Snowball Fighting Champs From U.S. Aim For Respect In Japan
The United States has its first national champion snowball fighting team and they are as stunned about it as anyone else.
Every year, the Fur Rendezevous, a big outdoor festival in Anchorage, Alaska, celebrates winter on the last frontier. The Fur Rondy features ice games, snowshoe softball, sled dog races, a reindeer run and many more events.
Team snowball fighting is a new addition to the fun. The sport is officially called yukigassen. That's Japanese for "snow battle." It's played in snowy climes all around the globe. Contestants wear hocky helmets and face shields. The goal is to eliminate members of the opposing team by hitting them with snowballs, or to grab the opposing team's flag. The winners of this year's Fur Rondy tournament get the chance to go on to next year's world championships.
And so, a team of men sponsored by an Anchorage bar and grill is now scrambling to figure out how they will pay for a trip to Japan. The "Rumrunners" came out on top of 31 other teams – winning the final game against "The Big Test Icicles." ...
