Whether it is Nicola Adams putting women’s
boxing on the map, Andy Murray ending the 76 year wait for a men’s
grand slam champion or the many times that David Weir powered over
the line in first place; 2012 has been the year of sport.
With these golden moments providing plenty of
motivational fuel, it is now the turn of the everyday athlete to
take centre stage and give sport a go.
There has never been a better time to try a
new sport or rediscover one that you previously enjoyed and there
are a lot of different ways that you can give sport a go:
If you know which sport you would like to try
then the best people to contact are the relevant national
governing body (NGB) who will be able to point you to your nearest
club or tell you about any programmes that they
run.
Fayme Yeates was quite sporty
at school but stopped when she went to university and traded early
morning swimming for late nights out with friends. When she saw an
advert for England Netball’s Back to Netball scheme on a website
she decided to try it.
"The first session was well
attended, with around 50 of us ranging from teenage to
retirement, and there was just as wide a range of skill, fitness
and weight", Fayme explains.
"It was very
well organised, offering a basic reintroduction first and then we
started working on other things like fitness, ball handling and
tactics."
Fayme and the other women enjoyed the sessions so much they decided
to form their own team, the Net Prophets who are now in their third
season.
Find
out how you can get involved.
If you have an idea of what you'd like to do
but are not sure where to start then why not get in touch with your
county sports partnership (CSP)?
There are 49 CSP's in England and they are responsible for
managing sport across the country and will be able to tell you
about what's going on in your area.
In early 2012 Fraser Gill
decided he wanted to establish an adults’ rounders club so, after
finding out about them on Twitter, he approached Tyne and Wear
Sport asking for help.
Fraser’s CSP willingly
assisted him by providing Rounders Activator training and helping
him to establish links with a local rugby club who could provide a
venue for the team to train at.
The team now has 20-30
attendees each week and they have forged links with the local
authority which allowed them to run competitions over the
summer.
Discover what's going on in your
area.
One of the easiest ways to give sport a go is
by recruiting friends or family and heading to your nearest court,
pitch, pool or park which is exactly what Duncan Stroud
did.
Duncan explains: "I played tennis
when I was young but I was never that good. However, when my
10-year-old son expressed an interest in playing tennis
we went to our local park. He had tennis lessons, played in
tournaments, and was soon beating me on a regular basis. So,
wanting to prove to myself (and my son!) that I could play
- I started having lessons and joined a local tennis
club. That was 20 years ago and I haven't looked back
since."
Carolyn Ditton was also spurred on by her
family as she set up a running group after being inspired by her
grown-up children who started running marathons.
Along with some family members and a
number of other women Carolyn runs on a regular basis and, in
order to help her organise her running group, she has become a
Sport Maker.
Sport Makers help other people to try sport by doing
things like organising a 5-a-side match, encouraging their family
to go swimming or volunteering at a fun run.
Find out how you can become a Sport Maker.
Attend a local class
There may already be a lot of
sport available right on your doorstep, as Rabin Beeloo discovered
when he wanted to try something that would challenge him.
After reading an article in his local paper, Rabin went
along to his first session of parkour, also known as free-running,
and was immediately hooked.
“When I went to my first session, the first thought that ran
through my head was ' I am too old for this and I must be mad!' but
I kept going to sessions and have now set up my own team. By trying
out parkour it has shown me age is not an issue or a barrier to get
involved.”
There is a vast array of sports out there and
a lot of different ways to get into them, like our Sportivate
programme.
Sportivate provides opportunities
for young people aged 16-25 to discover a sport that they
enjoy by offering them the chance to do six free sessions in a
sport of their choice.
Alice Bayfield had always wanted to try
gig rowing and Sportivate allowed her to give it a go, as
she explains: "Before I always used to try lots of different
sports but never really got particularly into any of them but
rowing has massively clicked... I've finally found something that I
really enjoying doing and it's brilliant, I absolutely love
rowing."
To hear Alice's story
watch this video.
If you want to try a new sport visit our Sportivate page.
Don't live in England?
If you don't live in England but want to give sport a go then
contact your national sports council, the details of which are in
the box on the right hand side.
Have you
given sport a go?
Let us know what sports you've tried by tweeting
@Sport_England with the hashtag #givesportago.