How did you get into sport?

On this blog I usually focus on people who are succeeding at some level, but it’s good to remember back when some of us started out.

That first wobbly long bike-ride, the first time a punch connected with pads, the first time you ran without heaving up your lunch too … the good times.

This video below I spotted on Vimeo started today’s post. Shot in Master Toddy’s MuayThai gym in Bangkok - where British fighter Emma Thomas trains - it features two women who may be in their very first boxing class ever.

You can see the trainers just fully chilling out, no need to worry about getting tired or hurt in this class. But I love how encouraging they are - even as they struggle to hold back laughter at how ungainly the women are, they are pulling them along the path.

Eventually these women can cross the barrier from puffing through a little exercise to doing sport. Women asked why they avoid sports often list feeling intimidated and unfit at the top of the list. That can be changed.

It’s a great thing to watch as so many women think just because they gave on sport after school that it can never feature again. Or maybe it never featured. I often wonder where talented women cyclists or rowers or boxers come from as in school we are usually pushed towards team sports like netball or basketball.

How did you get into your sport?