Five Canberra sports you may not have heard of

Posted on 13 August, 2019

Brilliant at bouldering? Had it with hot yoga? Finished first in frisbee?

Get active and challenge yourself with these five alternative sports.

Floorball

Credit: facebook.com/FloorballACT

Floorball is the safer, less aggressive version of floor hockey. Using lightweight sticks and a plastic ball with holes, each team has five players and a goalkeeper on the court at all times.

Unlike floor hockey, the goalkeeper doesn’t have a stick, instead using their hands similar to that of a soccer goalie. Games are broken into three 20-minute periods and the aim is to score as many goals as possible.

Floorball ACT runs local training sessions and competitive leagues, also sending teams to major national tournaments. Check out the Floorball ACT Facebook page for details. There are also opportunities for Juniors to play.

facebook.com/FloorballACT

Quidditch

image: facebook.com/ANUOwls

Inspired by the fictitious sport in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter universe, Quidditch has taken the alternative sporting world by storm since 2005 when it was first adapted for real-world play.

Anyone familiar with Harry Potter may be wondering how such a sport would work in the real world (you know, without flying broomsticks), yet it’s really not much different…except for the fact that players are on the ground running instead of flying.

The game begins with six players from each team on the field, a Keeper, three Chasers and two Beaters, all of whom are mounted on broomsticks. The Keepers and Chasers play with a Quaffle (a slightly deflated volleyball), with the aim being for the Chasers to throw the Quaffle through one of the three-goal hoops at the end of the field in order to score 10 points.

The Keeper is the defender of the hoops, aided by the Beaters who throw Bludgers (deflated dodgeballs) at their Chaser opponents who, if knocked by a Bludger, have to dismount and go back to touch their own goal hoops before they can resume playing.

18 minutes into the game a seventh player known as the Seeker is brought on for each team whose goal is to catch the Golden Snitch. In Harry Potter, the Snitch is a magical golden ball that flies around and is extremely hard to catch, in the real-life version it is a Velcro tag attached to a neutral ‘Snitch Runner’ who runs around the field.

When the Snitch is caught, 30 points are awarded to that team and the game is over. Whichever team has more points at the end wins.

The ANU Owls are Canberra’s Quidditch team, and all are welcome to join.

facebook.com/ANUOwls

Highland Hustle

https://www.instagram.com/p/B0hLIAHlLBt/

As the lovechild of a modern fitness class and Scottish Highland Dancing, Highland Hustle is the perfect mix of exercise and fun. Because the dance builds gradually, it’s easy to find the pace that works for you, whether that’s low impact or high intensity.

Don’t worry if you think you have no rhythm, or don’t think you can dance, Highland Hustle is all about having fun and getting moving.

facebook.com/highlandhustlecanberra

Dodgeball

You may remember playing dodgeball at school, but we promise this is more fun.

Each game starts with at least five balls along the centre line of the court, teams rush from the baseline to get as many balls as possible before they begin to throw the foam balls at their opponents.

A player is out when they are hit by a ball, they can also get out if a ball they throw is caught before it bounces.

Players aren’t allowed to go on their opponent’s side of the court, and the game is over when one team has successfully got all of the other team out.

Dodgeball is a game which can have many different rules depending on the number of people playing and the size of the court, so make sure to have a read of the specific ones when you go and play.

canberra.urbanrec.com.au/leagues/dodgeball

Underwater Rugby

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpyvJqynvST/

While Underwater Rugby sounds like a bit of a wildcard at first, this 3D, full-contact, completely underwater sport is one of Canberra’s fastest-growing sports communities.

Using a round ball filled with salt water (so it’s heavier than the pool water) players aim to score by getting the ball into a basket which sits at the bottom of the pool.

Each team has six players in the water at any given time, with up to another six outside of the pool as reserves who can sub in when players need a breather.

Even though it may sound pretty intense, players only need to hold their breath for around 15-20 seconds, and pretty much anyone with any swimming ability can play.

facebook.com/Canberrauwr | Read our feature ‘Everything you need to know about underwater rugby’ here