Let’s play in the swamp
If you lived in Finland you would know how and be pretty good at, both cross-country and downhill skiing, because they have a lot of snow. For decades, the top Finnish cross-country skiers have been practicing their basic level of fitness at the swamp during the summer. The thought was that walking or running through the mud and muck would force your leg and core muscles to get stronger and that would translate into better skiing performance. That is where the idea of combining the swamp and the world’s most popular sport, football (soccer), came from in 1998 in Hyrynsalmi. The rest is history… Swamp Soccer was born. Of course at first it was just some young guys who liked to get dirty and compete kicking a ball around. Now it is an international competition.
The games are played on fields that are the size of 100’ x 200’. There are 20 fields in Vuorisuo, and during the competition nearly 1,000 games are played. The number of players on each team are a goalkeeper and 5 field players. The number of substitute players is not restricted, and substitutions are made on the fly. The annual swamp soccer world cup saw players this weekend fight for the ball in deep quagmires, with more than 100 teams gathered in the wetlands of central Finland. Since the fields are formed by the forces of nature, each one possesses its own unique characteristics. While some fields are drier, some fields may see the players crawl around in the waist-deep muck as you can see in the video below. “We get stuck in the swamps and we lose our shoes in the swamps and so on but we just try to get the ball to the goal,” said Siri from the team Lahen Stolit, which won the women’s professional category. “One of the biggest challenges is when you’re playing defense. “Sometimes it’s mud up to the groin, while in some parts of the pitch it’s less soggy,” organizer Kimmo Kyhala told Reuters. “This is a very tough sport. A slim body and long legs are advantages,” he said. “A good player must be like a moose in the swamp.”
To date, the international tournament has seen teams from England, the Netherlands, Sweden, Russia, Scotland and Iceland taking part in the event. In this year’s tournament, German team “Jugendclub Lindenau” won the gold medal in the men’s professional category. “Finns are crazy about this event,” said Jussi Kiiskila, one of the organizers of the event in Hyrynsalmi, adding the number of international teams was rising.
Football Funnies, Scooooore!
My son played soccer in the mud all day.
He was a little Messi.
2 flies are playing soccer on a dinner plate.
One says to the other, “You’d better pick up your game Louie, we’re playing in the cup tomorrow.”
My kids soccer championship was canceled due to rain and sleet.
So every player got a precipitation trophy.
What did the soccer fan say when the beer ran out?
“Damn, this game is boring.”
August 6th birthdays
1911 – Lucille Ball, 1977 – Jennifer Lyons, 1977 – Soliel Moon Frye, 1974 – Vera Farmiga
1928 – Andy Warhol, 1970 – M. Night Shyamalan, 1809 – Alfred Tennyson, 1982 – Leslie Odom Jr