Backflipping into Summer

WESLEY TSAI
Staff Writer

Volleyball has always been the sport seen at the beach on a sunny day, but imagine the mechanics of volleyball and merge it with multiple sports. As you turn your head 180 degrees, you see something that is pretty similar to volleyball but is instead on a large inflatable trampoline.

Here’s the catch: the players aren’t just passing with their arms, they are also passing with their legs, heads and chest.

This sport is called bossaball, and here’s how you would play. There is only one touch with your hands while you can have two touches with any other part on your body. With four players on the court, you are allowed to have six touches before you pass the ball over. To win a game of bossaball, a team must reach a score of 25. Basically, grab all the moves you’ve ever seen in soccer and gymnastics, add huge, trampoline-assisted air time and put it on an inflatable volleyball court. Then see if you can resist playing a game, or three, of bossaball.

This sport was created in 2004 by Filip Eyckmans from Spain, and though doing backflips in the air might sound tedious, the safely pumped inflatable court absorbs almost all impact, which makes falling fun and safe.

Various professional teams like “Bossaball Hungary” play competitively. This new sport has not been fully recognized yet, but by hearing and watching videos on how it’s played, being successful out there shouldn’t be a problem.