DUNOON, Scotland, June 15 (UPI) -- Teams from all over Europe gather in a Scottish bog this week to play swamp soccer.
The second U.K. championship was organized by Stewart Miller, who gave up a career as an executive at MacGregor Oatcakes to push swamp soccer.
"I didn't have time to concentrate on both and swamp soccer is far more exciting as an idea and a business," Miller told The Scotsman.
While the event is billed the U.K. championships, teams -- many co-ed -- from across Europe have signed up.
Swamp soccer was invented nine years ago by Nordic skiers in Finland who needed a way to stay in training during the off season. The sport has boomed, with about 300 teams vying in the most recent world championships.
Players in swamp soccer must keep moving since they will sink into the bog if they stand still. The British event is being held in a 16-foot bog in the seaside resort of Dunoon -- and Miller says that if the weather turns uncharacteristically dry the pitch will be watered to ensure a sufficient depth of mud.
