Joining Sheffield's Craziest Club

What is the wackiest club you can join in Sheffield? I may have found it. Unicycle hockey is not you're average run-of-the-mill sport and I'd never heard of it until the captain of Sheffield's team approached me and asked me if I wanted to join.

On invitation, I arrived at the Broomspring Lane, all-weather community sports pitch, with an open mind and an eagerness to learn a new skill. Sheffield's unicycle hockey team are a friendly bunch and very welcoming, they gave me a trial unicycle straight away to practice with, complete with fat tyres and banana-shaped saddle.

Andy Whelan, 26, vice captain, took me to one side and gave me my first lesson of getting on and staying on. The technique, he said, is to have the unicycle slanted towards you and then to "jump on, straighten yourself, then use the pedals, and the fence to gain control. The next stage is to get the balls to actually ride it forwards."

Assisted by the sturdiness of a rusty iron fence and the guidance of a master, I was cycling for one rotation of the wheel and then falling off. Despite my anticipation of great lacerations up the shin and getting my wrists scuffed like shoes, falling off isn't that bad. Coming off a unicycle is a walk in the park if you're lucky enough to fall forwards. However, if you fall off backwards then you're guaranteed to land on your ever-so tolerant behind.

My first experiences of unicycle hockey consisted of building confidence and shattering fear, they say your greatest enemy in this strange sport is being afraid. Whilst I was continuously falling off and dragging myself and the one-wheeled anomaly back to the fence to start over, the rest of Sheffield's 'only' unicycle hockey team were playing a friendly game against each other.

Rules of the game
• The goals must be six foot wide and four foot high.
• The bottom of the hockey stick must not be lifted above hip height.
• One hand must always be placed at the top end of the stick.
• The stick must not be released or thrown intentionally.
• Putting your stick under or through someone else's wheel is a foul.
• A goal can only be scored from within your opponents half
• You can hit the ball with your hand but you cannot score a goal like that.
• After a goal the non-scoring team restarts by playing the ball over the half way line.

"They're called rules but they're merely guidelines" said Ben Staples, 17, team member, "just keep your eyes on the ball and chase it till it's stuck to your stick!"


A week goes by and I was really excited to get back on the unicycle at practice. It's fair to say that the rest of the team seem to be pleased that I came back for another shot. However there didn't seem to be as many people thrashing a tennis ball up and down the pitch with their hockey stick this week, which made me think that they struggle with keeping the team numbers up. I later found out that one of the players broke their ankle, practising this brutal sport.

Another go and I reached halfway across the gritty all-weather pitch, this was the farthest I had ever reached and it was dually noticed by the vice captain, Andy. "I might actually be able to play for them sooner rather than later?" I thought.

Another go and I fell off after two metres, back to the drawing board. "Keep your body straight, your leaning too much into it which is making your legs have to peddle faster" Andy would say, repeatedly!

I tried again and reached halfway across the pitch for the second time in my unicycle career. For the rest of the practice session I managed to go forwards, dodging people as my arms flew chaotically in the air to keep balance. Soon I'll be ready for turning, which as Andy said will "just happen automatically, don’t think about that for now".

At the end of the session they all gathered round to talk about future plans for the team. One person mentioned that everyone puts "a pound in every week to rent out a hall or buy equipment to encourage new people to come along", which seemed to go down well with the rest. Another team member suggested about trying to apply for financial support off the council.

I looked around and saw a bunch of unicycle hockey enthusiasts, who are passionate about what they do. There are only 13 nationally recognised teams in England and this was one of them. Before saying goodbye for another week, I was kindly given a unicycle to take home and practice on.

Five weeks went by, and a lot of practice and now I'm in the team. At first, it all seemed like a bit of a joke. "Why not just play hockey like everyone else does, with your feet on the ground?" I would think. Now that I'm acquainted with this bonkers sport and the people in it, it's not so crazy anymore. In such a short amount of time I've become a member of one of Sheffield's craziest clubs and I intend to stay in it.

By LIAM DAY