What is Bandy? Duchess Kate Middleton and Prince William Try Out Ice Hockey-Like Sport
Bandy is a popular sport in Scandinavia.
When in Sweden, do as the Swedes do.
That's the apparent belief of Prince William and Duchess Kate Middleton, who took to the ice during a Tuesday trip to Stockholm.
The pair took turns trying their hand at bandy, a sport combining both ice hockey and football that’s extremely popular in the region.
Like ice hockey, the game is played on the ice and the object of the sport is to hit the ball with a stick into the opposing team's net.
Unlike ice hockey, bandy is played with a ball instead of a puck. Similar to football, bandy games are divided into two 45-minute long halves with 11 players on each team.
The crowd cheered as the pair tried aiming the ball at the net before taking their seats and enjoyed watching a game.
The royal couple even had the chance to meet with some of the young players.
“Today, they received a memory for their entire lives,” Anders Gidrup, who represented the sport, told APTN. “Everyone I spoke to afterwards, they were so happy. They had met Kate, they had met William. You know the royal family in England, this is some kind of a role model for them so they think it was marvelous.”
The visit was a kick-off their four-day tour of Sweden and Norway.
Middleton is currently pregnant with the couple's third child. She is due to give birth in April.
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