Tennis + Soccer = Tenner?

One of my biggest problems is the fact that I keep coming up with stupid ideas for games that would probably be totally awesome... but I don't know anyone who would be dumb enough to play with me.

I was watching hurling the other day (a truly wonderful game - I tell you, those Irish kids really know how to play) when I had another one of my "how would you play that if you didn't have any of the right stuff?" moments.

This is the same urge that makes me want to create a cut-down version of Gaelic Football to run on a normal soccer pitch.  And it is fraught with the same problems.  Sure, I could easily come up with rules and things, but then I'd need to convince people to play it - and, quite frankly, I just don't know any people.

Well, I know a couple of people, but they're really boring and don't go in for crazy sport crap.

Anyway, one thought lead to another and eventually this came to me:

"Do you know what would be awesome?  Soccer, but played with a tennis ball and tennis racquets."

Hurling is, you see, essentially Gaelic football played with what looks like a softball and some deformed hockey sticks.  Apart from the ball itself and what you physically do with it, the games are basically the same.  You play on the same space, following the same rules regarding things like free shots and all that, and you score the same way for the same number of points.

So, if you carried this principle over to soccer, essentially everything would be the same, except you'd have a tennis ball and people would be whacking it across the pitch instead of kicking it.

Following hurling's lead, you would be able to catch the ball in your hand, and but you have to hit it to another player (either with your racquet or with an open palm or a closed fist).  You wouldn't be able to take more than three steps with the ball in your hand, but you could run as far as you like while balancing or bouncing it on your racquet.

Other players wouldn't be able to hit your body with their racquets, but trying to knock the ball off your racquet would be fair game.

Quite frankly, I think this game would be a bucket of fun to watch and play.

You'd need a soccer pitch (every town has one), tennis racquets (easy enough to get), tennis balls (preferably some colour other than green - but still perfectly obtainable) and possibly helmets of some description (unlike hockey, the racquets will be flailing about at head height, so the odds of getting hit in the head would be high).

All of these things are doable.  This game could be played tomorrow.

I offer it to whoever is willing to make it work.  Especially if you send me a link to the Youtube footage.  Go forth and play - and try to come up with a better name than "tenner".