Bumper Cars + Basketball + Lacrosse: The Case for WhirlyBall
Sometimes taking multiple sports and putting them in a blender can create some strange results.
Like Slam Ball or the professional wrestling-tinged football league the XFL. WhirlyBall, however, has found the perfect blend of bumper cars, basketball and lacrosse.
WhirlyBall competitors hop into electric carts (known as WhirlyBugs) and hit the court in a five-on-five matchup (sadly you can’t just drop in. Groups only!). Armed with a plastic scoop, players pass a ball back and forth and try to shoot it into a hole at either end of the court, but don’t try anything slick — each WhirlyBall game is officiated by a referee. The result is a competitive and hilarious way to blow off steam after a long day of meetings.
Stepping into WhirlyBall Seattle is like stepping back into time. The retro-cool logos on the walls of the two courts and the nostalgic smell of fryer oil and floor wax immediately take you back to a simpler time. Arcade games populate the far walls. If you dress for the part and get your outfit just right, you could be transported back into 1986. That’s the year when Tom Choquette, the owner of WhirlyBall Seattle, started running the attraction.
“It’s a great place to grow and develop a deeper friendship and a deeper understanding of each other,“ Choquette said about the game. WhirlyBall Seattle is the only WhirlyBall court on the west coast, and one of 30-ish in the United States.
Excellent Way to Team-build
“A lot of corporations use this for team building … this breaks the ice. They get to know each other", says owner Tom Choquette.
Located in Edmonds, Washington, a half hour drive from downtown Seattle, WhirlyBall Seattle is an excellent way to team-build. WhirlyBall Seattle’s clients include tech corporations like Microsoft and Amazon as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. “We get a ton of compliments from admins that say ‘our team’s working better together.’” Choquette said.
WhirlyBall Seattle is also a short trip from the Lynnwood Convention Center, making your corporate stay in Snohomish County a little more chipper. Add in a stop to Dick’s Drive In for burgers and you have a work retreat that won’t elicit eyerolls from your staff.
