Starting from a coach at the Hatton Gallery, we headed to the 3G pitches at Soccerworld in Fenham to play the brutal sport of Bubble Football on a chilly October evening. The first challenge was to actually get into the bubble itself, trying to jiggle your arms into the straps and pick yourself up.
Then the games began, with a few rounds of ‘Bulldog’- the old school game where a group of people try to run from side to side while avoiding being tagged by a single chaser or ‘bulldog’ with people who were caught also becoming a chaser. Of course this being bubble football, things were somewhat more physical, as rather than being tagged, runners needed to be toppled over. Meanwhile runners could either try to run or knock chasers over.
"In fact it pretty much knocked the sniffles out of me!"
Needless to say an encounter as a chaser with my fellow sports editor James as a runner, ended with me worse off. In fact it pretty much knocked the sniffles out of me! It also proved to be a lot more tiring having to hold a big sphere around you while running, especially as the number of chasers got higher and the number of runners dwindled. ‘Bulldog’ proved to be as much a game of agility as it was speed.
Following this intense form of ‘Bulldog we moved onto the main event of bubble football itself in a five vs five format. Again there was much fun to be had with tactics including bouncing the ball off your bubble, or in one case holding it in the bubble to crowding out opposing players if they were holding the ball. If nothing else you could always try knock each other and tire them out that way. I’ll admit I was rather glad to see my fellow reporter be tipped upside down in the first few minutes.
"i myself only managed to knock one pin over, but trust me it was harder than it looks!"
After a few matches with people swapping in and out to give everyone a go, we then had a couple games of bowling. This involved using six people as pins, with one bowler sprinting towards them, aiming to knock as many people over as possible. I myself only managed to knock one pin over, but trust me it was harder than it looks! The session then ended with a final game of bubble football to end what had been a very entertaining if tiring experience.
I’d wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who’s interested in sport, fun, or inflatable-related violence.
However Bubble Football is not just the only activity that the Give It A Go programme offers. Other activities that are available in October and are set to get your heart racing include touch rugby, taekwondo and badminton. There are of course more relaxed activities like language classes and day visits too. All you have to do is visit the NUSU website, see something you like and to just well give it a go!
Thomas Shrimplin