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Jonathan White

On first thought, the Scottish Highlands, the flooded rice fields of Bali and a square in the middle of downtown Florence may not seem like places with much in common.
But each is the setting for one of the unusual sports profiled in the new Netflix series Home Game.
The eight episodes take in the massive tossers of the Highland Games (a favourite of Queen Elizabeth, no less), Balinese buffalo racing (makepung lampit) and the football-meets-MMA of calcio storico.
There’s also roller derby in Austin, Texas, Kyrgyzstan’s goat polo (kok boru) and Congolese Catch Fetiche – professional wrestling with a touch of voodoo.


That is not to mention India’s pehlwani wrestling or free-diving in the Philippines, which conclude the series.
“This docuseries profiles unique and dangerous traditional sports from around the world, as well as the communities and cultures where they thrive,” is how the streaming giant describes the show.
If it is successful there are plenty more unusual local sports for them to profile.


Calcio storico is hardly the only alternative take on the world game. There’s fire football, robot football and three-sided football, too.
In Asia, they could shoot SEA staple sepak takraw, Afghanistan’s goat dragging or tuk-tuk polo in Sri Lanka. That is not to mention kabbadi.
Europe offers such unusual events as gurning, ferret legging and egg catching in the UK, plus Finnish favourite wife carrying among many others.


If the producers want something more specific, then how about the oddest of combat sports? Chess boxing, face slapping and shin kicking certainly fit that bill.
Extreme ironing, parkour diving and skyaking might be of interest to adventure fans, with many more niche extreme sports besides.
Watersports enthusiasts might find their fancies tickled by canal leaping, death diving and bog snorkelling among the world’s weirdest.


Animals feature in plenty of mainstream sports but there are also many more that are less well known. Camel wrestling, dog surfing and rabbit jumping are but a few.
Perhaps it is time to dip into the weird sports that used to be in the Olympics – and there were more than you might think. The horse long jump, town planning and live shooting of both people and pigeons probably deserve a half-hour show to explain themselves.
These are all food for thought – as are the food-based sports of cheese rolling, bun climbing and competitive eating.


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Netflix

Netflix’s ‘Home Game’: calcio storico and Highland Games among world’s weirdest sports on show

Players compete during the final of the annual calcio storico series in Florence, Italy. Photo: AFP

Goat dragging, greasy pole and tuk-tuk polo – Asia’s weirdest sports

Afghan horse riders fight for the goat during a “buzkashi” game in Kabu in 2006. Photo: AP

Car curling, gurning and ferrets – Britain and Europe’s weirdest sports

A man has an egg smashed on his head during the 2015 World Egg Throwing Championships. Photo: Reuters

Swamps, calcio storico and robots – weird and wacky football  from around the world

Players clash during the final match of the Fiorentino calcio storico, the traditional 16th Century Renaissance game, at Santa Croce square in Florence in 2017. Photo: Xinhua

Camel wrestling, dog surfing and rabbit jumping – the world’s weirdest animal sports

Srinivas Gowda runs alongside his buffaloes during ‘Kambala’, the traditional buffalo racing event in 2020. Photo: AFP

Chess boxing, face slapping and shin kicking – the world’s weirdest combat sports

Vasiliy “Dumpling” Komotskiy slaps an opponent at the 2019 Siberian Power Show. Photo: Dmitry Kotov

Sport

Other Sport


Netflix series profiles ‘unique and dangerous traditional sports’ from Congolese professional wrestling to Kyrgyz goat polo
Roller derby in Texas, Balinese buffalo racing and free-diving in the Philippines also feature, but there are plenty more for a future series



Netflix series profiles ‘unique and dangerous traditional sports’ from Congolese professional wrestling to Kyrgyz goat polo via Texan roller derby and Balinese buffalo racing – and still plenty more for series two.


Tourism

Netflix’s ‘Home Game’: calcio storico and Highland Games among world’s weirdest sports on show

Netflix series profiles ‘unique and dangerous traditional sports’ from Congolese professional wrestling to Kyrgyz goat polo Roller derby in Texas, Balinese buffalo racing and free-diving in the Philippines also feature, but there are plenty more for a future series

Netflix series profiles ‘unique and dangerous traditional sports’ from Congolese professional wrestling to Kyrgyz goat polo

Roller derby in Texas, Balinese buffalo racing and free-diving in the Philippines also feature, but there are plenty more for a future series