Discovering you can still have fun in sport

by Stephen Ignacio

Imagine it’s a hot summer’s day in early August. It’s Wednesday evening and, between work and household duties, you’ve done little to actually relax. It would have been a perfect beach day, but that’s gone. Now, with no World Cup, nothing new on TV and the prospect of a long evening at home, it’s looking like a boring night for you and your young daughter. Reality is, the fair is coming soon and you don’t want to spend too much going out because you need to budget carefully this month.
Hold on. What about Summer Sports? Isn’t Wednesday Family Fun Evening?
Of course, the first reaction from your very pre-teen daughter is, “No way.”
“But what if we could do wheelchair basketball or badminton?” comes your first attempt at enticing her.
Of course, her response is immediate.
“Only if my cousins come.”
You’ve convinced her, although you always knew you would. Now you’re simply thinking, What have I got myself into?

7.30pm arrives and, as the two pre-teen cousins meet up, you realise exactly what you’ve signed yourself up for. It’s hot, it’s sweaty, I’m old, and maybe I should have stayed at home.
Entering the MUGA facilities at the Bayside Complex, two young smiling faces greet you. It couldn’t have been easier to sign up. Your name, your telephone number and the number of people in your party, and that’s it. Off the two pre-teens run towards the low nets at the far end of the MUGA.
It must have been thirty-odd years since I had last played tennis, let alone pickleball. I knew the rules more or less, but I had absolutely no idea what a pickleball racket or ball felt like.
I was immediately in love with the feel of the equipment. It reminded me of beach tennis, only with a harder paddle and a very different ball. Whether you could even call it a ball was another question, as it had this honeycomb feel to it.
One thing was for sure. The two youngsters had never picked up a racket before, but after half an hour smashing the ball back and forth over the net in a two-against-one contest, it was only the heat and the sweat that persuaded us to move on.
Getting two pre-teens to simply do sport can sometimes feel like Mission Impossible. Getting them to do it for half an hour? Well... I have no words.
Off we went to explore the other activities.
First came the disappointment. No bathing costumes, no towels and, if I’m being completely honest, very little enthusiasm from the adult to get anywhere near the water while trying to keep an eye on two children, one of whom wasn’t even mine. Canoeing was quickly crossed off the list, much to the disappointment of the girls.
Not without a discussion, though. They had already decided that next Wednesday they would come fully equipped with bathing costumes and towels. There was no question about it. As for me, I’d have to find another excuse. Canoeing, in a safe, enclosed area under the supervision of experienced instructors... what more could you ask for?
Seriously though, the disappointment came afterwards from myself. How could I have denied them that? I’ll have to make up for it next week.
Off we continued into the Tercentenary Sports Hall and the second disappointment. No wheelchairs.
But my goodness, there was basketball, netball, volleyball and badminton spread right across the hall. There were enough people taking part to make every activity work smoothly and, before long, the absence of the wheelchairs had been completely forgotten.
“I’ll take four shots, then you take four.”
And so two pre-teens, whose only experience of netball had been at school, were happily shooting away, all under the watchful smile of former Gibraltar Under-21 netball captain, one of the many sports leaders overseeing the evening’s activities with effortless ease.
Four shots became eight, then another eight, because of course the adult wanted to join in, acting as the defender to make life a little more difficult.
In went the shots. Two missed, one in. Two missed, one in.
Hold on... I can do that, I thought.
Two missed.
Then another two.
Perhaps not.
Off they went in search of the MUGA once again.
From Connect Four to Twister, from bowling to... yes, pickleball. One of the courts was free again and the two girls, who had never played before that evening, were back at it. The rallies were still short, but they were definitely improving.
This time it lasted only twenty minutes before, on the way out, their eyes fell on the dartboard.
Yes, they had never picked up a proper set of darts before, let alone thrown at a genuine PDC-style dartboard.
Luckily for everyone, the walls were safely behind the board and there was plenty of space to appreciate just how easy they found it to miss the target.
“I’d better show them how it’s done.”
On steps the adult.
Let’s just put it this way. Craig, Justin, Nico, Ethan and Dyson can all sleep easy. I won’t be heading to the World Cup of Darts anytime soon. I’ll blame it on the fact it had been over three decades since I last threw a dart. Much the same as the pickleball.
A quick look at the time and we’d been there for well over an hour and a half. We hadn’t sat down once, we felt happily exhausted, and all I could think was, Where did the time go?
Then it hit me.
I’d forgotten I was supposed to be taking photographs.
Next Wednesday we won’t be bored. In fact, there’s every chance we’ll be back, because Family Fun Evening has already gone straight to the top of our list of places we want to be.

(as published in Monday, August 10, print edition)