Top 10 Unusual Sports To Try This Summer

By Christy Flom on August 5, 2015

For anyone sick of all the talk about football, basketball, hockey, and baseball, then listen up. After being tired of playing pickup basketball games with my friends everyday and listening to them bicker over whether or not Michigan State will be able to beat Michigan again in football in the fall, I decided it was time to find some new ways to spend my time in the summer.

So, after hours upon hours of grueling, back-wrenching research, I uncovered 10 of the most random, hilarious and unusual sports ever invented in the world.

1. Poohsticks. This game earned its name from being first mentioned in a Winnie-the-Pooh book. Basically, the game is to drop a stick upstream on one side of a bridge and whoever’s stick shows up on the other side of the bridge wins. It’s pretty simple.

When I first of heard of this game the one aspect that really stood out was that people only drop sticks. That’s a tad boring for me. To make this sport more interesting, get a group of friends together and tell them to bring five unused, old, or random items that can easily be thrown away. Tell everyone to throw all of the items they brought into one large pile. Then, give your friends five minutes to grab five new items and make a floatable device out of only those items and duct tape.

That is just one way to be spontaneous and make the sport more fun for everyone. When the newly invented items are dropped from the bridge it will be not only a race of speed across the finish line but also a contest to see whose inventions will stay afloat!

Image by Geoffrey Swaine/Rex Features via The Guardian

2. Bed Racing. Played with six people and a bed, this sport includes a 3Km race and the daunting task of crossing a river to finish the competition. There are up to five people allowed to push the bed which is usually put on wheels and a sixth person must be sitting on the bed at all times.

There are many ways to go about creating a team for this sport. While doing so, certain questions should be considered. Is it better to have strong runners or fast runners? What is the max that the person sitting in the bed should weigh? How are you going to get the whole team across the river on a mattress? What if the mattress starts to sink?

If you are doing this sport in your hometown, it might be best to adjust the course a tad bit. Living in a city makes it more difficult, but see if it can be done on a smaller scale by running around a track and then climbing a hill or crossing a pool rather than a river.

 3. Zorbing. The sport of racing, or rather, rolling downhill in a large orb of transparent plastic. The equipment, a.k.a. the large orb of plastic, can be ordered from Amazon at a spew of prices depending on the brand, size, etc.

Obstacle courses can be made for this sport, too. Big cushions or padded objects can be placed down the hill forcing participants to figure out the best way to avoid them or use the obstacles to their advantage.

4. Zorb Soccer. A similar game to zorbing is zorb soccer. These specific bubble balls are slightly smaller, as they do not encompass your entire body. The legs are left out of the orb so that players can run and kick the ball towards the opposing goal.

The generic rules of soccer apply but in a casual setting of this sport goalies are not always used to make it more fun and slightly easier for the people in the orbs.

5. Milk Carton Regatta. We all know of sailing regattas, where people sail sailboats of all different sizes around a certain course, usually marked by buoys in the water.

Well, the Milk Carton Regatta is a race of boats made entirely from milk cartons. This sport takes much preparation and dedication, but is a feasible task overall. Besides, who wouldn’t want to say that they raced in a boat made of milk cartons?

6. Raft Racing. I first heard of raft racing in Northern Michigan over the fourth of July. Groups create and build a raft of their own and then put it in a river. Everyone starts at once and floats down the river in parade-like fashion in front of large crowds of spectators.

The raft racers normally throw water balloons, or flour bombs into the crowds or at one another while they are floating. I had a friend compete this summer and they made a raft out of tarp, kayaks, and ladders. Anything goes and the event is a great way to cool off in the summer heat.

Image via Wikipedia

7. JumpRopeSprint. This is an extremely new sport that has already made gains toward being included in the Olympics. Participants sprint while jump roping with each stride.

As a great way for athletes to train, the exercise eventually turned into a competition and has gained national attention over the years. By combining speed and dexterity in a new and unique way, the sport has intrigued millions of people. Keep an eye out for it in upcoming Olympic games!

8. Beer Mile. Drinking and running; everyone’s favorite combination, right? If basically chugging a beer and then sprinting a lap is not necessarily enticing to you, I would avoid this race. If that sounds like just your cup of tea, join right on in! Contestants must finish a beer after each lap in this sport and the first one to finish a mile wins.

Practice makes perfect and the only way to prepare for this sport is to be able to run on a full stomach of liquid. So, get out there with a cooler of beer and get practicing!

Image via Wikipedia

9. Parkour. Jumping, climbing, and leaping from building to building is the main part of this sport. Parkour looks really, really cool if you can actually do it. Otherwise, it looks like people injuring themselves as they ungracefully jump off of the walls of buildings.

This sport has become a game for the general public to use on a smaller scale like jumping off of benches or fences. Some schools even have clubs where people gather together and participate in Parkour together.

10. Inner tube water polo. Able to be played in a pool or a lake, inner tube water polo is one of the most fun games I have ever played. The sport is water polo in tubes. Players sit with their butts in the tube on teams of 6-10 people.

Games usually last an hour and whoever scores the most in that time period wins. Inner tube water polo is a fast paced game that is fun for everyone!

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