Sometimes, being in a bubble isn't all that bad. Damon Grace will tell you.
Grace is the guy behind bringing bubble soccer to Mid-Michigan. The European phenomena popularized by the Internet has bounced, rolled and settled in East Lansing, offering the soccer-inclined at any level the chance to knock around on the playing field.
Bubble Soccer Detroit opened a branch at 210 Abbot in East Lansing after the West Bloomfield native and MSU student launched his business from the Hatch. Grace says the office rents out all the equipment anyone would need to play the high-energy, hilarious sport with friends or coworkers.
"It's basically contact soccer with a twist," says Grace. "You can do flips and hit the ball super hard. It brings in a huge crowd all the time and everyone wants to play."
Grace says he and his business partner Luke Andrews supply the bubble soccer balls, referees and all the setup and teardown for birthday parties, graduation events, corporate meetings, bachelor or bachelorette parties, fundraisers, and other occasions suitable for the rousing, camaraderie-building sport. Plastic bubbles are inflated onsite, and worn by players like a circular backpack of bubble wrap.
"It can get a little hot when you're inside the bubble, but there's a hole at the top so it's not too bad," says Grace. "It's really fun and exciting and seems safer than regular soccer."
Since coming to Lansing in December 2014, the two-person company has coordinated more than 20 bubble soccer events. Customers play the event on basketball courts, in gyms, on soccer fields or in backyards. Grace says one group even held a competition on a stage. Leagues and other partnerships are in the works with the Hope Sports Complex and Lansing Soccerzone.
"Our goal is to go national," says Grace. "We want to have events across America, and tournaments and leagues everywhere. We've found that few people have ever seen it before and once they do, everyone wants to play."
Sources: Damon Grace, Owner, Bubble Soccer Detroit
Writer: Ann Kammerer, News Editor
Got a story idea for Innovation News? Email Ann Kammerer here.