Last night my family got together for a birthday party for my brother-in-law at Connecticut Whirlyball which is located at 1265 John Fitch Blvd. (Rte 5) in South Windsor. My sister rented the facility which came complete with two-hours of 15-minute sessions of Whirly Ball.
Since she had rented the facility from 5:30pm-7:30pm, she also brought two party size pizza’s, coolers filled with soda and beer, and chips. The entire whirly ball center is available for parties of 10-80 at hourly rtes. Foosball, pool tables, arcade games, music and TV are part of the package.
What is Whirlyball and who can play?
Whirlyball is a combination of Basketball, Bumper-cars, and Jai-Alai, played on a 50’x80′ court. Ten players are broken down by the red or yellow team, based upon the bumper car that they get in. The referee sits in a box above the court and throws the first ball. The rules are similar to basketball, where you can block, and pass, but you can also carry the ball too. You are not supposed to ram each other from the front or back, but a T-bone or side hit is acceptable.
We had ages 11 – 65 in our party, and everyone got a chance to get out on the court. Anyone with a back or neck problem, or if pregnant, are prohibited from participating.
Corporate Team Building with Whirly Ball teaches working together
Looking for a way to get the office team together for some team building? Whirlyball is a great way to reward employees, students or committees, and it also can act as a medium to coach teams to work together, pass the ball, cover each other and act defensively. No matter why you go, it is a great way to have a lot of laughs and release some stress.
A few of their clients: Accenture, Aetna, Allstate, Aramark, BKM, Cigna, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, ESPN, FedEx, GE, Hartford Hospital, Home Depot, IBM, ING, Konica Minolta, Lego, Loctite, Mass Mutual, Mortgage Lenders Network, Pfizer, St. Paul Travelers, Target, The Hartford, UConn, United Healthcare, United Technologies, and Webster Bank.
Whirlyball is great fun and creates lots of laughter
When we got there, we began eating the pizza my sister brought, and before you know it, right on schedule we were brought out to the court. We were taught how to operate the cars, how to be safe, and then how to play the game. The instructor told us to buckle up and then he showed us how to score and throw the ball, and then he let us go. There were 24 people in our party, so we took turns and rotated in and out of the main room and onto the court, every 15-minutes.
I saw a few people drive head on into the walls because they were going too fast, and there is no brake. I saw my husband get double T-boned by my nephews who were running defense and trying to keep him from scoring. I was surprised at how well my brother and sister worked together, but then again, they are close in age, and have always been like two peas-in-a-pod.
It was great to see the generations on the court working together, and we had a lot of fun.
Of course, I may feel it tomorrow. I got rear-ended, front-ended, T-boned and stuck in the corner. While I was screaming defense, my nephews were busy ramming me and they were on my team. The highlight was when one of my nephews ran the ball all the way down the field, with no interference, because he was heading towards the wrong basket. He informed us after he threw the ball that he didn’t want to be on the red team, even though his car was red. He had decided was on the yellow team without telling anyone. Oh, the looks he got as he raced inthe wrong directoin – we laughed so hard!
The facility is available at hourly rates for birthday parties, group outings, corporate events and leagues. To contact them, 860-289-2306 or their website at CTWhirlyball. They have been in business since 1991, and although times are tough, this is a great place for a party or a night out – definitely check it out.
