I’m a married, 30 year old mum of one to Millie, who is almost three and one of my main reasons for wanting to get fitter. I work as a Senior Nurse within District Nursing, which is a very rewarding but highly stressful job, making it my second reason for taking up rounders!
Like most people, my love of rounders started whilst at school. In middle school I was always the one asking to borrow a rounders bat and ball during the lunch breaks and even over the six week summer holidays. I took great pride in organising teams and just playing to have fun. I loved the competition and still do! I hate losing and have more recently found that I hate losing more as I have gotten older.
I found rounders one evening whilst talking with my husband, reminiscing about school days and I got talking about my love for rounders – he thought I was daft when I questioned if there were any sessions which were currently running to play rounders. Then I came across Rounders England on an internet search, which eventually led me to finding a brand new session starting right on my doorstep! It was fate.
Playing rounders every Thursday evening allows me to keep fit and have fun. The sessions are very active and highly competitive- which I absolutely love!
Rounders has given me the confidence to take up a zumba class every Wednesday evening and go for a run with my sister most Mondays. All these activities, as well as working and maintaining a household, could have proved quite difficult to continue on a regular basis, but my husband is very supportive of my need to keep active, and is more than happy to put our daughter to bed, then have a cheeky play on his xbox!
Whilst playing rounders, I would say my special skill is being able to co-ordinate everyone and utilise peoples strengths. I have recently been made captain, which is a badge I wear with pride and gives me more grounds to cheer on my team mates to push themselves harder and run faster. The other women are very positive towards me and are very receptive to my suggestions. Every week if we get new players, I am constantly surprised by how quickly people pick up the game of rounders and more importantly, their love for the sport. Everyone played in school and in some ways, despite being somewhat older, for one hour every week, we are reliving our youth!
I continue to play rounders as I love the game. I look forward to Thursday nights so much I cannot tell you. I love keeping active and socialising with everyone, I have met many new friends and also brought my work colleagues together as they make up over 50% of our weekly numbers! I began inviting my work colleagues when I saw how much rounders helped me de-stress and take my mind off the pressures of work and home. Soon the numbers grew and now we have very good numbers turning up to play each week. I also utilised the power of social media and Facebook to recruit new players – which was a great success and we recently had a match against a local team, where we had over 15 players who turned up to compete.
As mentioned, my daughter Millie is my main focus to be healthier and fitter. She is a little whirlwind and you need so much energy to keep up with her. By keeping active I am able to do all the things a mother should be able to do, like chase her, play in the park and go for long walks. She is always my inspiration to do better and want better for myself.
I would encourage any other woman who is thinking about taking up rounders, to just do it! I have not looked back and have gained so much. New friends, another focus and a healthier lifestyle. Rounders allows you to build skills and strength you already had, but perhaps didn’t know it. The teamwork aspect really inspires me and is something I am really proud of. We have a team where everyone contributes and has done for over a year now since our team began.
We are recruiting more and more like-minded women who are looking to try something new and keep fit and I’m only too happy to tell them that Rounders is definitely the game for them!
