So, What Is Zorb Football?

Let’s start with the million-dollar question, eh?

Just what is this game called zorb football? Well, it might sound a little alien, but it has nothing to do with zerg rushes, I assure you! Though if you are trying to dribble, you might as well prepare to face one.

The more conventional name for ZF (still haven’t seen this abbreviation often, but I quite like to use it together with Z-football) is actually bubble soccer. It doesn’t pack the same punch, but gives you a more accurate representation of what you should expect. ZF is played with the same overall rules as football. You get a regular football and you have to put it in the opposing team’s net. The only difference is that you must do so while wearing an inflatable bubble similar to the eponymous zorbs.

Zorbing has been a hit for quite a while now, especially with waterwalking. About two years ago you may have heard about Reza Baluchi, who made a valiant attempt to run between Florida and the Bermudas using only a zorb – but was detained by the coast guard. Even though he was doing it for a good cause, Baluchi has become quite infamous for his use of zorbs (or a ‘hydropods’, as he dubs his creations), since he got detained as far back as 2014, when people beaching in Miami filed reports of a ‘disoriented man in a bubble asking for directions to the Bermudas’.

Zorb football is not that extreme – in fact, it is considered safer in terms of regular injuries than regular football. All the players are wearing zorbs over their upper bodies, which has the added effect of making it much harder to tackle the player of the ball. In some regards, the defensive technique is much more similar to American footie – you bump the opposition as hard as you can, hoping that they would topple and flop around like very confused turtles! Of course, the zorb doubles as a great protection, and getting knocked down is actually quite fun – in most cases. The most important rule of the game is not to bash into players that are already on the ground, especially if they have partially gotten out of their harnesses – this is the true moment when injuries can occur.

The sport is played both on indoor and outdoor pitches, and I’ve seen fun mini-matches with 3 people per side and more serious clashes with 14 players and defined roles and tactics. If you decide to forgo the ball altogether, there are other interesting variations like ‘last man standing’ or ‘zorb ring’, but I won’t be focusing on those here.

The sport was invented in Norway but has steadily been moving in the English-speaking world. I got hooked to it back in the USA a few years ago, and was delighted to find it growing even faster in the UK when I moved here – but unfortunately, there still aren’t ZF enthusiasts in my current town. And yes, your suspicion is correct, and the game is very popular with children. However, adults can have a lot of fun with it, especially when we embrace the unavoidable silliness.

Jokes aside, ZF is currently establishing itself as a fun recreational activity that can be played both for relaxation and in a more serious manner. As you can imagine, the speed and technique are much more limited than in regular football, which makes physicality and balance very important. The more I think of it, the more I go back to the earlier comparison with a cross between European and American football.

This means that a lot of people are finding something to like.