Sports Then and Now

Are you looking for a pastime that challenges your speed, motor skills and coordination? With summer here, do you want something that won’t get you too sweaty? 

Why not play four square? Learn more about the history of this fascinating game and why you should add it to your playground repertoire today. 

What Is Four Square? 

Four square combines elements of tennis, volleyball and handball to test your coordination and reaction speed. You don’t need to invest in a racquet or a net, though. If you have a bouncy ball and a roll of tape or piece of chalk, you can play. 

You’ll need a group — but the beauty part of this game is that there are no winners or losers. When a player gets “out,” they merely go to the end of the line, but they get a second chance. Play continues until everyone decides they have had enough.

Setting Up a Court at Home

This game is ideal for parents with little ones at home — you can set up a court right in your garage. You need as little as 10 feet per side, giving you plenty of room, even if you have a 1-car setup. If you lower the door, you won’t have to worry about the balls — or a wayward child — darting into the street.

The school year is nearly at its end, and that means it’s time to enroll your kids in summer sports. You might be wondering how you can get your kids interested in participating — especially if they would prefer to spend their vacation indoors in front of a computer. Here are a few tried-and-true techniques to help get your kids off the couch and onto the playing field.

Don’t Sign Them up for Sports You Enjoy

We can’t stress this enough: Stop trying to live vicariously through your children. If they’re interested in sports, that’s fantastic, but stop signing them up or forcing them to participate in activities they don’t enjoy. They will play because they’re trying to make you proud, but they’ll hate every second of it. 

Talk to your kids and find out what sports they want to try this summer. That gives you a good place to start looking. Your interests might even mesh, but don’t make it about you. This is their hobby, so it should be about them. 

See What Is Available in Your Area

Once you have an idea of the kind of sports your kid might be interested in, start looking into what is available in your area. Popular sports, like soccer, football and gymnastics, will probably be easy to find. Less popular options may be more difficult or even unavailable. 

Pixabay. CCO Licensed.

Looking to recruit new members for your sports club? By investing in some marketing, you can spread awareness of your club and get more people to come along. Here are just a few different ways to promote your sports club.

Get on social media

Social media is one of the best tools for connecting with people in your community. Start by setting up pages on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can then posting updates and news to get people interested in your club. This could include pictures and videos (with the permission of your club). Promoted posts and ads are a great way of connecting with strangers – Facebook is ideal for this as you can target your ads at people local to you. Make sure to also invite all your friends, family and current club members to join your page so that you’ve got a sizeable following.

Print flyers

You can also try posting flyers through people’s doors as a way of recruiting new members. It’s best to hire a professional company to design and print off your flyers. You should then plan out the best neighbourhoods to post your flyers (if you run a kids sports club, it may be beneficial to target areas where there are lots of families living). You can also pin up flyers on public noticeboards and hand them out to passers-by in strategic places.

As any sportsman knows, if you have a team that is not happy eating, sleeping and playing together, then you are less than likely to have a successful season on the track or field. No matter if you are playing in a small-time league, or are trying your luck professionally, if your team does not get on, or has found it hard to bond, then you will no longer be able to bring the trophies home. So, if you are looking to help your team improve, and bring home the gold, then you need to consider taking part in team building activities, different ways that you can train and even alter your overall mindset if you want to succeed.

Team building activities

If your teammates all enjoy each others’ company and have fun together even while they are enjoying time away from the field, then your team is much more likely to have a successful season. Consider booking your team in for a team building activities, so that they can learn to work together on each other’s weaknesses and develop their strengths. From a cookery course to trying a new outdoors activity, the choice is endless when it comes to choosing a team building activity for you all to enjoy. Consider Des Moines Escape Room if you want your teammates to work on their logic and puzzle solving skills against the clock. Team building activities should be your go-to first step to help improve your team’s performance. Read the rest of this entry →

Sports are a wonderful way of keeping your children fit and active while also doing something fun. Who knows, what may start out as a fun activity, may turn into a possible career path for your child. But regardless of what the outcome may be, sports are a way of getting your child off the PlayStation, out of the house, and doing something that is not only good for them, but that it’s something they enjoy too.

It’s not just about the physical aspect of it either though; they will also socialize and make friends, while learning life skills, such as teamwork, responsibility, and communication.

Here are some ideas about how you can get your children excited about sports. Read the rest of this entry →