Sport for Women in Spain

On of the things I love about Valencia is the River Turia, the old river, now 10km of parks and gardens and one of the hotspots for playing sport.   There are football pitches, an athletics track and gym, baseball grounds, rugby grounds, and you can even find table tennis and mini golf!

I think one of the easiest sports to take part in is running and you will always find people running in the river, and it´s fantastic, with the great weather you get in Valencia, plus no traffic, means no worries about geting run over (well, maybe by the odd bike or two!).

Running is great, because all you need are a pair of trainers, and you´re off!  Plus the river is well marked out in terms of distances, you often get running groups running series using the markers as a guide to distance.  It´s social, and a great workout at the same time.  In half an hour of gentle running you can burn about 500 calories, depending on your weight and speed, great for weight control, plus your heart and lung capacity.

If you´re new to running, most important thing is to make sure that you have a decent pair of trainers, and I mean trainers that are made for running, not for fashion....you wouldn´t believe how many people I see running in shoes that look great, but do not provide any kind of support for the feet.  My personal favorite are asics, but this is after trying out hundreds of different brands.  Everyone is different so, if you find a brand that you find comfortable and doesn´t give you any problems, stick with that brand.  There are other things to think about, and you´l hear about it the more running you do, such as feet that over pronate, etc.  Truth is, all of us pronate when we run.  This is the term for when our foot strikes the ground the foot rolls inward.  It is part of the normal process for running and walking.  There may be problems when you over pronate, which is when the foot has to correct the strike position with the ground and rolls inwards more than normal.  Most people are born with this, or do this as part of a compensatory action for a different biomechaical problem.  Best thing to do, if you are not sure, is talk to a physiotherapist who can do an analysis of your foot and leg biomechanics, and can advise accordingly.  It is a big subject to go into, I often have to look at foot biomechanic as part of my work, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

So, now you got your running shoes, how about giving it a go.  If you´re in Valencia, check out the river, I may see you there!

Ciao!

J

This is a great sport to play.  I remember playing this when I was a kid, although rounders tended to be more popular with my teachers!

Softball is the female version of baseball, where the pitch is smaller, the ball is slightly bigger, and only underarm bowling (pitching) is allowed...but don´t be fooled thinking that, as it´s softball it´s soft pitching.... there were some mean high speed pitchers in this competition!

I include this sport, as recently the 2009 European Women´s Softbal Championship was held in Valencia.  It was a week of exciting matches (the crowd tends to be pretty wild and very vocal, it was great cheering and generally "gritando como una loca"!), I managed to see several matches, as I pass the local softball pitch everyday on my bike as I go to work.  Great fun.  Obviously I was supporting the spainish side, and it was great to see the other countries participating, like Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and of course Great Britain and France.  The Netherlands won the Championship, finaly beating Great Britain and Spain came 8th. 

The objective of this Championship was that the first 3 teams qualify for the International World Championships in Oklahoma next year....Plus Softball is currently bidding to be reinstated in the Olympics for 2016. 

Softball is available to play in several cities in Spain, the main ones being Valencia, Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, and San Sebastian.  I´ll be trying it out after the sumer holidays, here in Valencia, so keep an eye out for that post!  There is even a Spanish Softball league, check out details at www.mister-baseball.com, click on Spain, and there you´ll find everything.

Oh and BTW I absolutely love the way spanish have their own pronounciations for everything.  In spain Softball is "Sófbol".

I´d love to know if you have played, or have given this sport a go, let me know how you all get on!

J

Hi guys

Welcome to my first ever blog.  Patience while I try to figure out how everything is supposed to work.

This blog is inspired by my desire to see more women participate in sport in spain.  Here, the usual sports, football and basketball are popular, but my chosen sport, rugby, is not as well known.  I´ll be including posts re the lesser well known sports and obvioulsy with sport and exercise comes injuries, many of which and stop us participating, so I´ll be handing out tips from time to time, mostly on the sorts of stuff I end up treating. 

Feel free to ask me anything, and I´ll do my best to answer!!

Ciao!

J