By: Kaja Antic, Sports Writer
American Ice Football
In a video circulating various social media platforms recently, there appears to be a form of American football played on ice in Germany. Combining elements from hockey and American football, the Germans seem to have created a perfect concoction of two very popular, yet very different, sports from across the pond. The field mimics a typical American football field, but is completely made of ice. Adding to the entertainment factor, each player is dressed in hockey gear with football helmets and shoes instead of skates, causing them to slip and slide all over the place.
The tournament took place before Super Bowl LVIII, with four teams competing on the icy adapted field. Teams had eight players a piece, consisting of former athletes and celebrities from across Europe. The game still included the typical American entertainment factors such as cheerleaders and light displays during touchdowns, captivating both German and international audiences. While this may not yet be an official sport by any means — though I wish the International Olympic Committee would consider it — it’s certainly entertaining with its whimsical mix of both popular sports.
Yes, this is a real sport. The match begins with a chess board placed in the middle of the boxing ring. The chess portions last four minutes each before switching to a two-minute boxing round. Winners are determined by a knockout, referee decision, checkmate, or an opponent move that lasts over 12 minutes of the allotted chess time.
Originating in England in the 1970s, chess boxing seems as fictional as can be, but the sport is very much alive and well. Combining the brains associated with chess and the brawn associated with combat sports, the athletes competing in these events seem virtually unstoppable. The sport became official in 2003 when Dutch artist Iepe Rubingh organized its first match after being inspired by Enki Bilal’s 1992 comic book Cold Equator, which heavily featured the then-unofficial sport.
There are two current governing bodies for the sport — the World Chess Boxing Organization (WCBO), which was founded with the help of Rubingh in 2003, and the World Chessboxing Association (WCBA), which split from the WCBO in 2013 to expedite the growth process for the sport. There are national chess boxing federations on all continents excluding Antarctica, and the sport is continuing to grow internationally.
FootGolf
Probably the least surprising combination sport in this piece, FootGolf combines golf with association football — known as soccer in North America. Formally invented in 2008, FootGolf has garnered attention worldwide since its inception with courses in over 50 countries. There was even a FootGolf World Cup in Orlando which ran from May 27–June 6, 2023, with France taking the men’s team title, Argentina taking the senior men’s team title, and Japan earning the women’s team title. Highlights were broadcasted by the highly popular sports channel ESPN in August 2023.
The first I had heard of FootGolf was a May 2021 video from the UK YouTube group, the Sidemen, where they played the sport with the winner earning money in this “impossible challenge.” In the scope of the Lower Mainland, there was a designated FootGolf course in Surrey that ran events in the summer of 2014, but the main golf course has since been brought under new ownership, and the new country club does not feature the footgolf adaptation. There are still six courses throughout BC, with three on Vancouver Island and three in the Okanagan, so if you’re interested in this sport, you might want to book a road trip.
