Different Ways to Enjoy Sport Without Actually Playing
Every day of every year, millions upon millions of people around the world unite in enjoying their favourite sports. For the lucky ones, who have the skills and opportunity, they can do this by playing the sport in question whether it’s football, tennis or even basketball. But not everyone is able, or even wants, to participate. Maybe they’re just not very good at the sport that fires their passion, or they have no facilities near where they live. Some sports, such as golf, are also quite expensive to play needing equipment like a full set of clubs and the ability to afford expensive green fees.
For these people who are excluded from participating for whatever reason, they have to look for alternative ways to enjoy the sports that they love. Fortunately, these days there are more ways than ever before to do this and which give the opportunity to share in a favourite team’s success, offer opinions about any particular sport or player or even play a virtual version of the game.
So, for the so-called “armchair fans” here are a number of ways in which they can get their sporting fix without even breaking sweat.
Follow your favourite team
The first, and most obvious, way to enjoy a sport is to pick a team and follow their progress through the season. It doesn’t have to be a team, either. Maybe you have a favourite tennis player or golfer. If so, then you can track their progress through the various tournaments that they play throughout the year.
If it’s a football team there might even be an official supporters’ club to join. This may give you certain benefits like discounted merchandise and match tickets as well as bringing you into contact with fellow fans. You’ll also find that club websites are a great way to keep up with the latest news and information.
Place a bet or two
Many people find that putting money on the teams that they support not only can win some money, it also adds even more excitement to watching them play. This is equally true whether you’re there in person or just watching it on TV.
While it’s sports like football that tend to see the most betting, other ones like horse racing and basketball are also very popular. For fans of the latter there’s lots of information and plenty of tipsters online who can help to pick out the players and teams to watch.
Start your own sports blog
Something that’s very popular especially among fans who have very strong opinions about sport is to start their own blog. This might sound daunting at first but it’s quite simple if you follow a few easy steps. The most important thing is to find a special niche for the blog. This is because there are so many out there these days that you’ll need to do this to get noticed.
So try to come up with a particular angle or way of talking about sport that no-one else seems to be doing at the moment and you should soon build up quite a following.
Join a discussion forum
There’s one thing that many fans like almost as much as watching sport and that’s discussing it. It might be debating whether the manager should be shown the door or if a certain player needs to up his game. It could even be commenting on the team’s most recent performance. What’s certain is that there will be plenty of opinions out there and by joining a forum it can be your opportunity to get yours heard too.
It shouldn’t take too long searching online to find a few that you might like to participate in, and then it’s just a question of pitching in with your thoughts as well.
Play some video games instead
Another way that many people can indulge in the sports they love is by giving their thumbs a good workout on a video game like FIFA, Football Manager or even and basketball game like NBA 2K20. Anyone who has got into playing these types of games will know that the action has become increasingly realistic over the years. Plus, there’s the added fun of being able to create teams of your own, sometimes even recruiting favourite players from the past.
It can also be a very sociable activity if you play online, enabling you to take on both friends and strangers from all round the world, united in the love of the sport.
Read books about it
For a quieter and more relaxing way to enjoy a favourite sport, why not settle down with a book instead? If you don’t know where to start then you’ll find plenty of lists of the best sports books ever online. They may be biographies of famous players, histories of a sport or recollections of classic seasons for a particular team. It’s also a genre that seems to be constantly growing with more and more titles being published each year.
The great thing about reading books about a particular sport or team is the way in which it can give a deeper knowledge and understanding of them which can only add to a fan’s appreciation and enjoyment.
So, just because you may not be able to get out onto that pitch or court yourself, don’t worry. There are plenty of other ways that you can indulge your love of sport.