The Superbowl

This weekend will see the Pittsburg Steelers taking on the Arizona Cardinals in what is one of the most watched sporting events in the world. For all of those not familiar with the Superbowl it is the final of the NFL competition to find out who is the best team in American Football.

The reason I want to talk about it is because in the UK we don’t really put on sporting events anywhere near the magnitude and razzmatazz of the Superbowl. At our FA Cup final the biggest domestic cup match in football as we know it we will normally have someone singing the national anthem and possibly a fly over from The Red Arrows and this is seen as big.

The Superbowl on the other hand is a weeklong event. In the build up to the match there will be press days where the media can grill the players, there will be lots of events for the fans where they can try their hand at playing some American Football an there will be entertainment shows up on with live music in the run up to the event. Across the country it will be what everyone is talking about and what all the press organisations are reporting on. This is before we have even got to the match itself. When the match is on they will have fireworks, pre-game entertainment, music and more. Before the match starts all the players are introduced and welcomed on to the pitch, at half time the pitch will be turned in to a stage where a major international star will perform the half time show and then at the end of the game there is a ceremony for the winning team.

I think the UK need to take leaf out of the American’s book and really hype the big finals like The Superbowl. The bigger and more exciting you can make the game the more young people you can inspire to take up the sport. Cup Finals should all be about capturing the imagination of the audience and making memorable events where the country comes together to watch.

The organisations behind these sports need to use them to get young people in to sport. In the run up to the event they should be running events that encourage young people to get involved all across the country and not just in the host city. Sporting bodies should be capitalizing on the attention these events get and using it to get as many young people involved in sport as possible.

I will be staying up late in the UK to watch it and even if you aren’t a fan of American Football why not give it a quick view to see what I am talking about I have many friends who aren’t fans of American Football but will tune in to the Superbowl. The NFL do a great job of promoting the sport over here in the UK and I think is a blueprint for what the English FA should be doing to promote our sport abroad.


Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Women's World Cup

If you are lucky enough to be at home during the day with no school or work to go to this month you could be enjoying the Women’s World Cup. Unlike the men’s world cup it isn’t talked about on every TV or Radio Show or written about in every newspaper but this doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve the same attention the men’s version of the competition gets.

The lack of press coverage isn’t helped by the fact that the tournament is being held over in China which means the kick off times are during the day so many people who are at school or work can’t watch it live. So this means if you want to watch it you have to get some kind of recording device in order to follow it’s progress.

If I asked many people to name an England ladies football team player many would probably struggle but if I asked them to name a player for the men’s side they would be able to tell me in a heartbeat even if they had never watched a game. In an era where England is not developing many world class athletes or sportspeople who go on to be the top in their sport our ladies has team one of the best female players in the world by the name of Kelly Smith who opened up her world cup account with two goals in her first game.

It’s not just ladies football but many other sports where our country has world class competitors but because these sports may no be popular they don’t get the recognition they deserve.

In the case of football the game is the same game with the same laws regardless of if you are male or female so they should be treated equally. Yes ok it isn’t going to happen over night but I hope as a country and a world we can get behind women’s football and female sports in general. We need to encourage females to succeed in sport and support them when they do.

For all you girls out there that want to get involved in football I say go for it. I know it is annoying that at the moment many female footballers have to have second jobs to pay the bills but can you really put a price on being able to put on your country’s jersey and play in a world cup? That opportunity in itself is immense and should drive young girls o want to achieve in football.

The only way we are going to get the press and media to increase their coverage of the women’s game is by getting out there and supporting it ourselves and by doing this we are going to create a better future for female sports in the UK.

If you have an opinion on women’s sport, how it is perceived or ideas on how to improve its standing then why not get involved in our topic of the week on the forum:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=210#210

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/

Unknown Talent

This world is filled with many talented and successful young people but not many people know about most of them. When a young pop star, film star or sports star just as much as breathes they are all over the papers but I want to dedicate this column to the people who are just as talented and some as successful but never get a mention.

This weekend I have been invited to attend a huge professional wrestling event in Liverpool called the King of Europe cup and one of the wrestlers who will be fighting for the cup is one of the most talented young wrestlers in the world. The man I’m talking about is Ben Satterly better known to wrestling fans as “Pac.”

This precocious twenty year old nicknamed “The Man That Gravity Forgot” has performed to live crowds all over the country and has even been flown over to the States to perform on a new wrestling show airing on MTV called “Wrestling Society X.” So this is a guy who has won many titles, performed to thousands of fans and already worked in America on international TV at the age of twenty.

Say what you will about professional wrestling but for someone of that age to have achieved the amount that he has in any industry or discipline is very impressive and I bet there are many more people out there like Ben who have achieved great things in their lives and careers but because they’re not a professional or signed up to a record label or agent you never here about them.

There is so much talent out there most of which is probably right under your nose so I urge all of you to take time to support local talent and to find out about talented people in your neighbourhood. The people that have made it in the terms of got a contract or a job still need our support but because of the PR and press they get they will have people following them regardless it’s the local talent that doesn’t get the press and PR besides a small clipping in a local gazette that need our support.

I will be trying to secure an interview with Pac this weekend for the website but for all of those interested in finding out more about Pac go to his MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/themanthatgravityforgot

Or you can see him live this weekend April the 28th and 29th at the Liverpool Olympia for the “King of Europe Cup” for more details on how to buy tickets log on to http://www.koecup.com

Or if you know of a talented young person that needs some support remember to go to http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/