Drone soccer - ready for take off - 1st March 2024

Drone soccer's the latest innovation to marry the best of sports and technology. Seen here being demonstrated at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the new sport tests each drone pilots' skills to the limit as Sean Greenhalgh, professional drone soccer player explains.

Sean Greenhalgh: "This is the actual competition arena. Right here we got the goal post the goal posts that these drones fly through. And these drones when you're flying through, you only have two to three inches around the drone to fly through that, so it is very precise."

Two five-a-side teams battle it out in a 9 minute game which unfolds over three equally-timed sets. The team supports their lead striker, whose aim is to score by floating through the opposing team's 58 centimetre goal, barely wider than the drone itself.

Sean Greenhalgh: "In a real competition, there will be ten inside the arena at a time. There's five players on each team consisting of three defenders, two strikers, one is a lead striker the other one is a backup striker. The lead striker is the only one who can score and he's the one with the green tassels underneath the drone."

Whilst drones routinely feature in photography, surveillance and, increasingly, delivery services, drone soccer reflects an expanding interest in their use for recreational and competition purposes. Comparisons have even been made likening drone soccer to the fictional Harry Potter sport of quidditch, renowned for its flying broomsticks and golden snitch.

Yet, with only technological wizardry at their disposal, players must depend on solid piloting skills for success. Younger players, enticed by the game's integration of technology into the sporting arena, are fast gaining their wings. The sport also champions equality as its open to all genders, ages and abilities, according to Ro Sang Heub, president of the Federation of International Dronesoccer Association.

Ro Sang Heub: "There will be a World Cup in 2025 in South Korea, and I dream about this sport being played regardless of any gender, any type of people, disabled people. I wish it becomes one of the major sports played by everybody."

Although many cities have outlawed drone flying citing concerns over safety and security, enthusiasts keen to hone their high-level piloting abilities may find drone soccer to be a perfect fit.