Indy Bubble Soccer

Soccer is the most popular sport on the planet, so it was only a matter of time before someone invented a full-contact version in which participants wear translucent orbs. Indy Bubble Soccer brings the rowdy Norwegian game to the Hoosier State.

Launched by friends Kenneth Waynescott and Matt Neukam in 2014, Indy Bubble Soccer is still working to establish leagues but has already been a major hit at birthday parties and corporate team-building events (pause here to picture the colleague you most want to flatten). The guidelines are simple: no Superman-diving, no bumping anyone who’s on the ground, and no running around for the sole purpose of smooshing others. The group has a pitch in Mooresville, but you can also host a game on your home turf—you’ll just need to book the equipment for a two-hour minimum.

If you’ve never been encased inside an inflatable gerbil ball—and hopefully you haven’t—it’s not a graceful experience. Turns out plastic globes are surprisingly heavy, and running without the use of your arms totally throws off your center of gravity. So when someone—say, your deliriously overjoyed 12-year-old son—plows into you, it’s like you’ve just chest-bumped a sumo wrestler, splat! Luckily, the learning curve is quick: You’ll start off tentative, get comfortable, and eventually feel invincible. “When we first did it,” says Neukam, “we were like, ‘we could go downtown and fight crime in these things!’”