Unusual Sports – Where to Play, Watch and Stay

Where there is a bizarre idea for a sport, there is usually a group of fun and quirky people who are willing to give it a try. It doesn’t matter how off the wall the concept is - even if it should really be played using a gold-winged magical ball – a valiant few are sure to set up a league and start running around together.

The UK tends to be great at supporting this kind of creativity and there are all sorts of unusual sports taking place around the country. Better yet, you can turn up as a spectator to any of them to cheer/ point and laugh as you see fit!

Here are some of our favourites:

Quidditch


By Anton Bielousov [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons

Based on the sport as played in the Harry Potter novels, quidditch seems like an unlikely sport for non-magic folk. However, with a bit of imagination, the sticks everyone runs around with become Firebolts and the person running around in gold becomes the snitch.  

The rules are a little different to the books for a few obvious reasons but, given the rising popularity amongst students in particular, it looks like this sport is only going to get bigger. The Quidditch Premier League Championship will be held at Cardiff Arms Park on the 25th of August so you’d better book your room at Leonardo Hotel Cardiff before all the muggles find out!

Foot Golf


By Tomas.dittinger [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons

If you have ever felt that football could do with smaller goals and no defence, or that golf would be more fun if you could see the ball a bit better, foot golf is everything you’ve been waiting for. The aim of the game is to kick your football around the golf course and into the enlarged hole on each green. It’s a lot like golf, really, but better.

The Glasgow Open is the highlight of the summer months and is taking place at Hilton Park Golf Club but 30 minutes away from Leonardo Hotel Glasgow. You can sign up to play or just go around with the players - either way it’s going to be a fun day out (hopefully) in the sun.

Cheese Rolling


Dave Farrance [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons

The UK is home to over 700 kinds of named cheeses, so it’s not too surprising that that there is a long-standing tradition of chasing a rolling wheel of Double Gloucester down Cooper’s Hill. The aim of the sport is to catch the cheese by running down the steep hill after it - a mean feat given that the cheese has been known to reach speeds of 70 mph!

The event is no longer managed due to health and safety concerns but continues to take place ‘spontaneously’ each year in May. So, if you happen to be staying in Leonardo Hotel Cheltenham around 26^th May 2019, we won’t make any suggestions for what you could be watching - or chasing - on a hill 10 minutes’ drive away…

Black Pudding Throwing Championship


Image via monitor.bg

On the subject of food, another popular sporting event is the Black Pudding Throwing Championship held in the small town of Ramsbottom, about 40 minutes’ drive north of Manchester. The whole event is based on a local legend from around the time of the War of the Roses when, allegedly, the people of Stubbins ran out of ammunition and threw black puddings at the oncoming hordes of Yorkshiremen wielding Yorkshire puddings (what else?!).

The championship takes place every September and anyone can enter or stand outside The Oaks with a pint and watch. The aim is to use your three black pudding to knock as many Yorkshire Puddings off a scaffold built for the event. The one who knocks off the most wins! The next event will be 9th September 2018, so if you are booking a room at Leonardo Hotel Manchester Central, add it to your calendar!

The UK is blessed with so many weird and wonderful “sports”. You could see snail racing in Norfolk, go bog snorkelling in Wales or welly wanging in Upperthong Village, just outside Huddersfield!

So, which sporting oddity are you planning to witness this year?

Main image - By BenHollandPhotography [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons