Linda Rheinstein – Taking Sports to Space: The Space Games Federation
By Mike Turner APR 11, 2022
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 industries, 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 the human experience, and aims to marry entertainment and education — e.g, edutainment — to make this experience accessible to the
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.
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