7 Tips to start playing a new Sport

Image Credit: WikiImages from Pixabay.

If you’ve been worried about your health or fitness, you could end up wanting to do something about it. Exercise is one of the more notable ways of doing this. Just going for a run can be boring, though. If you want it to be more interesting, you could start playing a new sport.

Not only will it be interesting and enjoyable, but it’ll have much more of an impact on your health and fitness levels than you’d think. As appealing as that is, you’ll need to actually get started on it, which might seem complicated. It shouldn’t have to be, though. All you’d need are the right tips and tricks.

If you’re on the verge of starting to play sports, even as an adult, they’re worth considering.

Why Start Playing A New Sport?

Playing sports offers quite a few benefits, and these could be more than enough to convince you to start with them, even for college students. They go far beyond simply helping with your health and fitness levels, as appealing as that can be.

If you’re on the fence about starting a new sport, it’s worth looking through each of these.

• Better Sleep – By taking part in any sport, or any form of exercise, you could end up improving your sleep. You’ll not only be able to fall asleep faster, but the overall quality of your sleep should be better. It’ll be more than enough to get a decent night’s sleep most nights.
• Develop Stronger Relationships – By playing sports with your friends, you could end up bonding much more and forming stronger relationships. If you’d like to be closer to your friends, then this could be an enjoyable way of doing so.
• New Friends – Outside of developing stronger relationships with your current friends, you could end up making new friends. You’ll meet new people through the sport you’re playing, and you should have a few things in common with them. In time, this could blossom into a better friendship than you would’ve thought.

If you start playing a new sport, you shouldn’t have a problem seeing each of these. You’ll need to actually get started on it, however. Where do you even start? Thankfully, a few steps can be helpful with this, especially with seven specific steps.

Start Playing A New Sport: 7 Top Tips

1. Start Off With A List

When you want to start playing a new sport, you might already have a general idea of which one you want to try out. If you don’t, you shouldn’t get discouraged. You’ll have plenty of options to choose from, and it’s worth making a list of the ones you’re most interested in.

Once you do, you’ve somewhere to start with narrowing them down and picking one. Narrow these down by whether you have the time for them, if there are places you can play them nearby, and similar factors.

With a little bit of time and effort, you shouldn’t have a problem finding a few for you.

2. Get Competitive

When you start playing sport, you’ll naturally be a bit of an amateur. That doesn’t mean you’ll  be one for long, and it can always be worth getting competitive at some point or another. In fact, it could be more than worth considering, even from the start. It gives you a goal to aim for and work toward.

With that goal in mind, you can continue getting better and better, and it could even end up being much more fun. While getting competitive might seem overwhelming at the start, it’ll seem much more realistic in time. There could be more than a few competitions to take part in, so there’s no reason not to give it a try. You could even end up in the FA Cup.

3. Get The Right Gear

You’ll need to have the right gear to play sports, with this depending somewhat on the sport you’re playing. With the right sportswear, you’ll have no problem being comfortable while being able to play the sport properly.

While that means spending a bit of money on the gear, it’ll be more than worth it. Make sure the gear you pick up is high-quality, as you’ll put it through its paces and wouldn’t want it falling apart relatively quickly.

4. Find Someone To Play With

When you start playing a new sport, you’ll need someone to actually play with. Few options are solo sports, after all, so you’ll need an actual team. In many cases, it could be worth putting one together with any friends or family members that are interested in it. You’ll all end up enjoying yourselves.

If that’s not an option, then it’s worth joining a local team. There could be more of these than you would’ve thought, and you’d just need a bit of research to find them. Focus on ones that are close by to get started. 

5. Make Sure You Actually Enjoy It

When you first start playing a new sport, it’s natural to get caught up in all the excitement. You’ll be meeting new people and starting to have a bit of fun because of that. In time, however, you could find that this initial excitement wanes. You’ll need to end up making sure you’re actually enjoying it.

If you find yourself realizing you’re not enjoying playing it, there isn’t a problem with that. Instead, it’s merely a matter of admitting it to yourself and finding something else that you might enjoy more. While this can be disheartening, you’ll find a sport you actually enjoy at some point.

6. Try Out Different Roles

Each sport involves different roles, with all of these being relatively different from each other. While you mightn’t like one or two, it doesn’t mean you won’t like a different one. It’s worth trying out a few of these to figure out which one’s right for you.

You mightn’t be a great football striker, for example, but you could be a much better goalkeeper. While that could take a bit of time and effort, it’ll be more than worth it. You’ll end up having a much more enjoyable time because of it.

You could end up being much better at a specific role than you are at another.

7. Keep Getting Better

There’s a learning curve with every sport, and you’re not going to be amazing when you first start off. Don’t get discouraged because of that. Instead, spend a while learning more and more about the sport so you can keep getting better. Practice makes perfect with this.

That means taking the time to actually play the sport as much as you can. As frustrating as not being great with it at the start might be, this happens with everyone. It’s just a sign you need to practice a bit more, and you’ll be a lot better at it before you even know it.

Don’t be afraid to put the time into it.

Start Playing A New Sport: Wrapping Up

If you start playing a new sport, you’ll see quite a few benefits, with better health being the most notable. Getting started on it can seem complicated, however. As confusing as the process might seem, it can be much more straightforward.

All you’ll really need to do is figure out the right sport for you and give it a try. Coupled with trying out different roles, getting the right gear, and finding the right people to play with, you shouldn’t have a problem starting off and enjoying it.

You’ll be living a healthier, more enjoyable life before you even know it.

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Those of you who know me, know that travelling has been difficult recently. Sixteen months in hospital, a few complications but some FANTASTIC work by each and every professional in the NHS and I am still here. #FeelingGrateful

After what seems an eternity, I am back on the road again. Sadly, no cycle marathons and not even a tuk-tuk tour (more of that shortly) but at least I am travelling and I am delighted to say that I will be pretty much returning to where I was when Covid rules came into force in Sweden and I could not continue to Estonia.

Flying is still a grey area with the doctors so I am taking part in a (semi-) organised bus tour from Poland to Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland. I found out about an incredible tour being organised by Hané Vähäkoski and he kindly allowed me to join for just the latter part. I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to travelling again. I really feel like a caged bird.

Hane is a seasoned traveller with over 90 countries to his name and this tour will start in his native Finland go through Western Europe, down to Italy and back up to Finland. In the real world he works unceasingly for a Ukrainian Peace Project so I am definitely looking forward to hearing more about that too. Check this

You literally pay for a percentage of the costs and can make your own arrangements re food/accommodation if you do not like his suggestions. There are still a couple of places left for some/all of the trip so please do not hesitate to contact Hané if you want to join us and/or you want to learn more or about the tour. His English is faultless, no excuses!

So, what will I be doing apart from feeling “free” and enjoying the countryside. I will, of course, be visiting football stadiums and watching matches. Some things never change! It looks like I can visit stadiums in Kraków, Warsaw and Katowice but sadly no games are scheduled. From there it is on to Kaunas where there IS a game (Kauno Zalgiris v Siauliai FA) before I get to se HJK in Helsinki. I bid farewell to Hané and the other guests in Finland and return via Stockholm (AIK or Brommapojkarna?), Strömstad and Copenhagen/Malmö. I then move from buses to trains to take benefit of Germany’s 49 euro Ticket and hopefully catch some pre-season friendlies or early Europa Conference League fixtures.

In Sweden I am grateful to the guidance of Mats at www.Idrottsplats.se Anyone interested in Swedish groundhopping should definitely check his website and subscribe to his monthly newsletter.

Obviously, if anybody wants to meet me along the way, that would be fabulous. The coffee/pizza is on me!

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Send England Deaf Women’s Team To The World Cup

Political commentator, nemesis of Farage (and other racists), Essex Boy and all round good guy, Simon Harris put this on my Twitter feed this week. What a great appeal this is! Many of you will know that I am functionally deaf so it is very close to my heart (…or ears!)   

Deaf Sports and Football Foundation (DSFF) are currently raising funds to send the England Deaf Women’s Football Team to the Deaf World Football Championships 2023.

Currently, the squad are self-funded and are in need of funds to enable the squad to attend the tournament. Simon is organising this fundraiser on behalf of DEAF SPORTS & FOOTBALL FOUNDATION. This is why it’s so important to share this, donate if you can (here), and DON’T FORGET TO ADD GIFT AID FOR A 25% BOOST!

DSFF and Great Britain Deaf Football are providing support, however to enable this to happen, 50% must be raised by the end of June or the squad cannot go.

Money raised will be spent in the following ways:

– To support their preparations for the World Deaf Football Championships 2023 in Malaysia with training camps in the build up to the competition.

– To help cover the costs for the team to represent England at the World Deaf Football Championships 2023 e.g. flights, hotel, physiotherapy.

*Please note – if sufficient funds are not raised and the squad cannot go, money raised will be used to develop the deaf female football team in preparation for the European Deaf Championships 2024*

All money raised from this appeal will be paid directly to DSFF. With all the money floating around in the Premier League and the talk of Sam Allardyce on £2 MILLION to keep Leeds in the top flight, Saka on £300,000 per week it seems obscene that these heroes need to self- fund. It reminded me of the Blind World Cup in 2010 that I was very happy to support. No Wembley or Olympic Stadium but a 6th Form College in Hereford!

Please see if you can help Simon Harris raise the £50,000 needed. As you can see, you will be in good company!

For full details, click here

Steven Gerrard £5k donation

Gary Neville £5k donation

Gary Lineker £1k donation

The image shows the team at the last World Championships when they competed as Great Britain. For 2023, the home nations are taking part individually. 

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A squad of nine walkers from The Commercial Hotel (Accrington) completed a 35.4km walk to raise £2,100 for Young Lives vs Cancer.

The team, led by pub manager John Rogers (now at The Boot Inn (Burnley)), dropped in on four other Wetherspoon pubs – The Grey Friar (Preston), The Twelve Tellers (Preston), The Postal Order (Blackburn) and The Old Chapel (Darwen) – before returning to The Commercial Hotel.

The total raised is a huge dent in the pub’s target of raising £5,000 for the charity by the end of the financial year in April 2023. John (a keen Blackburn Rovers supporter), along with shift leader and fellow Riversiders fan Owen Dootson, was forced to wear the colours of fierce rivals Burnley FC, having lost a bet with friends on which team would win the local derby (Burnley beat Blackburn).

Burnley fans and shift managers Jason Ellison and Adam Duckworth were only too happy to lend them their shirts for the event. John said: “We may have lost the bet, but the football shirts helped us to create a bit of friendly rivalry around the event and hopefully added to the total raised. “I’m very proud of the team. It was a huge effort from everyone. All nine completed the walk.”

Money was raised online and from collection buckets taken round the five pubs en route. Pictured (left to right) are shift leader Amber Pye, shift manager Adam Duckworth, shift leader Adam Smith, bar associate Owen Dootson, kitchen team leader Emma Hamilton, pub manager John Rogers, shift manager Jason Ellison, team leader Chloe Brown and (in the red dress and full nail set) bar associate Connor Fitton. Pictured (inset) are John and Owen, wearing their borrowed Burnley FC shirts.  


BUT BUT BUT …it does not stop there! Owen and the team at the Commercial Hotel are going to climb Scafell Pike Lingmell and Great Gable …… all in one walk. He says, “It’s going to be a tough challenge but hopefully we will raise a lot of money for a great charity that does so much for children with cancer. Please check his page for full details and support if you can.

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Palace fans raise £43,000 and counting through Bike to Villa

A group of 33 Palace fans recently made the ultimate away trip by completing a mammoth cycle in aid of the Palace for Life Foundation, raising over £43,000 in the process.

Following the successes of Bike to Bournemouth and Bike to Southampton in previous years, Bike to Villa saw the committed supporters make the gruelling ride to Villa Park, a 140-mile two-day round trip – up from a distance of 100 miles at previous years’ events.

Through their fundraising efforts, the determined group raised an incredible £43,000 – over £10,000 more than previous totals – and counting for the Foundation, who work to improve the lives of disadvantaged young south Londoners.

Although the match at Villa Park itself ended in defeat for Palace, that could not dampen the real victory of the cyclists’ achievements in the name of a brilliant cause.

You can watch highlights from the event, and donate here.

The first day of the ride began early in the morning, with the riders setting off from Selhurst Park and pushing themselves to complete 100 miles in one day.

Amongst the cyclists were Crystal Palace official DJ Jay Knox, Crystal Palace Chief Financial Officer Sean O’Loughlin, and Palace for Life staff Tom Richardson, Tom Prance and Arnaud Zadi.

After a stop off for lunch in the Hertfordshire countryside, evening fell and the cyclists arrived at their hotel in Warwick, exhausted but proud of the day’s ride. They enjoyed a well-earned dinner, drinks, and rest before facing the final leg of their journey on Saturday.

Day two saw the cyclists back on the saddle to complete the final 40 miles to Birmingham, finishing up at Powerleague where they were presented with their medals and congratulated on their mission.

Bobby Webbe, Senior Fundraising Coordinator at Palace for Life, said: “Bike to Villa was another fantastic weekend, with a mixture of new and familiar faces in the saddle for Palace for Life.

“Day one was a tough 100-mile ride in chilly conditions, but seeing the incredible physical effort put in by each of our riders, and the camaraderie between them all was so inspiring to see. There was an immense sense of pride in the air as everyone crossed the finish line on Saturday morning.

“I’d like to give a huge thank you to all of our riders and sponsors for contributing to another record-breaking event for the Foundation – we can’t wait to see where we’ll be cycling to in 2024!”

This was the third cycling challenge in a series that began with Bike to Bournemouth in 2020, which saw the group cycle to the Cherries’ Vitality Stadium despite the game getting cancelled halfway through the ride due to the pandemic; and then onto Southampton in 2022, which ended in a stoppage-time Wilfried Zaha goal to put the icing on the cake of a brilliant weekend.

DONATE HERE

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It’s back – one of the FUN events of the year and all for a great cause.

You can help tackle bowel cancer!

Football Shirt Friday is just a few days away on Friday 21 April! Don’t forget to sign up and join us to raise money for bowel cancer research.

Now more than ever, we need the generous support of incredible people like you. 100% of the money raised from Football Shirt Friday will fund our pioneering bowel cancer research. It is only through research that we will find better ways to prevent, detect, diagnose and treat bowel cancer.

Join England men’s captain, Harry Kane, Arsenal and Scotland star Jen Beattie, presenter Liam MacDevitt and broadcaster and DJ Adele Roberts, by clicking the relevant sign-up button below.

When you sign up, you’ll receive:

• Your very own Giving Page to fundraise online
• An email with your downloadable fundraising pack, full of ideas for you and your friends, family and work or school

There are so many simple and fun ways to fundraise, whatever you do – make sure to wear your favourite football shirt, share on social media and donate to help support the fight against bowel cancer. And don’t worry, if you already have plans on Friday 21 April, simply choose another more convenient day.

Thank you for your continued support,

The Bobby Moore Fund Team

More details HERE

Sign Up HERE

PS Sponsor me for £10, euro or USD and I will wear an Arsenal shirt for the day! Sponsor me for £20, euro or USD and I will wear an Arsenal shirt in public! Sponsor me for £30, euro or USD and I will offer you the shirt! (…. but first come, on the £30, of course)

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I picked up the excellent Matchday Programme for Merstham FC recently. They play in the Pitching In Isthmian South Central Division but sadly look favourites to drop to the Combined Counties where they may well play FC Deportivo Galicia next season. They play at The worldflow Stadium in Merstham so that’s a ground I look forward to visiting soon. There was an interesting advertorial in the programme about a novel written by Merstham Director Chris Pullen who warmed the bench behind Dave Beasant for Wimbledon in the Crazy Gang days.

These days he has abandoned his goalkeeping gloves to wield a pen. His first novel, Playing for Keeps, is out now.

These days Merstham Director Chris Pullen is more likely to be found in the boardroom at the worldflow Stadium rather than standing behind a defence bellowing instructions, but he has drawn heavily on his playing days in his new book, ‘Playing for Keeps.’ Indeed the main protagonist, Matt, is an Isthmian League goalkeeper trying to climb into the big time .

As a Non-League goalkeeper, Chris’s chance of football stardom came when he was asked to help out at Plough Lane. He explains:

“Wimbledon had a goalkeeping injury crisis, and I was lucky enough to get a call to help out. It was in the ‘Crazy Gang’ era, which was ‘interesting’ to observe first hand! I had Dave Beasant in front of me, who also came from non-league football originally, and he never missed a game- so it was reserve team football for me. I’d just left university, so I eventually decided to pursue other avenues, rather than stay at Wimbledon. In truth, I’m not sure I was quite good enough, but it gave me a fascinating insight into the professional game.”

Goalkeeper Chris Pullen in his playing days

His time in the Non League game has been far more of an inspiration for the book that his spell with the Dons. His hero, playing for the fictional Isthmian side Reigate Athletic, is a semi-professional with a full time job and a complicated love life. A successful cup run brings him to the attention of a Premier League scout and…well, you’ll have to go out and get a copy to find out what happens. Let’s just say that the course of footballing success, alongside the course of true love, doesn’t run entirely smoothly.

What inspired him to write a book based on the Non League game?

“I have always liked ‘against all odds’ stories, especially sports stories. I think there are certain aspects of non-league football that encapsulate that concept perfectly. For example, there is that dream that many non-league players have of being spotted by a pro club and becoming a professional footballer – the classic Jamie Vardy story that everyone in football loves; from playing non-league football to then suddenly being signed by Leicester and going on to have a stellar professional career. It can and does happen, and that is the dream. It is one that I could relate to from my playing days. There is also a romance to non-league football, where teams that the rest of the country has never heard of go on headline-grabbing runs in the FA Cup every year, which catapults players, teams and towns into the limelight. The story tries to capture that dream of players and clubs alike. The second reason was that I’d often noticed how few football novels there were out on the market, which always struck me as quite odd, given the popularity of the game, so I felt there might be an opportunity to do something a little different. Time will tell if I was right!”

‘Playing for Keeps’ can be purchased from the Amazon book store by heading here. And if you’d like to take your copy along to Merstham during the season, we’re quite sure that Chris will be happy to sign it for you!

If you like the novel and the football theme, you may well like Gary Thacker’s excellent non-league (Spain!) novels, The Games People Play and A Whole New Ball Game

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I was on Twitter the other day – not a surprise. I saw some great art – Oh, what a surprise!

Yes, I was casually abusing Brexiteers and Arsenal fans the other day as is my wont, when I saw some terrific images filling my timeline. Obviously, I have introduced my readers to my friends Dave Baldwin at Papilios Creative and Jim at Gillingham Legends but this was somebody new with a different style.

I connected with Matty on my Twitter and was delighted to see more of his work and hear more of his story. He offers “Prints, Postcards, Clothing, Merchandise & More. Designs include Lionel Messi, Mohamed Salah, Zinedine Zidane, Missy Bo Kearns, Erling Haaland, Casemiro & more from the world of football.” He also accepts commissions.

Take a wander to his Matty723 website to check an interesting gallery of art. Enjoy!

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I got a message from George AKA “The Oldham Groundhopper” with a request to share a message to Real Madrid FC.

It seems a great cause, so here I go, “

I NEED YOUR HELP! SHARE THIS POST

Of course we are not expecting the likes of Benzema or Modric to rock up in Lancashire. But I think it would be great if Madrid could send some type of team over.”

Wikipedia tells me …

100 Years ago next month now 10th tier Nelson became the first English team to beat Real Madrid in Spain. On 15 May 1923, Nelson achieved a 4–2 victory against Real Madrid at the Campo de Ciudad Lineal, two of the goals coming from Dick Crawshaw, who had been signed towards the end of the previous campaign. In doing so, Nelson became the first English club to defeat Real Madrid at their home ground.

After speaking to those involved at the club based near Burnley on Thursday night, they would love to have a re – match against Real Madrid to celebrate 100 years since the clubs met but unfortunately haven’t heard anything back.

Nelson Football Club is a football club based in Nelson, Lancashire, England. Originally established in 1882, the club played in the Lancashire League, North-East Lancashire Combination, Lancashire Combination and Central League before becoming founder members of the Third Division North of the Football League in 1921. They were Division Three North champions in 1922–23 and were promoted to the Second Division. However, they were relegated back to the Third Division North after a single season.

In 1931 the club lost their Football League status and returned to the Lancashire Combination, where following reformation in the summer of 1934 they played on until ceasing football activities in 1936. A new amateur club, Nelson Town, was quickly formed in the town, playing at Seedhill until the outbreak of World War II in September 1939. Following the resumption of football at the end of the war, Nelson FC reformed again in 1946. The reconstituted club joined the Lancashire Combination, playing in that league until it merged with the Cheshire County League to form the North West Counties League in 1982. They dropped out of the league between 1988 and 1992, playing in the West Lancashire League. Although the club left the league again in 2010, they returned the following year, and are currently members of the North West Counties League Division One North, playing home matches at Victoria Park.

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The A-Z of Weird & Wonderful Football Shirts: Broccoli, Beer and Bruised Bananas

Our friends at Stanchion Books sent an interesting list of Easter reads this week and one that immediately caught my eye was “The A-Z of Weird & Wonderful Football Shirts” by Richard Johnson. Interested in all things shirt, I shot over to their website to discover more!

“From the first woollen jumpers to the latest ultra-light jerseys, football shirts have always been a huge part of a football club’s identity. Seeing your team take the field in their traditional colours instils a great sense of pride in a fan. But what if your heroes ran out looking like the Incredible Hulk, or as if they’d been skinned alive? How about a team of giant hotdogs, or 11 broccoli florets?

The A-Z of Weird & Wonderful Football Shirts documents one man’s vast collection of the most iconic and unconventional offerings, spanning the 80s to the present day. It features not only an overview of groundbreaking classics and all the coolest curios but also a glimpse into the future of football kit design.

Richard Johnson is the co-founder of football nostalgia blog, The Football Attic. He has been obsessed with football shirts for nearly 35 years, is a regular guest on kit podcasts and has appeared on the radio to talk about football shirts numerous times. He has written for the Coventry City matchday programme and Backpass magazine, and has contributed football shirts from his own 700-strong collection to several national exhibitions.”

I was interested to see that several of the highlighted shirts had been featured here on TheShirt2010 and as I work through the book, I am sure I will be pick put others. Don’t wait for me …. shoot over to the Stanchion Books website and grab your copy!

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