Saturday sport is not really my thing. The idea that it is an important part of the Australian psyche makes it even less my thing given that so many aspects of that psyche are so disturbed.

But for art, I’ll do almost anything. Last Saturday in Airds I joined a Skyball team. It’s hard to say ‘no’ when the man on the megaphone is charming curator Paul Gazzola, and the uniform is a beautifully designed inflatable suit made by artist David Cross.

Cross says ‘Skyball is focused on community participation in the widest possible sense… A bit of beauty, brawn and carnival!

Enveloped by air, barefoot, barely able to see or hear, I was ready. Cue cheering.

In Skyball, its not easy to position yourself. There are no territories, no time for strategy, and no way to distinguish clearly between your teammates and opponents. Doing well requires fast-paced, bouncy, semi-autonomous responses to continuous assaults of incoming footballs. How to configure an assemblage that will make an impact during the play is the challenge–along with not falling out of your suit.

The field on Saturday was in Kevin Wheately reserve–Cheviot Place, aka ‘Monster Park’. The park is surrounded on each side by fated homes, at the centre of the Airds Bradbury Renewal Project. The game is fun to play and an odd spectacle, but the pace if the skirmish and general confusion about who is actually in conflict also make sense here.

Other artists have challenged the art-sport divide using games to devise works that redefine participation. Melbourne based Gabrielle de Vietri, for instance, redesigned AFL into a three team game, speculating on what would happen if humans didn’t always pit themselves against each other in binary opposition. The element of humour is somehow inevitable. What is important about skyball at Airds is that the game itself seems no more ridiculous than the development process. Draw up a field, select teams, make some rules.

My game was over in 5 minutes with a score of 26 to 2. Nobody deflated.

Grand Finals of Skyball will be held at the Monster Park (Kevin Wheatley Memorial Reserve, Airds) on Saturday October 11,  Midday-6pm. Players and spectators welcome. The team to beat is Mandy’s Maulers.