Sunday 21st March 2021 will go down as the day Walking Football was officially launched in Thailand at True Arena Sports Club Hua Hin. The game is played in over 56 countries around the world and it even has it’s own World Cup, which this year is being played in Malmo Sweden.
The concept of the game is very simple and easy, it is a slower version of normal football, (or soccer depends from where you come from) with a few slight rule changes such as no tackling, no physical contact with your opponents and obviously no running, which is the hardest part.
The idea is to get both men and women aged 40+ to do an activity that includes team spirit, well being and exercise at the same time. True Arena Sports Club was having an Open Weekend 19th -21st March and the organisers of Walking Football Thailand, Steve Johnston and Gary Stevens saw this as a perfect opportunity to measure the interest among the people of Hua Hin and it seemed a very successful introduction with over 40 people from both the international and Thai community turning up.
Gary is a former professional international footballer and some of his excolleagues are playing Walking Football in the UK. He thinks it is a great way to not only do something positive in your life but also just because you are a certain age does not mean that you cannot enjoy a game that you may have loved all your life and therefore you can pull on your favourite team jersey again and relive your youth.
Steve believes that this is an opportunity to develop a sport that both men and women can enjoy and maybe even help bring people together on a social aspect because sometimes some people can feel a little bit lonely, even though we are living in paradise.
This could bring something back into their lives with a sense of looking forward and meeting new friends and having fun. Would you like to join? If you are aged 40+ (both men and women) then go to the Walking Football Thailand Facebook page, press Like and look out for when the next session will take place. What have you got to lose?
