When I was a kid my school P.E. lessons revolved around football, rugby or cricket and I hated them, notes to be excused were forged many times. When my parents divorced I joined a new school and the sports teacher was a bit more unconventional in his approach. He introduced us to Tug of war and P.E. became interesting It got a lot of us hooked so we even came back after school and weekends and we formed a team that took on local pub teams in fetes and carnivals.
That was a long time ago and work etc took over life and sports took a back seat. Several years ago I was on holiday in Devon and saw people flying kites on the beach. The kites they were flying had enough power to pull the flyer along leaving furrows in the sand. I knew I had to have a go on that. I bought myself a Flexifoil Pro Team 8 which was an 8 foot kite and started having fun. The 8 footer was changed to a 10 footer and then stacked with 2 more as I craved for more power and fun. I then discovered the power kite. These 4 line kites which are styled on para gliders or parachutes, these really opened up the sport side and before long I was kite buggying and kite land boarding. I was fitter and I lost over a stone in a couple of months without even trying to.
I enjoyed this alternative sport so much I opened up a shop selling kites and mountain boards. In doing this I found myself looking for other alternative or secondary sports to try.
Kite buggying is my favourite sport, it involves flying a 4 line power kite whilst sitting in a 3 wheeled kart which you steer with your feet. If you go for speed you can reach 70mph+ but you will need a lot of space. There are organised races all over the world including endurance races for teams of pilots. There is also a freestyle series now which involves strapping yourself into the buggy and attaching the kite via a harness, this enables you to fly much larger kites and the kite can then pick you and the buggy up to do 360 spins and many more tricks.
Kite land boarding is similar but you stand on a mountain board while flying the kite, this is more difficult in the initial stages but can be more rewarding as the freestyle is more achievable.
Stunt kites, trick kites, or sports kites are 2 line kites that can be controlled left or right by pulling the control lines. Since the Peter Powell kite of the 70’s they have come a long way in design and technology. Experienced flyers are doing tricks that amaze me. They can manipulate the control lines to cause the kite to wrap itself up in its own lines and then unwrap like a yoyo and still fly out afterwards; flat spins or stalls are common. They can make up teams where 2 or more flyers are doing tricks in unison and getting their lines tangled, only to do another trick and untangle themselves again.
Mountain boards are similar to snow boards but they have wheels so they can be ridden on a far more varied terrain. They can be ridden downhill for fun or in competition with others. They are also used for freestyle like snowboards and great height and style can be achieved.
Then I found the Frisbee, yes the humble Frisbee is a whole list of sports. The main one is probably “Ultimate” which is a cross between American Football and Basket Ball. It is played on a pitch similar in size to a football pitch with 2 end zones. The teams throw the Frisbee to their team mates and attempt to catch the Frisbee while standing in the opposition’s end zone. It is very fast moving and direction of play changes rapidly as if the disc is dropped it goes to the opposition. Ultimate is very exciting to watch and exhilarating to play. Disc golf is like normal golf but you throw a disc and not hit a little ball It can be played by anyone either on a proper course using baskets or a std golf course where hitting the flag is the aim. A course can be made on your local park by using trees, lamp posts or litter bins as targets. The Frisbee is great just to throw and catch and with LED technology can even be played at night.
Contained here is just a small sample of the alternative or secondary sports activities available through the right shop. When someone says “are you a sporty person” please don’t immediately say no, there is probably a sport available that you will thoroughly enjoy. Take a look around the internet or your local alternative sports shop and try something new.
This article was written by Alan Greenhill of [http://www.kitensk8.com] who is a mountain board instructor and has been involved with secondary sports since early 2003. Kite N Sk8 have board technicians trained by MBS who are the leading mountain board manufacturers and they also have their own teams who compete in the UK Championships for both mountain boards and kites. Please get in touch if you need help and we will be happy to assist. alan@gruntys.co.uk Thank you for reading this article.
