Out-of-the-box sports to try in Canberra
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Want to get moving? Get your blood pumping with these five unique sports!
Quadball
Ever wondered how you could tap into your inner Harry Potter (besides binge-watching all eight movies at once)? Quadball is the answer you have been waiting for! It is a reproduction of Harry Potter’s Quidditch, minus the being in the air part…unfortunately, HerCanberra hasn’t quite mastered the Wingardium Leviosa charm.
Teams consist of seven players whom each must stay on their broomstick (again, no inbuilt anti-gravity charms in these sticks!). The three chasers and one keeper must use a ‘quaffle’ (volleyball) to score in one of three hoops. The two beaters use ‘bludgers’ (dodgeballs) to hit other players, deeming them out of the game until they run back to touch their own goals. The seeker and the snitch are released 18 minutes into play, and the game ends once the seeker has tagged the opposing team’s snitch. However, rather than being a golden ball with flying wings, the snitch is just another muggle…
Canberra’s quadball team is based at the ANU and all are welcome to participate.
Jugger
Jugger—like Quadball—is inspired by a film, albeit a lesser known one than the Harry Potter franchise. Released in 1989, The Salute of the Jugger is a dystopic sci-fi film in which the only sport that has survived in the future is ‘The Game’. Two teams contain four players armoured with chains and steel bars, aiming to prevent the unarmoured ‘Qwik’ from scoring with a dog skull.
Today, Jugger is not near as brutal as the sport from The Salute of the Jugger. Instead, the four defenders carry ‘pompfen’ which replicate the film’s weapons but are made of plastic and foam. Jugger is therefore a safe replica of ‘The Game’.
Although The Salute of the Jugger itself was not a hit, the sport adapted from the film has carried on to this day and is a great success in Canberra!
Jugger Canberra meets on Sundays at 2 pm in Glebe Park.
Rogaining
Does Mount Ainslie look like nothing but a light uphill jog to you? Try rogaining: a navigational long-distance foot race. The winner is not the person or team who made it to the end the fastest, but who made it back to the start having acquired the most points within a set timeframe. Rogaining can be done individually or within a team- usually of up to four people and can go from anywhere between three hours to an extreme of 24 hours!
Points are gained by route planning your way to ‘controllers’, each of which has a different number of points attached to them.
Rogaining is a great way to build up navigational skills within the Canberra region and beyond, you could even put them into practice the next time you are in the passenger seat on a road trip! All you need is a map and a compass (and plenty of water!).
The ACT Rogaining Association (ACTRA) hosts multiple events and races each year.
Underwater Rugby
Although Canberra may not have an ocean (unless your definition includes Lake Burley Griffin), that scuba gear that has been collecting dust in the cupboard can now go to good use!
As expected, underwater rugby takes after on-the-ground rugby in that it is a contact sport, but rather than sporting jerseys and spikes, players wear fins, caps and snorkels. There are 2 underwater referees and one pool-side referee. The game is six a-side and teams score by getting the salt water filled ball into baskets on the base of the pool.
It is an advantage if you already know how to swim, but anyone is welcome to play!
The Canberra Underdogs meet 6:30 pm weekly on Mondays at Canberra Olympic Swimming Pool and fortnightly Wednesdays at the Australian Institute of Sport at 7:30 pm.
Ultimate
Ultimate brings with it the nostalgia of playing frisbee as a kid and turns it into a combination of netball, touch football and American football (grid-iron). Ultimate is unique in that it is self-refereed and tends to be played more often than not in mixed-gendered teams.
With seven players a-side, points are scored by catching the frisbee in the other team’s endzone. As soon as the frisbee is touched by a player from the opposing team or hits the ground, it is a change-over. Players cannot step whilst holding the disc, mimicking netball.
Canberra Ultimate is currently in the midst of its 2023 Indoor League, playing on Tuesdays from 7 to 9 pm at The Dome in Fadden.
Feature image via facebook.com/ANUOwls
