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A day at the tennis – fun for Dad and the kids

January 20, 2013 in Inspiration, Sport with 0 Comments

Roger Federer returning against Evgeny Korolev...

I love the big Grand Slams, and have been lucky enough to have gone to each of the Big 4 at least once, and having lived in London 10 years and Melbourne a few years to Wimbledon and the Australian Open many times.

I want to expose my kids to the international atmosphere, the buzz of the crowd and the excitement of watching the worlds best play for the ultimate prize.

Thus this is the second year I’ve taken all 3 of my kids to the Australian Open.  We buy a family ground pass (about $90), take the day off work during the first week of the tournament and then spend the day from opening at 10am till dinner time at 6/7pm.. the kids can get tired by the end as its a full day.

And the Aussie Open makes a real effort to make the tournament kid friendly.  Case in point the excellent kids fun day on the Saturday before the start of the tournament – which my kids loved – is now firmly on our calendar.

Things my kids loved definetly included

Sponsors giveaways – from chocolate milk (off the train on the walk to the gates), Ski yogurt tubs to Cadbury chocolate getting little treats is a kid favourite

Giveaways

Sponsors games - RFID enabled smart cards are now mainstream  and we kept them around our necks to checkin to activities from Kia’s racecar simulator to Optus’s speed serve.  The kids also loved the studio in a box approach that seemed to be everywhere having their photos taken on court, at locations around Victoria..etc

Winners trophy?

Minicourts - for having a hit. Tennis Australia is making a big push to get more kids into the game and so had a few courts set up for quick 4 minute hits.  My mini Federer and Williams had a ball. And the sand court was  a bit of fun as well.

Beach tennis?

Player favourites - my seven year old son was keen on Andy Murray for the first half the day, had a photo in front of a poster of Andy to seal it until he found David Ferrer in a practice session and changed is number one status… Andy is now no 2.

Court time - I won’t lie and say sitting to watch matches is my kids favourite.  They’ll watch for bursts of 30 minutes at a time but then having an ipod/games and some snacks on hand is the only way to get through a whole set for us. While I love being on some of the main courts for first day singles we’ve found outside courts and doubles matches also allow the kids to make a bit more noise and feel like they have a bit more scope to move around (my kids have troubkle with the keep quiet during play and luckily tennis stands are now much louder than they use to be)

Sunny in the stands....

Food - while like any sporting event the food is likely to be twice as expensive and half as good as what ou can get outside, we pack a picnic lunch to be eaten in the stands while play is on (and a kids mouth chewing is pretty quiet) supplemented by sponsor snacks and buying an icecream on a hot day.

Have a great day at the tennis!

London for the Olympics – would have been fun but….

July 19, 2011 in Sport with 2 Comments

I only got tickets to one event in the ballot which I’ll now be passing on to friends as I no longer live in London and making a trip half way around the world for 5 now seems a bit ridiculous .  Having bid for over 10 events from high demand sports like athletics and swimming through to lower demand ones like volleyball and waterpolo on a range of days I was surprised when I only got one set of tickets to women’s springboard diving and nothing else.  Like many who had gone into the ballot I was surprised at the outcome.

No matter, having been to Olympics in Atlanta (1996), Sydney (2000) and Athens (2004), I resigned myself to the fact I’d enjoyed previous games and perhaps some lucky locals would have got the tickets.

Today though reading this article it reminded me that maybe only locals, olympic officals, media, sponsors and the athletes themselves will be going. Getting to the Olympics has become progressively more expensive, time consuming and complicated to organise, and many are discounting the idea of going without even trying.  Coupled with this the potential that travellers avoid London (and the UK) in the lead up to the games is also a reality (the displacement factor).

I would love to go to the Olympics in London 2012 and have enjoyed my three prior Olympic trips but this time around unless I come into some tickets magically (LOCOG any spare tickets perhaps?) I think I will also have to give it a miss and join the billions who will only watch it on TV.  Of course I’ll miss the atmosphere, melting pot of fellow travelers and the chance to see beach volleyball at Horses Guard Parade but looking forward perhaps Rio in 2016 is in my future.

Beyond the US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits – playing through Wisconsin

August 13, 2010 in Sport, Travel with 1 Comment

Cheesehead from :File:Cheesehead.jpg

The Cheesehead

The US PGA Golf Championship has emerged from the fog at the Whistling Straits Golf Course this year.  Located in Kohler, Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Michigan in the north of the United States, the course is a classic links course, like those found in the United Kingdom and Ireland. 

For visitors the course is associated with the American Club, a luxury resort, which has another gold course called Blackwolf run as well as plenty of spa and dining options to keep visitors happy. But further afield what does Wisconsin have to offer visitors? 

Well Wisconsin is known for being cheesy, and the locals refer to themselves as “cheeseheads” emphasizing the “Dairy” nature of their state.  The best known symbol of this is the cheese wedge hats worn at Green Bay Packers football games, a most beloved team in the region. Some 60 artisan cheesemakers produce more than 600 different types of cheese and there are plenty of opportunities to taste.

If you love the outdoors, you’re also well taken care off. Just north of Kohler, the Door County peninsula is sometimes referred to the Cape Cod of the Midwest with its picture perfect lighthouses and craggy cliffs.  While more off the beaten path St Croix National Scenic Waterway or the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore offer a chance to get out and appreciate the beauty from the water.

And finally Wisconsin’s main city Milwaukee provides some fun as home to American icons such as Harley Davidson motorcycles and Miller beer.  Brew city as its known has a good historic district, a lively music and festival scene (including Summerfest – the world’s largest music festivals) and the Riverwalk, filled with cafes and public art.

A Day at the Footy: Sport the Local Way

July 24, 2010 in Sport, Travel with 5 Comments

When travelling I like to attend sports events like a local, whether its Muay Thai in Bangkok, a football (soccer) game in Europe, baseball in the USA or Aussie Rules footy in Australia.  The authentic atmosphere, sights and sounds and locals screaming in support for their team make it a great way to get at the heart of the place you’re visiting.

The MCG crowd

Living in Melbourne, Australia at the moment, Aussie Rules Football is the sports religion in the city. The first two thirds of the sports section of the daily newspaper is almost always solely dedicated to footy every day, this in a sports obsessed country. I won’t try and explain the rules of Aussie Rules footy here but some say it’s a fast paced and very physical combination of football, rugby and basketball whose closest comparison is the even more obscure sport of Gaelic Football played in Ireland.

The AFL (Australian Football League) season played between March and September each year has teams in every major city in Australia but is most dominant in Melbourne.  For  visitors wanting to attend a game its not too difficult to get tickets in the days leading up to the game (except the Grand Final, the Aussie equivalent of the Super Bowl or Champions League final where tickets are near impossible to come by).  What you can expect as I found at the MCG (a stadium with around 100,000 people capacity) today for the game between Collingwood Magpies and the Richmond Tigers is a fast paced contest played over two hours, with passionate local fans.  Steeped in tradition and team history each club’s song plays throughout the stadium as the teams run out in readiness for the start of play through banners made by and held up by club supporters. These banners highlight team member milestones or community messages (such as the plight of the homeless) and the players run through as they burst out ready to play.  After every goal, the teams supporters go wild particularly those behind the goal and at half time junior teams play showing that in Australia participation in sports is what its about as you grow up. This particular game was lopsided with Collingwood dominating Richmond from the start but the local fans remain to the end, having a beer and enjoying a meat pie as their teams play. 

So if you’re on holiday in Australia between March and September make sure you join the locals at a game – you won’t forget the experience.

Explore Silverstone – not just for the British Grand prix

July 11, 2010 in Sport, Travel with 1 Comment

Silverstone is often much maligned (particularly by F1 Supremo Bernie Ecclestone) as being in the middle of nowhere, lacking facilities..etc. An old airfield might not be as glamorous as other F1 race locations but for the racing its one of the best.  And if you’re at the British Grand Prix or thinking of visiting the area there’s a few things worth checking out. Indeed the Silverstone Visitor and Tourist Information Centre has been created to make visitors feel welcome in the area all year round, not just on event days like the British Grand Prix.

To start, several of the F1 teams are located nearby – and although F1 is secretive every now and again there are ways to take a look (Williams or RedBull are two that sometimes open up). Otherwise there is always a high speed experience drive around the circuit itself in everything from a Ferrari to a Lotus.

Silverstone itself is located in Northamptonshire and if you like market towns, historic architecture, stately homes and expansive gardens and parks then spend some time in the area.  For example visit the ancestral home of the Spencer family and final resting place of Diana, Princess of Wales at Althorp or try Rockingham Castle, a castle built by William the Conqueror.   And if that works up an appetite try an old inn for a drink and some lunch – for example the Althorp Coaching Inn (used to be The Fox and Hounds) in Great Brighton just near Althorp should fit the bill.

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