Introduction:

There are many popular sports like tennis, badminton, hockey, and cricket that make our lives entertaining. These sports which we watch for entertainment help us to be mentally and physically fit. But, there are many exciting sports that go invisible to people. One such unique sport that would help us enjoy and celebrate it would be Bossaball.

What is Bossaball Sport?

A non-typical energetic game with a unique blend of sports, music, and fun. The integration of these dynamic elements makes the sport exciting to play as well as watch. The acrobatic and energetic game, Bossaball is derived from the word "bossa", which is translated to mean style and attitude in Brazilian Portuguese. Bossa is associated with Bossa Nova which is a style of samba developed in Brazil in the late 1950s and was mainly characterized as a "different beat", altering the harmonies of the chords of a traditional samba from a single rhythmic division. The game is designed to play on an inflatable platform with trampolines in the middle.

Although it is possible to play the sport without music, the component plays a vital role in lifting the game. The person who oversees bossaball is called "Samba Referee". Samba Referees not only make calls, but they also serve as the master of ceremonies with whistles, microphones, and a DJ set.

Bossaball History:

A Belgian living in Spain, Filip Eyckmans conceptualized Bossaball between the years 2003 to 2005. Filip was a Tennis player back when he was a youngster, spending his leisure-time DJ-ing at private parties and assisting soccer matches. With his immense interest in music, he became the manager for several music bands, including dEUS and Vive la Fete. He visited Brazil for one of his bands, dEUS, where he was intrigued and overwhelmed by the Afro-Brazilian Capoeira.

Capoeira is an art mix of dance, acrobatics, and music that was practiced by the enslaved Africans in Brazil during the 16th Century. With Beach Volleyball booming and trampolines placed all over the shopping malls in the early nineties, led Eryckmans to seek a fusion of different body techniques. He wanted to conceptualize a sport that is not merely serving and blocks.

Therefore, a concept which disciplined Gymnastics to combine one's flexibility and agility with a pinch of Zidane. With this concept, the new all-rounder sport was born.

Rules of the Bossaball:

Since it is an integration of different body elements, the rules are quite complex. The game is similar to volleyball, but only it consists of two teams of four players. Just like volleyball, the main objective in bossaball is to ground the ball on the opponent’s side of the field. Unlike other net sports, the net available in the middle of the field can be adjusted according to professionals, intermediates, and beginners.

Just like any other game which has a server and an attacker, bossaball has the same. The attacker is positioned on side of the court which has a trampoline and the server the other side which has an inflatable platform. The server throws the ball in the air and attempts to hit or kick it to pass the ball over the net to the opponent's side of the court. The opposing team who tries to hit the ball to the other side of the field must make contact with the ball, not more than five times.

These contacts can be exercised by using their body parts which include:

1. Volley Touch:

According to the traditional Volleyball rules, the player can hit the ball with a lower arm, head, touch, spike, or drop shot. Throwing or guiding the ball for more than 1 second is strictly prohibited.

2. Football Touch:

According to football traditions, the players can use their heads and legs to strike the ball. Throwing or guiding the ball for more than 1 second is prohibited.

With a maximum of 5 contacts to pass the ball to the other side of the court, the player must strike the ball with football touch technique at least once.

TOUCH 1	TOUCH 2	TOUCH 3	TOUCH 4	TOUCH 5	ALLOWED
VOLLEY	VOLLEY	VOLLEY	SOCCER	VOLLEY	YES
VOLLEY	VOLLEY	VOLLEY	VOLLEY	VOLLEY	NO
VOLLEY	VOLLEY	VOLLEY	VOLLEY	SOCCER	YES

During the game, the player tosses the ball in the air and jumps on the trampoline to gain height in order to strike the ball and pass over the net. On the other hand, the players on the defense side attempt to block the ball to fall in their court, and therefore, they try to reach on top of the net to prevent the attacker from striking the ball into the defense side of the court.

In this manner, the game continues rallying back and forth, until the ball touches the field within the scoring zones given or any mistake is committed by the players.

Every game must have a referee to ensure a fair game. The role of a referee in bossaball is similar to volleyball. The game is played with 3 referees, where one primary referee and two assistants are assigned. The main referee is given a place in the playing area whereas the assistants are positioned at the opposite side of the field. They care take of scrutinizing the number of touches, soccer touch technique usage, and help in deciding if the ball is in and out the bounds.

Scoring:

Like every other sport, scoring is done based on the players' scoring or by any error from the opponent. When the attacker hits the ball on either the trampoline or the inflatable within the scoring zone, then the opponent is awarded a point for striking it.

1. With Volley Touch:

• When the attacker hits the ball on the opponent's side of the court, then 1 point is awarded to the attackers' team.
• 3 points are awarded when the ball hits directly on the opponent's trampoline area.

2. With Soccer Touch:

• When the attacker hits the ball with any part of the body except hands on the opponent's side of the court, then 1 point is awarded to the attackers' team.
• 5 points are awarded when the ball hits directly on the opponent's trampoline area.

Countries that play Bossaball:

Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Turkey, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Germany, France, Switzerland, Portugal, Greece, Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania,[15] Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Singapore, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Paraguay are some of the countries that have introduced Bossaball.

In this pool, only Netherlands has a major Bossaball league. Bossaball was introduced to Singapore by Mohamad Saifudin in 2007, who is the founder of Bossaball Singapore. In addition to that, in 2009, Singapore sent a team to take part in the Bossaball World Cup which was held in Turkey. Singapore is one of the first countries to diligently promote Bossaball, and in addition to that, the sport is now included in the physical education curriculum in some schools.

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