Linda Rheinstein - Taking Sports to Space: The Space Games Federation

Sports are universal. No matter what is going on in the world, it seems that sports can unite us. Now, the Space Games Federation is taking sports to space … and that’s the subject of this installment of The Ex Terra Podcast.
Host Tom Patton talks with Linda Rheinstein, founder of The Space Games Federation, the first governing and sanctioning body for competitive sports played in zero or micro-gravity.
The Space Games Federation offers the human race the unprecedented opportunity to engage in a unique fusion of Space and Athletics. By providing structure and regulation, resources to test and explore, and access to world-class experts, SGF seeks to bridge the gap between earth and space in the spirit of competition, fun, and community.
SGF is composed of experts in the space, sports and entertainment industry, featuring influential leaders and thinkers that are driving the growing mainstream popularity of space. The team collectively envisions the past, present, and future of the space industry as invaluable to human experience, and aims to marry entertainment and education — e.g, edutainment — to make this experience accessible to the world.
But taking sports to space is not as easy as playing football or basketball in a low or microgravity environment. To come up with new concepts for sports in space, The Space Games Federation created the Equal Space Challenge, inviting the global public to design and develop original games exclusively for zero or micro-gravity playing fields.
The challenge was open to competitors of all ages, genders, levels of ability or disability, and nationalities. The new sports ideas were evaluated based on four key factors, each weighted at 25%: Concept & Feasibility, Game Strategy, Community Engagement and Submission Execution. In 2018, the initial submissions were reviewed, and a “Sweet 16” of new sports ideas were chosen, and that field has been narrowed down to five finalists.
How does what happen in space affect your everyday life? The Ex Terra podcast is dedicated to introducing you to many of the interesting people involved in the commercial space industry, and taking you behind the scenes with many of the companies making significant contributions to the new space economy. The podcast is available on Anchor, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Overcast, Pocketcasts and Radio Public.

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