Laura launches sports website
Looking for a summer sport? Want to become more active but don’t know what’s available in your area? Laura Surmon, from the School of Medicine, launched a great new website on Thursday 1 November, called Sports Mates, which provides a free service to members looking for workout and training buddies.
By joining for free and becoming a member, you’ll not only be able to seek out training mates but also form, join and manage sports teams online. Your team will never be left to forfeit again when players can’t make it – simply post your listing for an urgent fill-in. You can use Sports Mates to find information on sports and fitness businesses and events in your local area, too.
“My idea for Sports Mates was born when I decided to get back into my childhood sport of athletics and was searching for a site I could use to find someone to do sprint-training with or find a coach but there was just nothing really out there,” explains Laura. When Laura mentioned her idea for the website to her peers, she received so much encouragement that she decided to take the leap and “go for it” with the help of her husband.
“The main aim of the site is to get people out there and participating,” says Laura. “It’s to help local sporting clubs increase their numbers and make it easy for sports teams to recruit players and manage their teams,” she says. “We would also like to help people new to an area or sport, or who may want to share personal training costs, find someone to train with or play sport with.”
Working at UWS has helped Laura believe that she can do anything she sets her mind to, including launching the Sports Mates website. “We also have such diversity in our staff and student populations that you can get so many different perspectives and ideas,” she explains. “Talking to my medical students helped me appreciate the hardships faced by international and out-of-the-area students and that through something like Sports Mates they can meet people and continue participating in the sports they love while they are away from home.”
Karen Baloglow, a Technical Administration Officer from the School of Medicine, has used the website to locate personal trainers and to find a swimming buddy. “It’s really easy to use and I like that you never have to pay anything to use it,” she says. Karen says the site is user-friendly and one of the best things about it is that you can search for listings by the type of sport, minimising the likelihood of irrelevant search results.
So if you’re looking for a buddy or sports group, Sports Mates is a great first stop.
To find out more, contact Laura Surmon (opens in a new window).
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