Rollball World Cup, A Win For Indian Innovation
Rollball will be having its third world cup in December, and with 50 countries participating, the hosts hope that it will be a “wheelie” good time. This relatively new sport combines roller skating and a ball, hence Rollball, and has been described as a blend of roller skating, basketball, and handball. The game is played by two teams of 12 players each, although only six from each team are allowed on the court at a time, and the ball must be bounced when dribbling, much like basketball, except that two hands may be used. Points are scored by throwing the ball into a small goal guarded by a goalkeeper. If you think that this game sounds like fun, try playing it on an ice rink for an extra challenge.
As a newspaper boy in India, the inventor of Rollball, Raju Dabhade, used to deliver newspapers on his roller skates and continued to rise up the ranks of competitive skating, eventually becoming a physical education teacher after retirement from competitive skating. The passion for skating and the dream of creating a new sport always remained with him, yet it wasn’t until a during a skating instruction session in 2003 when a basketball happened to bounce into play that he had his eureka moment.
With personal determination and support from friends and colleagues, Rollball was created, and even received recognition from the Indian Olympic Association in 2006. Having sold his ancestral land, this sports teacher with an entrepreneurial vision used the money to finance trips around the world with the hope of gaining international popularity. Although Dabhade admits that the sport is not as popular in India as other sports, it seems well on its way, as it is currently managed by two supervisory organizations, the International Roll Ball Federation and Roll Ball Federation of India, and has its own official website.
Dabhade is hopeful that the third world cup, which is scheduled from December 15 to 20 in Pune, India, will bring the much-needed publicity to the sport and will assist their goal of becoming registered as an official Olympic sport.
It is not often that we hear of a new sport being invented, such as Rollball. However, last season’s Shark Tank saw one entrepreneur combine sports and business know-how do something very similar. Although created in 1989, Spikeball was recently brought back to life.
The Rollball World Cup may only be happening at the end of the year, but won’t stop us from putting on a pair of skates, picking up a ball, and trying out this incredibly fun new game.
