In Dorset, there is an active commitment to ensuring the elderly community have the means to stay active. Public Health Dorset say at least 30% of the community are aged 65 plus, an average that has increased by 25% since 2011.
Keeping active with age can have a variety of beneficial effects. When it comes to the brain, the long-term effects include reducing the risk of dementia and depression.
Therefore, ensuring the right facilities are available to keep active, especially for the aging local community is important. One club striving to keep sports accessible is Dexter Sports and their Walking Football Club in Poole.
They host regular training sessions, tournaments within the Dorset Walking Football League and social events for all ages, but particularly for over 50s.
Paul Kybert, from the Dexter’s WFC committee, explained why the club is so important for the community. “At Dexter Sports Walking Football we supply football opportunities for any players over the age of 50.”
“As we get older, we tend to be less able to be competitive with players that are a lot younger and fitter. Walking football gives people that still love football the chance to continue their love of the game by competing with others on a level playing field.”
“Although, some will always be fitter than others, but this form of the game reduces the risk of injury by being minimal contact and a bit slower.”
Walking Football was created in 2011 in Derbyshire by John Croot. It was initially created to help older men find a way out of loneliness and isolation. However, the benefits of the sport have since extended to improving blood pressure, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke.
Paul Kybert explained that “walking football helps players to maintain a level of fitness by playing and training on a regular basis and managing and reducing weight. We have a number of players who have had a significant reduction in their body weight since they have joined us.”
The benefits of Walking Football is not just physical, but also helps the players improve their mental wellbeing, as players feel high levels of personal reward and satisfaction.
“The involvement with the group is also important for us mentally, it’s especially important for men who tend to be more isolated as they get older. The team bonding, banter, making new friends and competitive opportunities from this form of the beautiful game recreates all that we loved about football when we were younger.”
“All of our group say they really look forward to Friday evenings and our monthly league games.”
Dexter Sport’s WFC delivers a social element to its participants as well as a fitness group. On the last Friday of the month, they finish their typical 7-9pm training session an hour early and use the club house to have a drink, chat and get to know each other a bit better.
Paul said that they also have “an end of season bash, where we present various awards for player of the year and leading scorer. We are also exploring the possibility of taking part in a tournament abroad and a footballing weekend away at a complex in Devon.”
Sharing more on how the game works, Paul said, “It’s structured at league level into age groups. We have league teams playing at over 50s, over 60s and over 65s and are currently considering setting up an over 70s team as we already have several players in this age group.”
“We have an average between 20-24 players attending on a Friday evening and divide the first hour into two matches on two pitches, either 5 or 6 aside between the over 50s on one pitch and the over 60s on the other. Some players can’t always stay the second hour, so we mix the teams and play another game.”
“We always caution new players to take it easy the first couple of times as they will ache the next day, using muscles they forgot they had after not playing for some time. Our sessions always start with a group warm up to ensure everyone is ready to play and reduces injury risks.”
On encouraging people to join, Paul said “sometimes, when we talk to people about walking football they scoff and say it’s not for them. Often, they say ‘how old do you think I am?’ but we always say come along and give it a try; you will be surprised how tiring it can be.”
“We rarely have people attend and not return for more sessions, once they get the bug they want more and tend to want to join the league teams. We do say if they only want to do the friendly sessions they can.”
“Most importantly it’s fun and you can make new friends.”
Dexter Sports Walking Football Club runs every Friday evening from 7-9pm, for more information on joining, head to their website.
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