A World of Sport
As a sportsman or sportswoman you will know the importance sport plays in society. The recent Rugby World Cup is a clear example of how sport can transcend national, racial, spiritual, and political boundaries and unite people across the globe.
Sportventurer takes peoples passion for playing sport combined with their sense for adventurous travel and creates exciting opportunities in exotic locations.
A Sportventurer placement or tour gives individuals the chance to sink their teeth into a game they previously may not have had a huge amount of time for. It is about living, eating and breathing sport. It is also about using sport as a vehicle to develop and change peoples lives. The satisfaction that arises from such an experience is immense.
FOOTBALL
A Global Language
Football is the beautiful game that, through the advance of media technologies, has been catapulted into the global consciousness over the last 20 years. Football is more widespread than the English language or the American Dollar. David Beckham probably has the most famous face on the planet, his picture more recognisable than politicians, musicians, and film stars. Young players and people look to professional footballers for inspiration, hope, and entertainment.
A game of football immediately unites people from different backgrounds. Walk into a village in Ghana with a football and you will soon have 50 young friends screaming at you for the ball. You will experience the same reception if you were to walk into any other village in the country. Football consistently evokes excitement and creates friendships.
It is Sportventurer's aim to take the potential football has to influence people's lives by creating projects that develop, motivate, inspire and unite young players across the world. By bringing together coaches from the UK with children from remote parts of the world, we are trying to realise this vision.
In Ghana Sportventurer is working alongside Truce International, a charity set-up by Sven-Goran Eriksson to promote peace through football.
RUGBY
A Glorious Future
On a crisp fall day in 1823 William Webb Ellis picked up a football in his hands and ran with it. To this day, backs throughout the world hail this moment as the birth of rugby. Forwards, however, know that the game was not really invented until 1.5 seconds later, when Roland Dimrumple drove a squealing Mr. Ellis' face into the turf, kicked him in the solar plexus and told him to "keep his sodding hands off the ball".
Englishmen watching Martin Johnson lift Mr.Ellis' Cup on November the 22nd 2003 in Australia saw Rugby experience its greatest moment. The most nerve-racking 2 hours of sport most English fans can recall was finally finished off by one mighty swing of Wilkinson's camel-skinned boot. Anyone who watched that final couldn't fail to agree what a fantastic sport Rugby is.
Despite not sharing as significant a part of the global limelight as football enjoys, rugby is gradually beginning to gain recognition as a world game. The emergence of smaller rugby-playing nations like Fiji, Tonga, Georgia, Namibia, Uruguay and Samoa shows that the development of rugby talent is spreading. The South Pacific islands are undoubtedly full of spectacular players and potential, as are many other aspiring nations who didn't even make it to the 2003 finals.
Sportventurer aims to use the interest in rugby and the way the game naturally brings people close together as a way of helping young players focus their all round educational development. Sportventurer is working in two regions of the world to promote the development of Rugby. Fiji and Tonga are renowned for their big tackling and fast running rugby. Our placements in both these countries give a fantastic insight into the spiritual importance of the game as well as the need for supporting its development.
Football
Rugby
Hockey
Netball
Swimming
Cricket
Two Gold medals and one epic Olympic games later, Holmes proved that an experience can change your sporting career. By focusing on your chosen sports for a period of weeks you will find that your fitness, skill, team-play, and vision will all drive your game to greater heights.
