25+ Weird Sports You’ve Never Heard Of & Where They Come From

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Your guide to the ins and outs of the world’s most unusual sports
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No matter where you go, there are always beloved sports to enjoy and learn about—but what about the more obscure, interesting, or strange ones? The world is full of those, too, as long as you know where to look. In this article, we’ve put together a mind-blowing list of the world’s wackiest sports, from unicycle polo and underwater hockey to the extremely rare sports that are only regionally well-known, like cheese-rolling and giant pumpkin kayaking. Let’s dive in!

The Most Unknown & Unusual Sports

  • Bog Snorkelling - Participants race while snorkeling in a swampy, muddy bog, and they must exclusively use flippers to propel themselves forward.
  • Canal Vaulting - Competitors attempt to pole-vault over a canal without getting wet.
  • Chess Boxing - Competitors play a game with 11 rounds that alternate chess and boxing—so it requires plenty of brains and brawn.
  • Extreme Ironing - Participants find the most extreme places to iron their clothes and take pictures for proof.
  • Underwater Hockey - This sport follows the basic rules of hockey, but it’s played underwater with a weighted puck, and players swim, not skate.
1

Bog Snorkelling

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  1. This competitive sport involves snorkeling in a peat bog, not the ocean.
    For the competition, players use snorkels and flippers and must use their flippers to get them down a 60-yard (55 m) long trench filled with water (and back). They can’t use regular swimming techniques, just the flippers. Talk about an unconventional race![1]
    • Originated in: Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales (United Kingdom)
    • The current men’s world record for speed was set by Neil Rutter in 2018, with a time of 1 minute, 18.81 sections. The woman’s world record was set by Kirsty Johnson in 2014, with a time of 1 minute, 22.56 seconds.
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2

Bo-taoshi

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  1. Bo-taoshi is like a chaotic Japanese version of Capture the Flag. Its Japanese translation means “bring the pole down.” Although the rules differ by school and institution, typically, it consists of two teams of 150 players (75 attackers and 75 defenders). The defenders guard a vertical wooden pole, with one defender even standing on top of the pole. Attackers attempt to bring the pole at least 35 degrees down from its vertical position—and the first team to do it wins![2]
    • Originated in: Japan
    • Attackers can try bringing down the bo-taoshi pole in many different ways; some even let teammates springboard off their backs to get closer to the pole!
    • Players can use wrestling, kicking, and punching to defend and attack, so injuries are extremely common!
3

Bossaball

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  1. Bossaball is a mashup of volleyball, soccer, gymnastics, and capoeira.
    It’s played on an inflatable court with small trampolines on either side of the net. The goal is for each team to get the ball over the net with five touches or less, and the court is divided into scoring zones—with teams getting the most points when they score in the other team’s trampoline![3]
    • Originated in: Brazil (conceptualized by Belgian Filip Eyckmans)
    • Bossaball can actually played in different styles: volleyball-style (using hands alone to control the ball) or football-style (where players can use other body parts to control the ball as well).
    • Scoring when using the football style of bossaball also awards more points, encouraging players to try more acrobatic moves and kicks.
    • Music is also an essential part of bossaball, used to set each game's fun, upbeat atmosphere.
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4

Canal Vaulting

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  1. The goal of Canal Vaulting is right in its name. Participants must try to jump as far as they can from one side of a muddy canal to the other, ideally without getting any water or mud on themselves. This is done by jumping onto a pole set up in the canal; the pole has a flat bottom, and it can swing when players put their weight on it, allowing them to use the pole to swing toward the far side of the canal.[4]
    • Originated in: The Netherlands
    • Players must typically get a running start before jumping onto the pole and climbing it as high as possible (while using their momentum to swing forward) before jumping down.
5

Canne de Combat

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  1. Canne de combat—or “combat canes”—is a French sport similar to fencing.
    But participants use wooden canes instead of fencing swords! It’s a martial art originally developed as a type of self-defense using everyday tools (like canes), with the goal being to strike, block, or disarm an opponent. Even though it uses canes, watching a canne de combat match can be like watching an old-fashioned duel![5]
    • Originated in: France, in the 19th century
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6

Castells

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  1. Castells is the practice of “building” incredible human towers. It’s more of an art form than a sport, wherein groups of Castellers compete to see who can create the most complex tower. This requires coordination, strength—and, of course, trust. Castellers must form a base and build the tower with participants standing on one another’s shoulders. The person on top, the “anxaneta,” signals with a hand to show the tower is finished.
    • Originated in: Catalonia, late 18th century
    • Castells are unique to Catalonian culture and associated with pride in the Catalonian community.
7

Cheese Rolling

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  1. This silly sport is practiced at the Cooper’s Hill cheese rolling race.
    The hill is close to Gloucester, England—and the sport is a 200-year-old tradition wherein participants race down a steep hill and chase a round of Double Gloucester cheese. The rules are simple: whoever gets down the hill first wins the cheese! This impressive cheese can weigh up to 9 pounds—and roll at around 70 miles per hour.[6]
    • Originated in: Gloucester, England
    • Because of how steep the hill is, participants don’t always stay on their feet! Many tumble, leap, and roll down the hill instead. Rugby players even wait at the bottom of the hill to stop their momentum.
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8

Chess Boxing

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  1. The name says it all: Chess Boxing is a mashup of chess and boxing. Games consist of 5 rounds of boxing and 6 rounds of chess, with players alternating between them round by round (meaning there’s a round of chess, then boxing, and so on) and each round lasting for 3 minutes.[7]
    • Originated in: Europe (it was invented by French comic book artist Enki Bilal and adapted by Dutch performance artist Iepe Rubingh; the first chess boxing event took place in Berlin, Germany).
9

Cycle-ball

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  1. Cycle-ball is basically soccer (or “football”) played on bicycles.
    Players move the ball—and, of course, try to score in the opposing team’s goal—using their bikes rather than their feet. There are a couple of other major differences, including team size; cycle-ball (or “radball”) is played with teams of 2 players, and the bikes they use are altered to have fixed gears (and no brakes).[8]
    • Originated in: America (created by German-American cyclist Nicholas Edward Kaufmann; the sport later took root in Europe, especially Germany)
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10

Death Diving

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  1. The “sport” of death diving is mainly done for entertainment. It’s definitely extreme, though! Competitors dive into water from boards about 10 m (32 ft) high—and their goal is to hold a pose for as long as they can before hitting the water in a tucked position. This means competitors try all kinds of creative poses, flips, and diving tricks in their quest to win a contest.
    • Originated in: Norway (the sport is called “Dødsing” in Norway)
    • While there’s no definitive “rarest sport in the world,” sports like this one—as well as niche sports like Castells, cheese-rolling, and underwater hockey—are definitely among the rarest sports out there!
11

Ear Pull

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  1. The unusual sport of ear-pulling is based on pain endurance.
    Competitors sit across from one another, legs connected, with a string looped around both their ears. Each competitor then pulls the string and keeps at it until one bows out because of the pain. Because of the nature of the sport, ear damage and bleeding are both common.[9]
    • Originated: Among the Inuit people (based on survival and hunting skills to toughen up hunters’ ears)
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12

Extreme Ironing

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  1. Extreme ironing is an unconventional “danger sport.” Don’t believe ironing clothes could be an extreme sport? Think again! Participants must take ironing boards to remote places and iron clothing there, then snap a picture for proof. People have gone all sorts of crazy places in the name of extreme ironing, from mountainsides to underwater and even while parachuting, kayaking, or standing atop a large bronze statue.
    • Originated in: Leicester, England (created by Phil Shaw)
13

Giant Pumpkin Kayaking

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  1. As the name suggests, this sport involves kayaking in giant pumpkins.
    Sure, you could kayak normally…but why do that when you can kayak inside a giant, hollowed-out pumpkin? That’s how they do it on Lake Pisiquid, Nova Scotia, during the annual Windsor Pumpkin Regatta. Participants race one another along a half-mile course, typically decorating their pumpkins with paint or flags beforehand. Sounds pretty fun, right?[10]
    • Originated in: Nova Scotia, Canada
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14

Hurling

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  1. The Irish sport of hurling is one of the world’s oldest field sports. It was invented over 3,000 years ago! It’s played with a hurley (a wooden stick) and sliotar (a small ball); players catch the sliotar in their hands, balance it on the end of their hurley, and toss it toward their opponent’s goal as best they can (while trying to keep the ball on their hurley as they navigate the field).[11]
    • Originated in: Ireland
15

Mud-Pit Belly Flop

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  1. The Mud-Pit Belly Flop is part of Georgia’s “Redneck Games.”
    The games take palace in East Dublin, Georgia, USA. The mud-put belly flop is one of the most popular events—and, as the name suggests, it’s staged in an enormous mud pit. Competitors belly flop into the mud, and judges decide which one made the biggest splash. It’s that silly—and simple!
    • Originated in: Georgia, USA
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16

Outhouse Racing

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  1. Outhouse racing proves you can race anything, even outhouses with wheels. In an outhouse racing competition, participants race to the finish line in outhouses fitted with wheels, brakes, and steering systems, using the toilet seat to sit while they drive. So, if you see an outhouse painted and decorated, driving around…that’s why![12]
    • Originated in: Michigan, USA
17

Regball

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  1. Regball is a Russian combination of wrestling, rugby, and basketball.
    It’s played in teams of 7 with a ball that players must shoot through a hoop (like basketball), but there’s no dribbling. Furthermore, players can wrestle one another for the ball, and takedowns are perfectly legal—which means a game of regball can get pretty brutal.[13]
    • Originated in: Russia (invented by Russian wrestlers and recognized as a sport in 2003)
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18

Sepak takraw

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  1. Sepak takraw is a blend of soccer and volleyball. Players use their feet, knees, chest, and head to get a rattan ball over a net and into their opposition’s space. It’s fun, fast-paced, and hard to play—and players can often be seen doing downright acrobatic moves to get the ball where they want it to go.[14]
    • Originated in: Southeastern Asia
    • Sepak takraw is played across Southeast Asia and is considered Malaysia’s national sport.
19

Soapbox Racing

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  1. Red Bull (the energy drink company) hosts yearly soapbox races.
    In these competitions, participants race their hand-made, motorless vehicles around an obstacle course. Vehicles are judged for their aesthetics, speed, and road-holding—and crashes or breaks can happen since participants don’t have to be expert engineers.
    • Originated in: Brussels, Belgium (for the Red Bull races, although soap box racing has taken place since at least 1934 in Dayton, Ohio)
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20

Swamp Football

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  1. This sport is simply football (as in soccer) played in swamps and bogs. That means teams playing soccer in slippery, wet terrain and deep mud, making it extra-difficult to move the ball around. On the other hand, though, it makes getting goals that much more satisfying.[15]
    • Originated in: Finland
21

Toe Wrestling

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  1. For this sport, competitors must lock their toes and wrestle.
    The goal is for one competitor to try to pin the other’s foot to the ground (like arm-wrestling, but with toes). Strange as it may sound, it can be a fun sport for people who prefer not to run around all the time! Today, there’s even a World Toe Wrestling Championship—and the winner receives, of course, a gold trophy shaped like a toe.[16]
    • Originated in: Staffordshire, England
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22

Quidditch

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  1. The wizarding sport in Harry Potter has been adapted for muggles. Quidditch isn’t all that unheard of—but the premise of a sport played on flying broomsticks being adapted for the “muggle” world is still an unusual one! Obviously, players can’t fly to play Quidditch; instead, they keep brooms between their legs while playing the game to simulate what happens in the books.[17]
    • Originated in: The Harry Potter books (although the real-world sport was created at Middlebury College, Vermont, USA)
    • In the books, players try to gain points by throwing a ball called the Quaffle into the other team’s hoops, while other balls (Bludgers) knock players off-course, and seekers look for the Snitch.
    • In place of a magical flying Snitch, every game has a Snitch-runner (an impartial player dressed in yellow with a tennis ball inside a sock hanging from their shorts)
    • Seekers enter the game later and try to catch the Snitch-runner, while the other players (Chasers and Beaters) play from the start.
23

Underwater Hockey

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  1. Underwater hockey involves a weighted puck at the bottom of a pool.
    How can someone play hockey underwater, you ask? Well, some people absolutely do it! The game is played in a pool; players use smaller one-handed sticks (instead of traditional hockey sticks) to push the weighted puck around. They also swim with fins and wear masks to see underwater.[18]
    • Originated in: Portsmouth, England (also called “Octopush”)
    • Interestingly, players hold their breath (and pop up for air when needed) instead of using oxygen tanks.
    • That means teammates must stay in sync with one another (so they can adapt when someone goes up for air).
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24

Unicycle Polo

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  1. There are a lot of different games adapted for unicycles. Go figure! Unicycle polo is much like the traditional polo, using the same long-handled mallets and wooden balls—except players ride unicycles instead of horses. And, on unicycles, players try to score in the opposition’s goals. Other unicycle game adaptations include:
    • Unicycle hockey. It’s just like hokey, except every player is riding on a unicycle (and a tennis ball replaces a puck since the game isn’t played on ice).
    • Unicycle basketball. Just like basketball, players must dribble the ball and try to shoot it into the opposing team’s net on a regulation basketball court. The only difference is that they’re all riding unicycles!
25

Wife Carrying

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  1. It’s called “Wife Carrying,” but participants don’t need to be husband and wife.
    This competition involves one participant (the “husband”) carrying another (the “wife”) on their back, all while navigating a course with two dry obstacles and one water-based obstacle. The team to finish the course fastest wins the competition, though there are also other prizes (like “best costume” for the couple).[19]
    • Originated in: Finland
    • You don’t even need to be a male and female team to compete, as there are no official rules about gender—the “wife carrying” name is mainly based on history and tradition.
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26

Worm Charming

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  1. This competitive sport involves charming earthworms out of the ground. Competitors get a set time period and plot of earth, and they must charm as many worms as they can within that plot as they can. This can involve vibrating the soil, sprinkling the dirt with water (or some other liquid), or even playing music![20]
    • Originated in: England (as a competition; worm-charming has been practiced to find fishing bait for centuries)
27

Zorbing

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  1. Zorbing is a sport in which people roll down hills in large plastic orbs.
    If you’ve ever seen someone rolling around in a giant plastic ball (like a human-sized hamster ball), they’re actually zorbing! While it’s usually done on gentle hills, the orbs can also be used on water or any flat surface. Harnessed orbs can fit 1 to 2 people, while non-harnessed zorbing orbs can fit up to 3 people.
    • Originated in: New Zealand
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References

  1. ↑ https://www.visitwales.com/things-do/events/sport/can-you-beat-bog
  2. ↑ https://edition.cnn.com/2018/10/26/sport/japans-extreme-sport-botaoshi-true-tokyo-spt-intl/index.html
  3. ↑ https://www.bossaballsports.com/bossaball/what-is-bossaball/
  4. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20121002031515/http://www.pbholland.com/info.php?context=alle&lang=en
  5. ↑ https://www.olympedia.org/editions/8/sports/CNN
  6. ↑ https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2jjknz7kljo
  7. ↑ https://www.chess.com/terms/chess-boxing
  8. ↑ https://www.indoorcyclingworldwide.com/cycle-ball/
  9. ↑ https://www.americanindianmagazine.org/story/the-world-eskimo-indian-olympics
  1. ↑ https://www.tualatinoregon.gov/pumpkinregatta
  2. ↑ https://experiencegaelicgames.com/authentic-irish/hurling/
  3. ↑ https://www.topendsports.com/sport/unusual/outhouse-racing.htm
  4. ↑ https://regbol.ru/or-regbole/?lang=en
  5. ↑ https://www.rulesofsport.com/sports/sepak-takraw.html
  6. ↑ https://www.topendsports.com/sport/list/football-swamp.htm
  7. ↑ https://toewrestling.co.uk/about
  8. ↑ https://gustavus.edu/im/Spring/quidditch-rules.php
  9. ↑ https://www.espn.com/story/_/id/28219274/deep-dive-world-underwater-hockey
  10. ↑ https://www.wife-carrying.org/
  11. ↑ https://www.visitcheshire.com/whats-on/the-world-worm-charming-championships-p35371

About This Article

Jeremiah Thomas
Co-authored by:
Jeremiah Thomas
Owner of Camp Curiosity
This article was co-authored by Jeremiah Thomas and by wikiHow staff writer, Glenn Carreau. Jeremiah Thomas is a Pickleball Expert and the Founder of Doylestown Pickleball based in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. With over 50 acres of facilities, Jeremiah and his team offer a wide variety of programming for kids looking to create, be active, and play on their dozens of courts and fields. Jeremiah is a certified PPR (Professional Pickleball Registry) instructor as well as a former college tennis player and instructor. He received his Bachelor of Education in Elementary and Early Childhood Education from Gwynedd Mercy University as well as a Master's in Educational Leadership and Administration from Delaware Valley University. This article has been viewed 1,773 times.
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Co-authors: 5
Updated: April 23, 2025
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Categories: Sports and Fitness
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