Vikingball poised to conquer sports world

On any given Sunday, a person visiting Banksville Park in Greentree, Pa., would probably find all the typical recreational activities; a pickup game of baseball, parents watching their children play on the jungle gym and a game of street hockey where the goalies don a shield and oversized hammer.

The game is Vikingball, street hockey with a twist. Goalies can fight back and are able to score for their team by hitting an opposing player with a foam hammer wrapped in duct tape.

"The idea came about in Dicks [sporting goods store]," Ian Finch, the co-creator of Vikingball, said. "We wanted to play hockey but the goalie equipment was so expensive."

What began as a joke became a reality after Rodney Wozniak, fellow co-creator and brother-in-law of Finch, made a promotional video for the experimental sport while he was a film student at the University of Pittsburgh.

"People started talking about it, friends asked about it and wanted to try to play. It just became a thing," Finch said.

Now almost four years later, Vikingball is still going strong. Currently, there are two teams in Pittsburgh, the Drakkars and the Bearhounds. Typically, 10 to 20 guys attend, with the occasional girlfriend joining as well, every Sunday for the year round sport. During the summer and holidays, the league sees the most players when students are home from school.

Over the years, the game has grown. The league usually sees a new person every other week and gains about two to three new players a year.

Each player has their own Vikingball alias. Finch is known as "Lars the Interloper" and Wozniak as "Moses Monty Z."

"We are always looking for new people and new teams," Uncle Matt, a member of the Bearhounds, said.

Uncle Matt said his nephew introduced him to the game three years ago when he moved to Pittsburgh from Arizona.

"Everyone has these cool Viking names but Uncle Matt stuck," he said.

Many of the members of Vikingball are seasoned ice hockey players Vikingball follows most traditional hockey rules except the games are best of seven instead of being seven minute periods, and the games can go up to seven points. This way games can last longer. The group typically plays from 11 a.m. until two p.m.

Word of mouth has gained Vikingball interest in the community and it has started to branch out of Pittsburgh. With the creation of the official Web site, www.vikingball.com and a Facebook page, Vikingball has joined the culture of new inventive sports of the 21st century.

"Once we made a Web site, people said they want to start their own leagues. Once the rules are out there anyone can do it," Finch said.

As far as Finch and Wozniak know, there are two other Vikingball leagues, one in the Washington, D.C., Baltimore area and another in San Francisco.

"The goal is to spread the word and make it easy to recreate. We've even heard of a guy trying to create a group in Rome," Wozniak said.

Not only has Vikingball brought a new phenomenon to Banksville Park, but some good as well. The members of Vikingball are working on revitalizing the park and are trying to work with the city to fix the fences around the area where they practice as well as install backboards to help with the game.

Vikingball has even gained press in the New York Times and Pittsburgh City Paper, only adding to Finch's theory that "if you build it, they will come."

Anyone interested in joining the American Vikingball League can contact Ian Finch at LarsTheInterloper@gmail.com or check out the Vikingball Web site at www.vikingball.com.