Multisport is massive. And we already know that you’re hooked, but what about the rest of the family?
Have you got them involved yet? Are they hooked too?
Here at McA Fitness & Events, we are 100% hooked on multisport and were getting the whole family involved!!
In 2022, we launched our junior events at The Central Lancashire Duathlon and saw great success, so have since found 2 further venues at Shrewsbury Sports Village and Blackpool’s Palatine Leisure Centre.
Variety
Kids are introduced to multisports at an early age, the education system sets them up to take part in multiple sports and activities. This is hugely important for their development, hand eye coordination, depth perception et al. Jump to your child’s 8th year, they’re beginning to show enthusiasm for a narrower selection of sports. Chances are your lad plays football or rugby and your daughter gymnastics or dancing. Now lets throw multisport in the mix; Triathlon (Swim/Bike/Run), Duathlon (Run/Bike/Run), Aquathlon (Swim/Run) or Aquabike (Swim/Bike) any or all the combinations and your adding a whole heap of variety into your child’s activity level, providing opportunity to excel in one or all of the disciplines and ensuring a lack of boredom by participating in the wide variety of sessions. On top of that, you can Swim, Bike and Run with them, keeping your fitness regime just varied along with a little parent/offspring competition to boot.
Life Skills
Swimming, Cycling and Running are all valuable life skills that are worth learning early and maintaining your whole life.
Swimming – A lot of children today are lucky enough to have swimming lessons either privately or at school. Once you get to a certain level, as I’m sure you remember, the odd swimming lesson is completed in pyjamas and there’s some deep diving to the bottom of the pool. Now I remember these lessons as fun filled because they were different and almost like a game, however in adult life, having qualified as both a swimming teacher and a lifeguard, I now understand just how important these sessions were. I wont fill you with doom and gloom or scaremonger, but being able to confidently swim in clothes and to be able to pick things form the bottom of a pool could both be really important one day.
Swimming in general, is excellent for fitness and it’s a skill that is enjoyed during childhood and into adulthood whether you’re swimming with family at a weekend, splashing in the pool on holiday or enjoying the thrills of a waterpark. All the above would enjoyed far less if you don’t swim…
Cycling – A mode of transport and an expression of freedom for every teenager. Riding a bike and being able to do so safely, offers fun, independence and adventure. Anyone who rides a bike regularly on the roads, will have a good understanding of the highway code and an appreciation for speed and distance which will benefit when learning to drive. I’ve also noticed that those I know who both drive and ride, are far safer when driving on roads with cyclists, than those who don’t cycle.
Getting your child into multisport, when they’re old and wise enough, they’ll be far more likely to cycle to school/college and work than take public transport, or worse use the parental taxi rank…
Running – Everybody needs to run. For the train or bus, because you’re late and its quicker than walking or away from something (hopefully not the police). Its also the main form of movement in a lot of popular sports (football, rugby, tennis) and the ability to move quickly and freely will help most people on most days.
Running is also excellent for fitness, yes, its high impact, but that means its good for calorie burning and will often be a go to exercise when trying to get in shape for any fitness pursuit or to drop a few pounds before a holiday. When you can run properly, you will get very fit, you’ll have excellent cardiovascular fitness and most other movement patterns won’t be a problem either.
Safe
Don’t get me wrong, everything has potential dangers, but as a rule, swimming cycling and running are generally safe, particularly in organised training sessions and junior events.
Your pool sessions will be coached by a qualified and experienced coach, who will also have some sort of first aid qualification and most private pools also have at least one lifeguard on duty to.
Cycling, as discussed earlier, will teach you the highway code, safe road use and etiquette, but as a multisport athlete you’ll also have opportunity to find cycle track specific sessions with no (non-cyclist) road users, as well as closed road events.
Running, again, helps athletes create an awareness of the road and other users as well as your surroundings and environment underfoot. You’ll be a safer walker as well, knowing to keep an eye out for obstacles which may cause a trip hazard. There are also many opportunities to run away from traffic/cyclists, with off road trails, canal paths and lots of track sessions locally.
Under British Triathlon race rules, Junior events must be on roads closed to other traffic, therefore when actually racing, the risk is also reduced further.
Don’t get me wrong, there is always a danger to everything, but the skills and tools acquired by regularly practising all 3 will enable your children to perform in the safest possible way.
Community
When you get into it, you’ll find multisport, as well as swim, bike and run are great communities. Clubs for each and all disciplines, opportunities for group coaching sessions, group rides and runs, café stops, OWS (Open Water Swimming) picnics. Fun Runs, Cycle Sportives, Camping at the lake or before some big triathlons. At almost every session, you’ll find a social opportunity, and at every race, there will always be a likeminded person to chat to either settle your nerves beforehand or swap stories with after.
And for juniors, its even better. Each British Triathlon region has opportunities for kids to train and race with their peers. Age Groups are TriStart (8 years), TriStar 1 (9-10 years), TriStar 2 (11-12 years), TriStar 3 (13-14), Youth A (15-16 years) and Youth B (17 years) and because they arein 2 year intervals, your children will always be racing with kid sf the same age. They will get to know the same kids as they race regularly and every region has a junior series, which allows all juniors to compete against each other at various events for the duration of a season.
What’s not to love?
Family Fun
Finally, and probably the best reason of all, both Mum, Dad and children can train and race together and make incredible family memories together. Swimming, Cycling and Running are all suitable for all the family, they’re sociable, safe and varied which is perfect when looking for family weekend and holiday activities.
You can all join a club together, train and socialise with other multipsort families too.
And racing is where it gets really fun for the family. With so many different types of races all across the UK and the globe, regular weekends away and family holidays are on the cards. Nobody to be bored, glued to an iPad or left behind as there’s at least one discipline for everyone!!
In summary, why would you not want your kids to try multisport? Who knows, if you start them early enough, you may be blessed with future Olympians or Kona success stories…
We also offer the best way to get your little ones to dip their toes into Multisport waters, with The Central Lancashire Duathlon, The Shrewsbury Duathlon and The Blackpool Aquathlon throughout the year.
We look forward to seeing the whole family soon!!