27% of Brits think they could qualify for the LA Olympics in 2028

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Boycie 15 Aug 9:46pm, 15 Aug 2024 3,471 posts	0 Boycie Nicholls595 wrote:Wasn't there an initiative from British Sport to recruit people with the right physical attributes to try out various sports with a view to fast tracking them towards the Olympics? Sure rowing was one of them. Might have been on the build up to 2012? or I might have dreamt it? A guy we knew was on that programme. Had some of the best ever stats on indoor rower, better than most Olympic athletes. Unfortunately he was never able to reproduce it on the water. From memory he had real issues with balance and fell in a lot!
larkim 16 Aug 9:01am, 16 Aug 2024 25,356 posts	0 larkim When I took my boys to swimming lessons when they were a lot younger, there was often a handball game on in the leisure centre in Chester which I would watch to pass the time. Watched it at the 2012 Olympics too, really fast and engrossing game, can't think of any really good reason why it isn't more popular as a "playground" version of it is eminently playable. Better than basketball and volleyball by some distance (IMHO!)
Dustin 16 Aug 10:52am, 16 Aug 2024 47 posts	0 Dustin Going back a long time ago when I was at secondary school (early 80s), we had a PE teacher that liked to do non standard sports in some PE lessons. His favourite was basketball, but he was also a big fan of handball. For 2-3 years we played one or the other most weeks but were pretty much the only school in the area/county that did. I loved handball but out of a class of 30-35 there were only a handful that took it seriously. My memory may be hazy, but I think my teacher found about 3 schools in the south east that actually had teams, I don't recall every playing anyone other than another class.
larkim 16 Aug 10:53am, 16 Aug 2024 25,357 posts	0 larkim Critical mass for competition is really important, I suppose. No point being the only school playing a sport if there's never any chance to compete.
SPR 16 Aug 10:57am, 16 Aug 2024 45,710 posts	0 SPR Handball isn't better than basketball IMO. Also basketball is clearly an easier playground sport where one person can play/ practice by themselves and you only need two to have a competitive game.
larkim 16 Aug 11:09am, 16 Aug 2024 25,358 posts	0 larkim 1:1 is a different game to team basketball though. Do we say basketball is better than football because football can't be played solo or 1:1. (As much as I hate football!) Basketball needs a hoop, handball (like football) can be played with "jumpers for goalposts" or be adapted on 5 a side pitches etc. As a family with zero interest really in playing either basketball or handball, we unanimously agreed that we found handball to be better to watch (though some of the basketball matches at the Games were outstanding too). Maybe there are great reasons that I've not factored in why BB is more popular than HB; and its a personal choice too of course. BB has a bigger penetration in the UK certainly, and probably worldwide too. On the few occasions I've tried BB, I've found the barrier to enjoyment being too high - I can't shoot accurately enough! I reckon I could throw a HB ball in the right direction though!
SPR 16 Aug 11:17am, 16 Aug 2024 45,711 posts	0 SPR Well I think basketball is better than football, lol. The bit about better playground sport was an also, I think basketball is better regardless. Handball is always going to be trumped by football TBH if you want play a game with goals IMO.
larkim 16 Aug 11:23am, 16 Aug 2024 25,360 posts	0 larkim Yep, personal preference is v important! But that basic subjective "BB is better than HB" is just that; subjective. I may have a less popular subjective view though (would be no great surprise!) They are v similar games though - end to end, high ratio of expectation of scoring when you're in possession, outcomes pretty meritorious in that the scoreline with most likely reflect one side being "better", rather than the football problem where a team can "sneak" a 1:0 win by having 10s of good performance out of 90 minutes, despite being objectively the worse team for 89 minutes (one reason why I dislike football).
larkim 16 Aug 11:23am, 16 Aug 2024 25,361 posts	0 larkim The other plus for me is that height would be less of a factor - as a 5ft8 / 174cm bloke, there'd be no place for me on most BB teams!
SPR 16 Aug 11:31am, 16 Aug 2024 45,712 posts	0 SPR I did say IMO. But as a participation sport, basketball is pretty popular I believe, just doesn't translate into the pro game in the UK being popular. I don't think your height would be an issue for participation play. A bit different if you were playing competitively at a high standard as then tall in the general population can be short in the basketball population.