Lancashire Open takes place this weekend, unfortunately family reunion prevents me from going but it would be great to see the entries take off – still plenty of space at the event…. There have been lots of requests for more northern events (from me included) so it would be great to see numbers fill up.
The upcoming British Champs in May are being held in Dudley, West Midlands – fully intend to attend that event – and great to have another event in the Midlands. Hopefully with events taking place across a wider area then the sport can continue to attract new players and keep the numbers growing.
The number of members/participants is important in any sport, my local tennis club has seen a slight but consistent downturn in senior members over the last two to three years. To a degree the generally worsening economic climate has had an impact on this, but also I feel the sheer number of different sports people can partake in also has an impact. In Nottingham alone there are highly active clubs for amongst others; dragon boat racing, kick boxing, rowing, climbing – 5-10 years ago these would be have been far less accessible to a lot of people.
I really do foresee a lot of sports clubs closing or merging with others in the coming years, as public sector cuts kick in and membership falls in some places, that said numbers in Racketlon seem to be growing and the year has begun very well in terms of attendance at tournaments.
Here’s hoping the Lancashire event goes well and becomes a permanent fixture on the calendar.
