These Sports Are Benefiting from a Coronavirus Boom
The coronavirus lockdown has been a disaster for many mainstream sports, with everything from Premier League football matches to the Olympics directly affected. Even Wimbledon looks as though it will be cancelled this year!
But other sports have been soaring as Brits find new ways to keep themselves occupied and fit at home. For example, the sales of gym kit, pool tables and table tennis tables have soared. So which are the five sports actually benefiting from the pandemic's movement restrictions?
Table Tennis
Retailers reported that they saw huge sales in just one week as desperate people looked for ways to keep active in small homes. Table tennis also has the status of being a truly global sport and one which is still happening live, with the Moscow Elite Pro League still happening as scheduled.
Pool
Its fans are demanding that it be included in the Olympics, but in the meantime bored locked-down individuals with savings in the bank have been buying their own pool tables to place in the garage for a game or two with the family. Of course, there could be an equal panic wave of pool table sales once life goes back to normal and people realise they simply don't have the space to house their emergency tables!
Darts
A great choice for anyone stuck at home, the sport is even being played at the championship level with the use of remote electronic dartboards. Anyone stuck at home with a wall can rig up a dartboard and enjoy some skills practice and therapeutic aim-taking.
Bridge
All regular competitions have now been cancelled, but online competitions are seeing growth, according to the English Bridge Union. Again, fans want to see the sport included in the Olympics, so watch this space.
E-sports
If you're not yet aware of these huge online sports, then be prepared to enter a world of fandom, multi-player organised video games and big cash prizes. Unsurprisingly, these games have seen a rise in interest as people are holed up at home.
Gym Equipment
Whether bodybuilding, callisthenics, home gym workouts, online PE videos or the trusty Wii are being enjoyed, there has been a huge resurgence in home gyms and home kit. Although most retailers have reported low or no stocks of dumb bells, weights benches, barbells and the like, there are plenty of online fitness and sports skills videos to enjoy and other types of useful functional kit such as resistance bands.
Remember too that everyone is still allowed an hour outdoors, so everyone stuck at home should make use of it and maintain their fitness. Do a virtual PT session or fitness class in the garden, bike or run around the park or simply head to a quiet spot for a leisurely walk whilst maintaining social distance. Yes, it can be frustrating when your favourite sport class or TV schedule is cancelled, but the world will go back to normal eventually and our fitness activities - and sports passions - will resume with more energy and motivation than ever!