Sports for the older set
 

I've been weight training and doing aerobics now for 9 mos. I love it.

In High School, I never played sports. At all. Not even in PE because I didn't have PE. I was in band, and we had "band PE", which was Ok in summer because we marched heavily, but in winter he abandoned any activity altogether.

Aneeeeeeeeways...

I'm 27. I'm not old. But I'd like to know what I can do, what's available typically for people like me? I went to go look at some adult soccer leagues and most of the players are guys who've been playing all their lives, and are intimidating. Same with some of the basketball leagues I've seen, plus I'm short (for a basketball player) and suck.

I've thought about playing softball, but softball/baseball is terribly lazy.

I have no idea what to do. Maybe Golf? Golf is good w/o the cart, no? I'd prefer something more intense.

I'm hoping someone has an idea I haven't thought of, really...

Thanks

Basketball, Tennis, Football, Soccer, Hockey, Baseball, Lacrose, Water Polo, Cricket... its a pretty long list.
I think you could pretty play anything, cause they normally have division for amateur stuff like this. For instance, in one of my basketball teams i am in the Mens A division (top :D) but there's also b,c and d divisions. With D having older guys or people starting out. So they're all comprable skill levels. I don't think it's a question of sport, moseso finding something to suit your skill level and maybe expand on that. Fortuantley i have been playing basketball for about 6-7 years now so i am pretty adept at it, if i may say so myself :o :D

However, i am gonna play proper AFL (Australian Rules Football) next year having only really played it once before and other times just scratch matches and muck around games with friends. So i am not really good at that. Although with that, i am mainly being recruited cause i am pretty good at rebounding and boxing out, so i'd be good centre half forward (as other experience footballers have told me :D) But i can't really kick the ball to well :(
However i am statring off at a lower level of this as well, and hopefully throughout the year i'll get moved up to the senior side etc Albeit i mainly want to play whereever my friends are anyway?

I have always been into sports, so i usually quickly develope skills for them and am generally ok or moderate at most htings i try out. i think that happens for anyone with any sorta sports and skills training though. you can pick up other sports, at a moderate level pretty well, just due to hand eye co-ordination (basis of all sports/ball games) and general fitness.

So alongside with any sports you try out, you'll also be developing some good hand eye co-ordination which will be good for steming off into other sports as well.

It's be good if you had some friends who want to start something up as well? It's good to get a group of people with similar skills and intentions (have fun etc) together to play as a team. I hate when somone gets too serious and strategical (sp?) about anything. that'd be your best bet, i think? If possible?
It's what a group of otehr friends have done as well. they started up a basketball team, none of them have much experience, but they just do it for some fun, which is cool.

So, i think you should try out whatever at a basic or lowest skill level. I've seen older guys (27 isn't really that old anyway?) who just start up as well and they just go into the lower divisions for whatever and generally go ok. Once you get some good practice in, with any kind of hand eye co-ordination stuff, it's prety easy to pick up other sports quickly. It's all about having fun though, remember that :)

Give Ultimate Frisbee a go. It's a pretty new sport, and there are plenty of pickup games around just about every major city in the states. Just google the name of your city and "ultimate frisbee".

Here's some more about the sport:

From http://www.whatisultimate.com/what/what_home_en.html

"Ultimate is an exciting, non-contact team sport, played by thousands the world over. It mixes the best features of sports such as Soccer, Basketball, American Football and Netball into an elegantly simple yet fascinating and demanding game. To compete at the top level, Ultimate players require an unmatched degree of speed, stamina and agility.

Yet the simplicity of the rules means it's easy and fun for newcomers to pick up."

edit: I should add that I lost 40 pounds playing this 4-5 times a week for 6 months...

There are a lot of things you can do. Tennis is good, no matter what your ability. Frankly, a lot of people suck at tennis yet play it all their lives -- because they can find other people at the same level to play with. I know a guy who's heavy into it even though he's 60 and not all that great, and it's not hard for him to find partners without being in a league.

"Solo" sports like biking or mountain-biking are excellent exercise and fun. If you want to do it as a group sport, local bike clubs and even bike shops often hold weekly rides of 10-50 miles, at least where I live. And of course you might be able to work biking into your daily routine, and get even better exercise. When I was in my 30s, I bike-commuted several miles through a major city every day to work. Now _that_ was an adventure.

Ugh im 27 so you have made me feel old :( We are not the older set... are we??? ........damn you!!! :p

BTW, some nice suggestions in this thread. Golf without a cart is good exercise dont kid yourself. Its also fun as hell :). Also, racquetball is also a fun sport at all experience levels and I am sure there are leagues around your area you can look into as well.

Golf is expensive for a regular excersize. Pick-up hockey is great (Shinny) if you know how to skate. I play pond hockey with my friends when I have the chance. Ultimate Frisbee is great. Check your town's recreation schedule, often you can find alot of fun stuff. By the way, Softball is lots of fun but you will gain more weight from the post-game drinking than you will lose from any of the playing.

tHese are all great ideas...have me thinking about getting into sports again [I'm 37] maybe flag football or something else with a little contact!

Racketball is one hell of a great sport to play and gets the cardio & reaction times peaked quickly. I tried it out last year with friends at the gym, and there are leagues to begin at various levels of skill. Very easy game to pick up, very intense, and cheap enough to buy a racket and a couple of balls if your gym has such a facility at hand to you.

If anyone in the Ottawa or Montréal area is interested in playing a Racketball rookie, give me a PM :thumbsup:

I'm 21 and I play basketball with people who are 50 and they whoop my ass... you're never too old to play an active sport.

Golf is the ultimate (no cart, my course has a lot of hills). The social aspect keep it going for me. The problem that I always had with jogging was that it was difficult (for me) to hold a conversation. Without the interaction, it was too boring.

Cycling is always a good time. Road or trail. It is a good way to meet people as well. Most cities have plenty of organized rides that include food and a t-shirt while your 15 -20 bux goes to charity.

The problem with starting any sport as an asult is that most of the people in it have been playing it most of their lives. Should this stop you? NO! If you enjoy it then play it. There is differing divisions in almost every sport. If anything I have more respect for an adult starting something brand new. Starting a new sport/instrument/hobbie seems to be widely accepted when your growing up but as soon as your an adult it seems to be assumed that you will stick with what you did as a kid. Ive played almost everything under the sun. Some of them I started as an adult aginst people who had been doing it all their lives but I still had a ball. What ever you choose just have fun, learn and be healthy. After all isnt that why you want to start it?