14 Apr 2018

Hungerball: a new flavour of football

From This Way Up, 12:15 pm on 14 April 2018

Could a new version of football – developed in NZ and played in what looks like a circular bouncy castle – conquer the globe?

Psychologist Andu Iordache has high hopes for Hungerball, the game he came up with.

What makes the game unique is that it's played in an inflatable circular court.

Think of a clock, 10 metres in diameter with six goals around it at 12 o'clock, 2 o' clock, 4  o'clock, 6 o'clock, 8 o'clock and 10 o' clock.

The court is enclosed with netting to stop the ball from escaping. People defend their own goal and attack the other goals either individually or in teams.

Iordache is already exporting the game to Australia and Canada.and next month he takes it to England, the home of football.

We meet him at Rutherford College on the Te Atatu Peninsula west of Auckland to learn how the game works.