February 10, 2012

If the Ultimate Fighting Championship can become a global sports juggernaut by getting fighters to clobber the snot out of one another in as many different ways as possible, then the future could well be bright for the next chapter in pain-inducing competitive sport: Tazer Ball.

The game takes the hits and fast action of hockey and football and mixes them with an oversized soccer ball -- which, you may think, sounds pretty exciting on its own. But when you add in stun guns that can deliver an electric shock, the stakes get a whole lot higher.

Ultimate Tazer Ball is the name of apparently real league dedicated to the sport, one that boasts the Toronto Terror among its franchises. Here is the UTB's promotional video, showcasing the electrifying excitement of its product:

Is this real? It certainly SOUNDS made up. How can there be a Canadian team in a sport that relies on weapons that aren't available for legal purchase in Canada?

But CBC reporter Nil Koksal managed to get in touch with the two men who claim to be behind UTB yesterday, and they insist that it's real.

""It's not fake. We're very serious about it," said Eric Prum, 25, who is launching the league with business partner Erik Wunsch."We're hoping to turn it into a league with a series of events that we're travelling across the world."

Prum also downplays the danger involved in his sport:

"If you think it's a police-grade Taser or a lethal or cardiac-inducing Taser, then you could think it's a step too far, but the stun guns we're using are far below the amperage to cause any damage like that. So it's more of a useful tool in an action sport than anything."

Tasers (the kind spelled with an 's' instead of a 'z', which is in fact a proprietary name used by Arizona-based Taser International for the stun guns it sells to law enforcement agencies), are considered weapons in Canada, though are legally available in many American states.

According to Amnesty International, 334 Americans died after Taser shocks between 2001 and 2008, 50 of which were caused by the Tasers directly. In 2008, Taser International was ordered to pay over $5-million in damages when its stun guns were considered 15% responsible for the death of Robert Heston of San Jose, California.

For more on both the benefits and potential dangers of stun guns, check out this CBC primer on Tasers, following the case of Robert Dziekanski, a Polish man who died after being repeatedly shocked by stun guns at the Vancouver airport in 2007.

Related Stories on Strombo.com:

Canada's New Taser Guidelines

Dana White on How MMA can Stop Bullies and Muggers

Links:

Ultimate Tazer Ball

CBC News: Tazer Ball

CBC: Stun Gun FAQ