Swamp Soccer is football played on wet, marshy pitches and it is one of the fastest growing sports in the world. Originating in Finland over a decade ago, the UK event has become the location for the World Cup. The growing popularity of Swamp Soccer reflects the desire by consumers to try something completely different and exhilarating.
This years’ Swamp Soccer World Cup took place over two days in Edinburgh with players from all over the world trying to score goals weighed down by thigh-high mud! 50 teams gathered from countries that included Sweden, Russia, Poland, Norway, Australia and Norway, joining local teams from Scotland and England for the main event at Hunter’s Hall Park, Edinburgh.
The weather was mixed, but actually what does the weather matter when you are playing football in mud up past your ankles – the wetter the better seemed to be the order of the day.
Bright Purple’s MD Nick Price says, ‘If ever you wanted to bond as a team, then this has got to be the sport. I think of all the great times we have had as a company and the fun nights out as a group, but I can honestly say I have never seen us laugh so much together.’
He continued, ‘Have you ever tried to kick a ball when you can’t actually get your feet out of the mud? We taped our boots to our feet as instructed and we wore our brand new Purple Power Rangers T-Shirts with pride, but two minutes in to the first game and we could have been wearing anything because you would have never known – we were covered in mud.’
‘There were rules, but it seemed that most teams decided the best ploy was to just get stuck in and our two ladies Marielle and Jemma certainly did that in the big games. They were like terriers and no one was safe from their biting tackles or Jemma just pushing them over.’
‘OK we didn’t win the Swamp World Cup Finals, but we enjoyed the experience and we all decided that next time we’ll be better prepared and we are already raring to go in 2012.’
