Extreme ironing is the sport for you if you want to combine sport with performance art. It entails hiking or climbing to a remote location and ironing clothing there. The sport is said to have been started in 1998 by Phil Shaw in Leicester, England. Shaw came home from work one day…
Read MoreObscure Sports Weekly: SlamBall
Most sports require a mixture of speed and strength to achieve success. Mason Gordon went above and beyond these requirements when he created SlamBall, a form of basketball that incorporates aspects of football and gymnastics. Gordon wanted to take the unrealistic abilities of athletes in video games, such as extreme…
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Obscure Sports Weekly: Roller Derby
Roller derby began as a spin-off of marathon events, walk-a-thons and dance-a-thons, popular in the 1930s. Leo A. Stelzer sponsored the first marathon skating session in 1935. The teams registered in the competition had to skate a total of 3,000 miles around the rink. Beginning in 1937, physical contact within the…
Read MoreObscure Sports Weekly: Futsal
Futsal or “Futebol de salão,” otherwise known as “room football,” is a sport that is not well known by most Americans. In its most basic form, it is soccer played on a basketball court with smaller goals, and fewer players. The game of futsal originated in Brazil in the 1930s…
Read MoreObscure Sports Weekly: LARPing
Parks and college campuses have seen an increase in what appears to be medieval duels. In these duels, groups of people dressed as fictional characters gather in a central location. However, the meetings are much more complex than people running around fighting with foam swords; they are actually participating in…
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Obscure Sports Weekly: Quidditch
Whether they briefly saw it on a movie preview or recall the exact value of the Golden Snitch, many are familiar with the Harry Potter-based sport of Quidditch. While mounted on a broomstick, witches and wizards in the magical world compete in the sport that incorporates dodgeball, rugby and friendly…
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