it was all just for laughs? Or, think of sumo wrestling. Except it’s outdoors on the grass, there are 11 sumos to a team, and they all have to chase a ball and kick it into a goal, and people hardly ever wear loincloths. Okay, maybe it’s not really that much like sumo wrestling. But you get the point – it’s a very bouncy, physical game.
As you can see, anyone who likes football has a ball playing bubble football. No, really, they have a big, round, inflatable ball, all around them, making them bounce off of any object they come into contact with. It’s especially popular as a team-building exercise or an activity at corporate retreats. It’s a good way to vent office tensions, and get everyone relaxed with each other.
Safe, fun, healthy, and a great bonding experience. Visit the BubbleBall Shop to find bubble football equipment.