This year, on Jan. 26, Seminole High School’s Senior Class Council will host their first Bubble Soccer Tournament in the Competition Gym, as a fundraiser to raise money for Senior Week and the senior gift. Only 16 teams are allowed to participate in the tournament. After each game, a team will be eliminated until a winner is left remaining.

The matches will be eight minutes long with four-minute halves. The halves are short because the plastic bubbles retain heat, and if the halves were longer than four minutes, then it could be harmful for students.

The game is very similar to soccer in that the objective is to score the most goals; the only difference is that they are inside of a bubble. Using bubbles allows participants to run into opponents, while in soccer, players aren’t allowed knock each other over. The bubbles are round and cover the participants from their head to just above the knee, protecting the players from injury when they get knocked over. There are also handles inside of the bubbles that the competitors hold onto to keep the bubble up off of the ground.

Ms. Donna Noll says, “[students] seem very excited. I don’t know if it is excitement because it is something new or that they get to run into people.”

To sign up for the tournament students have to complete a form with their parents’ signatures and they also need to bring $35 per team to pay the fee. Teams are made of seven students. Five participate in the game while the other two are subs in case some of the players need a break during the game. The forms are due by Jan. 20.

Some students are excited to take a break from school and participate in the event.

Junior Matthew Duazo says, “[The best part will be] throwing all of my stress from IB into playing Bubble Soccer.”

Georgina Corrick says, “I’ve seen videos of [Bubble Soccer] on twitter and on the news and it seems like fun to me. [I’m excited about] throwing people around in little plastic bubbles, and it would be hilarious to do it with some close friends.”

The matches will start at 6:30 p.m. and participants will need to arrive at 6:00 p.m. The tickets will be $3 in advance and $5 at the door for spectators.