So we might not make it all the way.
(To the final…)
But World Cup fever seems to have had an impact on people that DOESN’T just gather them together for booze and BBQ’s.
My favourite image of the World Cup so far HASN’T been the teasing pictures of all those cities in Brazil that I’d some day love to go visit, nor all those Brazilian dancing girls doing their thing, and it’s not even been the sight of the sun setting over the Cocpa Cabana beach on my TV screen every night.
But the sight of a group of kids who looked to be about aged 7 or 8 playing (organised) footy on Seaton beach last weekend, is. See, BIG sporting events seem to give people the excuse to try something new.
And it was last weekend just hours before the first England game against Italy that I spotted a group of kids with plastic cones and wearing bibs, parents and coaches watching on as their fledgling stars trained, with the power station and the sea shore in all of their view. And they were taking part in an organised and “proper” training session, on the beach.
I spotted them whilst out on my bike and it made stop and think how wonderful it must be for those lads to have a group of coaches who’ve decided to think a bit differently and go out of their way to switch training from the usual grassy surface, and move just a mile or so away and to the beach.
A surface they’ve no doubt been inspired to want to play on as a result of watching the Brazilians kick a football around as they top up their tan and apply the factor 50.
And it’s a great reminder of how important Sport is and what it really is capable of doing. It has the ability to inspire and motivate kids like nothing else. Take Wimbledon for example. It’s just around the corner and how long before you get the urge to want to go and hit a few balls on the courts at Seaton, or your children see it on the TV enough times to ask you go and buy them a racket and ball?
And would it be so bad if they did? I think not. The extra urge and drive watching top sport gives you is one of the reasons I love to head to big sporting events any where in the world. I find I’m easily able to take the energy and enthusiasm that’s everywhere in the stadium of the big match I’m watching, and take a bit of it with me back into my own life. And any one can do it.
Doesn’t matter whether you’re running a Physio business, want to be a more active parent, become more inquisitive about places and people or generally become more open minded to the possibility of doing something different – like training on the beach instead of the grass and enjoying a different environment and different surroundings, once in a while.
And ultimately it’s the same with your health. It’s about being open minded to trying new things like Yoga, Pilates, Swimming, stretching daily or even just heading off to the woods of somewhere like Durham or Guisborough – just to experience something NEW that will simultaneously add value to your health and lifestyle.
Would it be so difficult to do?
Hat tip to the guys who put that training session on Seaton beach last Saturday morning. I’d love to know who you are and who your club is. When my little boy is big enough to play – I’m sending him straight to you.
Published in the Hartlepool Mail.
You might know Paul as an expert Columnist who writes weekly health articles for TWO of the North East's biggest daily Newspapers, The Northern Echo And The Hartlepool Mail, he is a regular Speaker at Industry Seminars around the globe and a Radio Personality, often heard on the BBC. Paul has been an expert guest on dozens of Radio shows and regularly interviewed in newspapers, magazines and trade journals all over the world, including the Guardian.
Paul’s background included working extensively in the Premier League with a Top Professional Football Team, and since quitting his job in Professional Football in 2007, his Physio Practice has become the fastest growing in the UK and biggest in the North East. So successful, that companies like BUPA, ASDA, The Vela Group And Coast & Country, repeatedly retain his Physio company's services to keep healthy their own staff and workforce. Paul Gough Physio Rooms is now a large multi-physio, multi clinic speciality practice in Darlington, Durham, Guisborough and Hartlepool.
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