What Is Bossaball? – Better At Volleyball

Have you found yourself growing bored with your workout routine? Or perhaps you’re getting tired of your local sports teams letting you down. If you’re a sports fan, are entertained by acrobatics, and appreciate the smooth, jazzy grooves of Brazilian music, it may be time to introduce bossaball into your life.

Bossaball is a unique two-team sport that combines elements of volleyball, soccer, capoeira, and gymnastics. It’s similar to volleyball but played on an inflatable court with built-in trampolines on either side of the net. The sport encourages acrobatics and is typically played to Bossa Nova music.

In this article, I’ll talk about the history and explain the rules and one-of-a-kind court of this relatively new and exciting sport.

**Bossaball is a lively, fun, and creative sport.**

The Origins of Bossaball

The sport of bossaball was created in Spain between 2003 and 2005 by Belgium-born Filip Eyckmans, who had been living in Spain for a decade.

Eyckmans, inspired by the volleyball boom and the popularity of trampolines in the late nineties, got the idea to combine music and sports using these elements. He aimed to incorporate elements of different sports, using a setup similar to volleyball, the ability to use soccer-like kicks, and the excitement and agility of gymnastics.

The term bossa (“style” or “attitude” in Portuguese) comes from Brazil’s Bossa Nova music, which is typically played during a match and sets a rhythm for the players.

The name bossaball expresses Eyckmans’ goal to combine sports, music, and positive vibrations.

The excitement of acrobatic serves, shots, and spikes combined with the Bossa Nova soundtrack create a festive mood that allows spectators to share in these good vibrations.

Who Usually Plays Bossaball?

Bossaball is played by men and women alike. Due to the acrobatic nature of the sport and the use of elements from other sports, players are typically quite athletic. Because the courts are found at festivals and large events, festival-goers often like to try their hands (and feet) at the game.

How Is It Different From Normal Volleyball?

The bossaball court and rules resemble those of volleyball — a ball is hit by players over a net, points are scored when the ball drops, and typically several sets are played in a match — but there are some key differences.

Like volleyball, bossaball is played between two teams, with three or five players of any gender on each team. The game is typically played on beaches, at parks, and during large festivals, as bossaball courts are not yet as commonplace as volleyball courts.

Because of the inflatable court and trampolines, a game of bossaball is quite acrobatic and exciting. The combination of the sport itself with the accompanying Bossa Nova music makes a bossaball match an experience different from any other sporting event.

The Bossaball Court

Bossaball is played on an inflatable court with a built-in trampoline on each side of the court. This is a major difference between volleyball and bossaball.

A bossaball court is 150 ft (45.72 m) long and 90 ft (27.43 m) wide and has a grid that is nearly 10 ft (3.05 m) high in the middle.

In comparison, a volleyball court is 60 ft (18.29 m) long by 30 ft (9.14 m) wide, while the net is 7’ 11 ⅝ ’’ (2.43 m) high.

The use of trampolines and the safety afforded by inflatable surfaces allows for techniques, tactics, and strategies unique to bossaball, such as striking the ball from extreme heights, using overhead kicks, and dramatic dives.

Objective of Bossaball

As with volleyball, a team scores a point when their opponent misses the ball, and matches are played in sets that end when a team scores 25 points. A team wins a bossaball game by winning the most number of sets out of three or five.

Bossaball Video

There’s no doubt that bossaball is a sport you have to see in order to truly understand.

Bossaball International highlights the music and athleticism of players. Here’s a Youtube video celebrating a decade of the sport being played:

Bossaball in action.

Bossaball Rules

Many rules of bossaball differ from those of volleyball due in large part to the allowance of players to use hands, legs, and feet to hit the ball. These are:

Players can serve however they want, using any part of the body, as long as it’s creative.
Each team is allowed up to five touches before sending the ball back over the net, but they don’t have to touch the ball more than once before sending the ball back.
Players can use their hands, feet, or heads to hit the ball.
In any play that has 3 or more touches, there must be at least 1 “soccer touch” with the feet or head.
Individual players are allowed to touch the ball once with their hands, but a second consecutive touch from the same player is allowed as long as they use a soccer touch.
After each point scored, teams rotate their positions in a clockwise direction like in volleyball.

Bossaball Scoring

The scoring of bossaball is as follows:

If the ball was hit with the hands (a volley) and falls on the playing area outside the trampoline, the opposing team gets one point.
If the ball was hit with a volley and falls directly on the trampoline, the opposing team gets three points.
If the ball was hit with the feet, legs, or head (soccer touch) and falls on the playing area outside of the trampoline, the opposing team scores three points.
If the ball was hit with a soccer touch and falls directly on the trampoline, the opposing team scores five points.

This slant of the rules towards using your head and feet more remind me of sepak takraw. If you’d like to learn about sepak takraw, here’s a post all about it.

Bossaball Referees

The person overseeing the game is called a “samba referee,” and in addition to keeping score, the referee serves as the Master of Ceremonies, DJ, and percussionist.

Where Is Bossaball Most Popular?

Bossaball is most popular in countries like Brazil, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore, Ecuador and Saudi Arabia, and the most famous club teams are the Selection of Spain and the Selection of Brazil, who travel the world to promote the game through bossaball exhibitions.

Here are the places where bossaball is played:

Argentina
Turkey
The Netherlands
Spain
Germany
France
Switzerland
Hungary
Israel
Egypt
Saudi Arabia
Qatar
Chile
Austria

Bossaball was introduced to Singapore in 2007 by bossaball Singapore founder Mohamad Saifudin. Singapore’s team has participated in international tournaments.

In 2019, a Bossaball exhibition was held in Mumbai, India, after which bossaball International set up a number of courts across Mumbai.

Since the sport’s inception in 2005, bossaball World Cup tournaments have been played in Turkey, Bonaire, and Brazil, and exhibition cups have been played in Spain and Vienna.

Redbull has promoted bossaball events in Austria, Slovenia, Tunisia, Turkey, Kuwait, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates; Tomorrowland, the biggest electronic music event in the world in Antwerp, Belgium, featured a bossaball tournament; and bossaball was featured at the Adidas Olympic Day event in Germany.

This bossaball website provides an interactive map that highlights all of the official bossaball events held around the world.

How Can I Find a Bossaball Court Near Me?

Unfortunately, bossaball courts are not yet commonplace, and with very few exceptions, it’s unlikely that you’ll find one in your hometown. However, there are ways to rent or buy bossaball courts to use at major events.

The College Agency entertainment company in Kansas City provides bossaball Court rentals within a 700-mile (1126.54-km) radius of Kansas City.

You can find listings for bossaball and other inflatable courts on sale through Made-In-China.com.

Channel Inflatables in China also sell bossaball courts.

Final Thoughts

Bossaball is an exciting new sport that has yet to reach its full potential in the world. It’s a one-of-a-kind fusion of music, dancing, acrobatics, and sport with its own unique energy. Surely, it must be seen in person to grasp the experience fully.

If you enjoy learning about other variations of the sport of volleyball, check out our variations category.

Sources

Photo Credits

Feature image by Global Sports Forum on flickr.com: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/, cropped to zoom.

Youth game image by Volleybal Isala on flickr.com: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/, cropped to zoom.

Festival image by Volleybal Isala on flickr.com: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/, cropped to zoom.