The idea to develop a sport that can be played in space comes as an answer to several questions, most related to the differentiation between game/play/sport and exercise, the second is mentioned very often in space related documentary, articles and books.
Then, several benefits are the result of practicing a sport, like: space awareness, good reflex, eye-hand coordination, etc. This is a must for some rehabilitation routines; why not use this to adapt to zero G.
Physical and mental well being is associated with this, some of the social aspects on the mental benefits in practicing a sport are not possibly to study on the conditions of space without a tool like this (is not the same with exercise). You can have people playing golf or other sports in different events worldwide as an ice-breaking practice where people come from different backgrounds and they even don't speak the same language, but for the rules.
Speaking of rules, what about feeling the change on the rule of gravity? To have a tool that can assist to several aspects of this experience, like adaptation, the simulation of zero gravity takes place on a plane or a tank , each have limitations, so fast adaptation is important once in orbit.
But there are several limitations, like room space, also, a ball cannot/should not bounce on a surface of the IIS, kick or throw a ball, etc. etc., there is no sport that can be played “as is,” the easier task is to adapt one, a good option so far is ping pong: the racket is small, the ball is small, not very hard or heavy, since the astronaut float, this is not a limitation, but a convenience, we introduce a rule that forbids the astronaut to get support from a surface, having limited mobility, we can reduce the size of the table, also, since the gravity give us one direction to things that fall, on space we don’t have this limitation, so we can change the table shape, instead of a plane surface, we can use 2 (V or L shape)or 3 (U shape), circular shapes are not convenient for space saving purposes.
Friction and mass are the same, we can use existing materials for the racket and ball and for the table finishing, the table can be folded.
In conclusion, a sport for zero g can be used as a tool for several activities in space.