Eton students have been trying out a new socially distanced form of the beautiful game this year, using ‘zorbs’. These are inflatable spheres made of transparent plastic and usually enable the practice of ‘zorbing’, but have been repurposed recently to play ‘zorb football’! Below is an account of the new game, written by Fitz:
Zorb football is the most energetic manic game of football I have ever played!
Zorb football has been a great invention for the current climate, as it’s a game that almost everyone can take part in, with little skill involved. You stand inside of a soft pumped up bubble with straps around your arms, although you do have to not only about scoring but also getting pushed over from behind, or in fact any possible angle!
The rules of the game are simple, there are two goals and 6 players on either side, and running into each other is absolutely fine. The aim is to score the most goals before everyone is too tired to play anymore.
Zorbs were originally made for rolling down hills, but they have been used in the era of social distancing and non-contact sports to play football, which is now the most popular way of using a zorb. Despite it being extremely tiring to play, students are playing it for hours on end, bumping into each other and getting stuck on their backs in very odd positions!
It is great to play with friends and other year groups, especially when you have two people over 6ft3 on your team!
Thank you to Nickie Reed for the accompanying photographs
