Bubble Soccer brings new take on classic game

By Ryan, October 1, 2015

By Sean Hamilton, Staff Writer//

HPU’s Campus Activities Team’s (CAT) annual Bubble Soccer event has now become bigger than ever. Last year, the event was a huge success and this year, on Sept. 4, it was moved indoors to Slane Student Center. The event features three games: a “hamster race” which includes two people racing in gigantic bubbles, dodge ball and the fan favorite bubble soccer. Alternatively called “Bumper Soccer” or “Bubble Brawl”, this new spin on the beautiful game is becoming an extremely popular activity which sort of acts like human bumper cars. After being created in Norway and taking off in Europe, the game gained popularity in the United States last year when the game was featured on an episode of “The Late Night Show” with Jimmy Fallon. Participants in this activity do not require athletic ability or knowledge of the game to have fun. The game consists of two teams of people who suit up in enormous plastic bubbles. Like soccer, there are two nets and a soccer ball with a simple objective of putting the ball in the other team’s net. There is a lot of crashing and intense collisions, but the majority of the force is absorbed by the shiny plastic armor. Ultimately, this is an amusing way to get in a good cardio workout. The bubbles weigh around 30 pounds. It’s a very different type of game from any type of sport out there. It is technically a contact sport, but instead of being greeted by pain, you pretty much just roll over. It’s the ultimate mental psyche-out. Bubble Soccer is also very entertaining for observers, who are almost conditioned to expect certain outcomes from our knowledge of sports and physics. However, in this game bodies fly, only everybody is safe and flailing their legs, desperate to gain stability. The sport sort of feels like a safety advocate’s dream; Just wrap everyone up in bubble wrap. The game also has rules. Referees can actually hand out yellow and red cards for what they perceive as a hit on defenseless players. The equipment for the games come from Kramer Entertainment, a full service event entertainment and talent agency. Kramer Entertainment provides live acts, magicians, hypnotists, and other event equipment. Several of the comedians and performers you see at HPU are frequently recruited by CAT via Kramer Entertainment and companies like such. The business model for bubble soccer companies is actually pretty similar to Crossfit companies. Basically the National Bubble Soccer company produces the bubbles, and sells them to local entrepreneurs like Kramer, who then lease it out to consumers. Be on the lookout for Bubble Soccer in 2016. And stay tuned for more exciting events posted on the HPU Student Engagement Calendar. Coming up Sept. 19 is Bowling. Students sign up at the campus concierge desk.