It may never become elevated to an Olympic sport, although stranger things have happened. Most Americans are still baffled about curling, that odd winter sport that looks like shuffleboard on ice.
Not many people, at least in the United States, have heard of cycle ball, even though it was invented by an American (of German heritage) named Nicholas Edward Kaufmann.
Wikipedia
According to legend, Nicholas was doing a stunt on his bicycle one day in 1893 when his dog Mops got in the way. So he used his front wheel to move gently guide the dog out of the way. Replace the dog with a ball and there you have it, cycle ball.
The game failed to take off here but picked up steam in Europe — Willich, Germany, hosted the Cycle-Ball World Cup just last month — and even Japan.
BikeItalia
The game, otherwise known as “radball,”is basically soccer played on bicycles. Players have to keep their hands and feet to themselves, using only their bikes to move the ball around the court and the wheels to flick them at high speed into goals on either side of the court.
YouTube
They use specially designed bikes, which have neither brakes nor gears and rather oddly shaped handlebars. Their feet can’t touch the ground, either, which, of course, results in any number of nasty wipeouts!
YouTube
Want to see these players in action?
Watch the clip below, and don’t forget to share with another sports aficionado today!
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