An offbeat event that brought together 16 companies and organisations to compete in lighthearted games such as bubble football, zorb racing, and dodgeball has been hailed a success.

And companies that took part not only enjoyed some fun team-bonding, they were able to interact with other businesses and organisations they would not normally have met, while promoting health and fitness to their staff.

Marquel Waldron, the man behind the first Xtreme Sports Games, is delighted with the response to the event, which took place on April 9.

“From the feedback I’ve had from the teams they all enjoyed it and are looking forward to doing it again,” he said.

He has sent out surveys to participants to gather feedback, and he said one thing that is clear is that companies enjoyed the teamwork aspect.

“They thought it was a valuable thing for team-building. It encouraged people to work in a team, communicate and direct one another,” said Mr Waldron.

The venture started as an entrepreneurial pitch for a business start-up. The concept won over judges at the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation’s Rocket Pitch competition last November.

The idea came to fruition at the National Sports Centre’s North Field, where companies and organisations battled it out in games that included human hungry hippo, volleypong, and human bowling.

Anchor Investment Management won the contest, and as champions were given $4,000 to be awarded to the Bermuda charity or non-profit group of their choice. The company chose WindReach, an organisation it has supported in the past. However, Anchor then went even better by donating a matching amount to the charity.

Jeffrey Brewer, Anchor’s managing director, is full of praise for the event.

“It’s great from a team-bonding point of view.” He added: “When you sit in front of a Bloomberg [screen] most of the day, as we do, to go out and do something different is very valuable to our crew.”

He recognises the benefit of having staff who are active and maintain their health.

At Anchor, employees are encouraged to use a “health benefit” hour in the middle of the day, allowing them to get some exercise at lunchtime. Mr Brewer said that while some companies may not be keen on staff taking an hour out of the office to get exercise, he views it as a key component of the workday.

“It’s important from a lifestyle and fitness standpoint,” he said, adding that it helped staff feel refreshed to resume desk-based analytical work for the remainder of the day.

Having a sporty staff paid dividends for Anchor. After reading about the event in The Royal Gazette in January, the company immediately signed up.

“We have sports guys here, so we were on-board right away,” said Stephanie Hawke, client relationship manager, who was Anchor’s team captain at the Xtreme Sports Games.

Even so, the company’s relatively small team felt the effects of their exertions, and having a limited number of team members to choose from meant there was little opportunity to rest up during the event, with all hands needed on deck throughout the day.

Favourite games of the day included the bubble football, which Anchor won 4-0, and dodgeball.

Mr Brewer was particularly impressed by the strategy his colleagues used during the dodgeball game, and he said seeing staff working together in a sporting environment had brought some useful insights into their skills and talents.

“In sports everyone is equal. When you are out there it doesn’t matter who the boss is.”

Mr Brewer said it was also refreshing to interact with companies and organisations that Anchor did not normally come into contact with.

“Having different companies meeting up outside the office environment is beneficial,” he said.

Among companies and organisations that took part were Aon, Markel, Endurance, Ironshore Insurance, RenaissanceRe and KPMG, together with the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences and title sponsors the BEDC.

Ms Hawke said Anchor thanked organiser Mr Waldron and his team for putting on the event, while Mr Brewer said the company looks forward to competing in the next Xtreme Sports Games, and defending the title.

Meanwhile, Mr Waldron is “99.9 per cent” sure the games will return next year.

He said another reason for staging the event was to promote his Xtreme Sports Bermuda venture. Mr Waldron had the idea of bringing the fun games and activities to the island after seeing a game of bubble football being played in England. He hopes that exposing corporations to the fun activities will lead to further bookings from companies and businesses seeking to organise their own team-bonding and fun-day events.

“We have had a bit of interest and have a couple of fun days booked.”

He is working on a brochure highlighting the various sports, and the success of the games, to encourage more businesses and organisations to arrange fun, team-building events.

For more information, visit https://www.xtremesportsbmd.com/