14 Smithens Road, Nottingham, NG1 1AH jacob@sportnottinghamshire.co.uk

Top Ten Team Sports to get Involved in

Nottinghamshire has so much to offer in terms of sports! It is the ideal place to enjoy sport and has facilities that are world-class.

Nottingham is the proud home of the world’s oldest league football club – Notts County FC. What’s more, you’ve got Trent Bridge, home to world cricket matches and the National Ice Centre, home to the Nottingham Panthers Ice Hockey Team. Let’s take a look at the Top Ten Team Sports to get involved in Nottinghamshire.

  1. Football

As we’ve mentioned above, Nottingham is home to the oldest league football club in the world so it goes without saying that football is a great sport to be involved in Nottinghamshire. There are plenty of opportunities for joining in this team sport in the area. This website has lots of leagues and teams listed including 5-a-side, 6-a-side, 7-a-side and 11-a-side. The site even has links to other linked team sports like futsal and walking football – more on these below.

  1. Futsal

This is a five-a-side sport that is played indoors on a flat pitch. The goals are the size of hockey goals and the ball used is a size 4 ball that has reduced bounce. Each half of the game lasts 20 minutes and is played with a stopping clock like basketball. It is both fast-paced and exciting and is played across the globe. In fact, futsal is recognised by UEFA and FIFA and there is a Futsal Cup and both Futsal Championships and FIFA World Championships in Futsal.

Futsal in Nottinghamshire has grown within the last few years and there are many futsal school competitions.

  1. Walking Football

This is a new football formation, which is becoming increasingly popular. It is a version of traditional football that is slower paced. This means that anyone can enjoy it regardless of fitness, ability and age. Walking football has been a catalyst in bringing many older people back into the sport.

Walking football is often played with smaller teams like 5-a-side, 6-a-side or 7-a-side. The FA has even published laws of the game.

  1. Cricket

The Nottinghamshire Cricket Board has a massive list of teams for seniors, juniors and women’s cricket. There are lots of different leagues too – Saturday leagues, Sunday leagues, midweek leagues and a new T20 league.

Saturday Leagues – these include Nottinghamshire’s Cricket Board Premier League, which is an ECB Premier League that incorporates the best 12 clubs in the county. These league matches are 100 overs. Another Saturday League is the Bassetlaw & District Cricket League. This is based in the north of Nottinghamshire and has 51 clubs with 99 teams and 9 divisions.

Sunday Leagues – this includes the Mansfield & District Cricket League and the Newark Club Cricket Alliance.

Midweek Leagues – this includes the Nottingham Evening Cricket League, the Newark Alliance Cricket League and the Newark & District Cricket League.

  1. Ice Hockey

Ice hockey is popular in Nottingham thanks to the National Ice Centre. The Nottingham Lions are a team that competes in the National League Northern Section and are one of two senior teams from Nottingham. The Nottingham Panthers are the other professional team. The Nottingham Outlaws are a recreational ice hockey club that is made up of players of all abilities and includes both men and women.

  1. Basketball

The Nottinghamshire Basketball Association has an index of clubs in the county. At present, there are 19 different clubs on the database. These include senior teams and youth teams. There is really something for everyone as far as Nottinghamshire basketball is concerned.

  1. Rugby League

Aside from the obvious Nottingham Outlaws, there are lots of places you can go to enjoy rugby league in the region. Both Nottingham Trent University and the University of Nottingham have rugby league teams as does the Nottingham Casuals RC, which has a range of teams for different age groups.

  1. Rugby Union

As with Rugby League, there are quite a few Rugby Union teams in Nottinghamshire. For example, Meden Vale Rugby Club, Newark Rugby Union Football Club, Nottingham Moderns Rugby Club, Paviors RFC and Worksop Rugby Club.

  1. Netball

Netball is very popular in Nottinghamshire and the Nottingham County Netball Association is an important part of the sport in the county with courses running for umpires regularly. There are 4 different leagues: winter league, Sunday league, summer league and junior league.

  1. Hockey

As well as ice hockey, field hockey is really popular in Nottinghamshire and there are many teams in the area. Clubs include North Notts Hockey Club, Mansfield Hockey Club, Southwell Brincliffe United Hockey Club, Worksop Hockey Club, Mansfield Hockey Club, Meridian Ladies Hockey Club and many more. This site has a map with all of the region’s hockey clubs.

Summary

As you can see from this Top Ten Team Sports, there are lots of things you can get involved in in the Nottinghamshire region. There are simply hundreds of team sports opportunities in the area, so don’t forget to search for other, perhaps more obscure team sports that Nottinghamshire has to offer!