Can't get your proper fill of football (or, if your prefer, soccer) by living vicariously through the Ronaldos and Messis of the world? Consider table foosball frat boy play? Perhaps the new Trick Kick mini soccer game will do the ... trick. Billed as the world's one and only original indoor mini kick soccer game, Trick Kick provides a new way of experiencing the world's most popular sport.
Unlike other indoor soccer iterations, which rely on large gyms and organized leagues, Trick Kick is a recreational game designed to be played by anyone, anywhere. Similar to an office putting green, the Trick Kick playing field rolls out into an 8.2 x 4.6-foot (250 x 140-cm) surface. The small aluminum perimeter walls help to keep the downsized ball in play since you won't have anyone to "throw in" to.
The game invites footballers – and wannabe footballers – to bring their tightest skills and compete head to head. There is an official set of rules, including playing to 10 and switching sides at 5, but this seems like a game where players will quickly improvise their own rules – we see the one about not touching the upper body getting thrown out quickly when two aggressively competitive, partially inebriated gents are involved.
While the tiny field won't exactly provide the fitness and excitement of a standard soccer game, going head to head in such tight quarters with a tiny ball is sure to improve your footwork and coordination. It's also a more physical alternative to indoor competition like darts, foosball and air hockey. Perhaps best of all, drunken Trick Kick matches should be a hell of a lot more fun to watch at the bar than billiards or foosball.
The Salzburg, Austria-based organization behind Trick Kick, FITKA, calls itself the world federation of mini kick soccer. That's right: there's a world federation of mini kick soccer, and it fancies this little game a sport worthy of regulation and tournaments. FITKA's self-proclaimed jurisdiction covers all aspects of the sport: overseeing national leagues and tournaments, marketing Trick Kick gear and events, promotion, branding, etc.
The organization envisions mini soccer serving as a way of getting children (and adults) off their computers and smartphones and into something that is fun, (real life) social and active.
Even if you think indoor, close-quarter soccer sounds like the lamest, most boring game ever invented, we're guessing you'd be tempted to jump on that green and kick that tiny ball deep into the net if you saw a Trick Kick field laying there. Given soccer's popularity around the world, you probably wouldn't be playing alone for long.
There's no listed pricing on the Trick Kick set yet, and its website only lists one distributor: German sports supplier Royalbeach.
The video below shows the setting up of the Trick Kick playing field and some close-quarters action.
Source: Trick Kick, Fitka