Lone Star Adventure: WhirlyBall - Dallas News | myFOXdfw.com

Lone Star Adventure: WhirlyBall

Late June in Plano, Texas tournament teams from Miami to Seattle came to battle it out in the National Finals tournament for WhirlyBall -  a sport Invented just three decades ago,  with elements of basketball, hockey and lacrosse, all played in tricked-up bumper car called a WhirlyBug.

"It's very maneuverable once you know how to do it," said WhirlyBall enthusiast Derek Scott. "And then it's played a lot like basketball strategy. Pick and rolls, screen shots. We throw up walls in defense.

"It's a 5 on 5 game like sport like basketball but it's a bunch of old men in a bumper car."

But they're not all old and they're not all men. Tanya Biggs for example. "I like to play because it's aggressive and I can come out here and play against the guys and be aggressive."

First played in Salt Lake City in 1980, there are still just a relative handful of venues like the one in Plano. Tournament players take the game to a different level but for most, like Guy Palacios, the obscure game with the funny name is pure recreation.

"Yes it does sound goofy And we tell people, 'Yeah it sounds silly but when you get out here you will have a blast.'

"I can do something competitive with all my friends. We can goof off and have a good time. And," said Guy, with a big smile. "I don't have to be in really good shape to do it."

www.whirlyballplano.com