Five of the most unusual places people have played sport

Most people are happy playing sport at their local park, gym, or pool, but for some that's just not exciting enough. 

From coral reefs to cruise ships and from Germany's beaches to Central Europe's largest lake, sport has a habit of popping up in the most unexpected places – aided by portable equipment that makes it all possible.

Packaworld’s inflatable courts and goals have supported some seriously unique places to play sport around the world. That's why we've put our heads together to come up with this selection of five of our favourites. 

Read on, and perhaps gain some inspiration for the next indoor or outdoor location you plan to transform using our portable sports equipment.

Water polo on the Great Barrier Reef

When the Cairns Water Polo Club decided to showcase their sport somewhere memorable in 2019, they didn't mess around, hosting the first-ever exhibition match at Australia’s epic Great Barrier Reef featuring members of the Australian women's water polo team.

More than 250 spectators boarded a catamaran and travelled 1.5 hours to watch the match, surrounded by spectacular marine life 47km offshore in a place that has been described as one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

The match was played using inflatable Packaworld water polo fields and goals that float on the water in a section of the UNESCO World Heritage Site where special permission was granted and no trace would be left.

Bocce ball on cruise ships

A bit of rolling comes with the territory on a cruise ship, but P&O decided to up the ante and provide Packaworld’s bocce ball courts to five of its fleet so bocce ball addicts could get their fix even while sailing the high seas.

The portable courts set up and pack away in minutes, solving the problem of not having large amounts of space to spare on deck. The courts were a big hit with passengers, according to P&O Cruises Head of Entertainment Brett Annable.

“We’re always looking to create new experiences for our guests, so the bocce courts are great as they’ve given us a way to take a new game to sea.”

Goalball on a German beach

Goalball is typically played indoors on gymnasium floors, so when Germany’s Association for Disabled and Rehabilitation Sports decided to break with tradition and take the Paralympic sport to the beach in 2021, it raised a few eyebrows – in a positive way.

Packaworld’s portable Packagoals allowed the organisation to hold matches on beaches and in other outdoor locations, where the public could witness the Paralympic sport in action and get a feel for it.

Youth Goalball Coach Heiko Prinz said the Packagoals had proved popular.

“The reaction of the young players and untrained people who tested goalball was very good.”

Water skyball at Lake Balaton

Central Europe's largest lake became a public playground for the emerging sport of water skyball in summer 2025, when two sets of inflatable Water Skyball Packagoals and fields were set up on Hungary’s Alsoors Beach for anyone to use free of charge.

An estimated 5,000 people tried the sport throughout the summer, enticed by the lure of a new game to try and a perfect way to cool off.

Water Skyball Federation Vice President Olga Augusztin said the experiment was a massive success.

“The field was there for everyone, so people came, played water skyball or just practised shooting at the goals. It was used all day because people were hungry to play something in the water.”

Blind rugby international in Auckland

The world's first blind rugby international match in 2017 faced a unique problem: how do you set up the 70m x 50m field required, when conventional rugby posts can't easily be moved and most pitches don't have posts positioned for a blind rugby field?

To the rescue came another world first – inflatable Rugby Packaposts – the world's first portable full-size rugby posts meeting World Rugby guidelines, developed specifically to support the new sport and make it possible to set up proper playing conditions anywhere.

On the day, while the Blind Lions outclassed New Zealand Blind Rugby with an epic 31-0 win, the game of blind rugby itself was also a winner – by proving that it had enough substance to be played at international level.

Sure, the place of play might not be unusual, but it’s definitely an unusual game being played on a unique occasion – so we’re running with it!

Blind Sport New Zealand National Manager and member of the New Zealand Blind Rugby squad Dan Shepherd said the posts had “revolutionised the game”.

“With just one set of posts, we can bring the game to anywhere in the country with minimal setup cost.”

Packaworld’s portable products turn the impossible into the possible by allowing people to bring the game to places no-one has thought about before – from the unusual and spectacular to your humble local park.