A new kind of sport is rolling its way into Kitchener-Waterloo.
In April of this year Edward Qian and Mandy Gu, two Wilfrid Laurier University students, launched their company GeeseRabbit, and with it a new form of athletics: Bubble Sports.
The concept is simple. Participants play normal contact games with a twist: they are encased from the knee up in an inflatable plastic bubble.
“It was something we saw on YouTube initially and we thought it was really cool. We did some quick research and we found that even though there is a lot of market for this sport here, nobody has actually done it in Waterloo,” Gu explained.
This idea is not completely new; using bubbles for a version of soccer has been done in Canada and around the world. However expanding the uses of the bubble, as well as tweaks to the bubble itself are a few things that separate GeeseRabbit from the competition.
“We are actually upgrading the ball … we are extending the possibilities it has. Initially it was just bubble soccer. We felt like this ball had much more potential than just soccer and that any contact sport can be played with this bubble because it is designed for safe contact activities,” said Qian.
Some of the improvements that Qian and Gu have made to the bubble include expanding the inner tube so people of multiple shapes and sizes can fit inside. They are also using a different type of plastic than their competitors, which allows the bubble to be more cold resistant to play the games in the winter.
They have come up with several structured games surrounding their product, including traditional bubble soccer. However, Gu explained that sometimes users enjoy creating their own fun.
“Sometimes we just give them the bubbles and let them come up with their own games … sometimes they just like to do an all-out free for all,” she said.
The pair said they are receiving at least one order a week for the bubbles themselves, as well as orders from sports facilities wanting free demonstrations. They also have plans in place to grow the sport.
“We are working with some facilities in Waterloo and Mississauga to try and start a bubble sport league. We also wanted to try to start a bubble soccer team at Laurier and the University of Waterloo,” said Gu.
If everything goes as planned, it is possible that this new concept for a sport could blow up this year at Laurier.
