Have you ever heard of bandy? I hadn’t before I came to Sweden years ago. Today I have a boyfriend who has been a bandy referee for ten years and whose father is the trainer for a children team. And I live in Uppsala where the final of Sweden’s A-series is played traditionally. That was last weekend.
In case you’re still wondering what I’m talking about: bandy is a weirdly genius mixture of soccer and ice hockey. I have seen both before and none of those made me a fan. But bandy… I think there is potential.
It’s played on ice, big as a soccer field. A team has 11 players, you use rackets, but a ball, roughly the size of a puck. You’re allowed to play high balls and the goals’ size is between a soccer and a hockey goal. Checking isn’t allowed and a match lasts 90 minutes.
This results in a game as entertaining as soccer but quicker, usually with more goals and just overall more beautiful. Maybe I’ll become a fan.
Oh, and about the final: It was a huge event! On a Swedish scale. But still.
Tons of Henni 