The first month of 365DaysofSport is now done and dusted. In 31 days, we have traveled over 18,000 kilometres, covering 29 sports in three countries.
We have sifted through hours and hours of filming to put together a show for each and every sport we’ve seen. It’s taken three years of intense planning to get this far, and it’s been a blur to say the least.
I was a former International cricketer of no historical significance whatsoever who had a crazy idea. I wanted to go and watch every sport on the planet live. Why not?
I then convinced my Kiwi housemate, Rob Bryers, who is more known for his prominence in Indie rock bands around Melbourne than his sporting prowess. He tells me that his only noteworthy sporting contribution was winning the Auckland Central Zone U/12s High Jump title. He never went on with it.
When I first started playing with the schedule, I really was dreaming big. No distance was too far, money was no object. Planning events from so far out was also an issue.
As time moved on, I found that dates changed or even disappeared so I had to find sports that fitted in with the schedule of where we were supposed to be at the time. When I couldn’t find a major sponsor it meant massive belt tightening and a total redesign of the diary had to take place.
I ended up kicking the whole thing off with nearly a month in Australia instead. That was probably a godsend as we have been able to immerse ourselves into the routine easier. No doubt that would have been far harder to do that overseas.
People think we are on a year-long holiday, but the first month has seen us putting in 14-hour days to get the daily shows online, on time.
The sports so far have ranged from the 100,000-spectator strong Melbourne Cup right down to a Sheepdog Trial in Bairnsdale where the sheep outnumbered the people there ten to one.
We spent last weekend in Singapore at a Subbuteo tournament, and then went across to Malaysia at the Indoor Cycling World Championships. Indoor Cycling consists of two disciplines, Cycleball and Artistic Cycling.
Cycleball is essentially a 2v2 game of soccer on bicycles. The Swiss team had an army of traveling fans, complete with 50-foot flag! The Swiss ended up losing the final to Austria by a single goal and to say the fans were gutted was an understatement.
Artistic Cycling is best described as figure skating on bikes. It has to be seen to be believed what these guys and girls can do. Some of the moves the pairs teams pull off are incomprehensible.
I have to say that everyone, with the exception of Cricket Australia, has been incredibly supportive. We’ve been given full access to athletes and venues and been left alone to do our thing.
We are in the business of promoting sports in the most positive manner, however lighthearted it may be and luckily we’ve had no complaints thus far.
Some of the responses have astounded us too. We wanted to go to the local Drift Trike meet in Pakenham to see what it was all about. After we contacted the organizer he started to promote our visit and it became the largest Drift Trike event in Australia with sliders coming from all corners of the country just to be there with us.
Along the way we keep meeting World Champions and icons of Australian Sport. Mick Doohan jumped on board with us at a Go-Kart meeting in Geelong. Jason Crump talked to us at the Speedway GP at Etihad Stadium. Angus Robinson is the World U/21 Mountain Bike Orienteering Champion, and we just managed somehow to interview a load of the German and Slovak Artistic Cycling girls – in English!
We have just arrived in Dubai, where we set up camp for the next few weeks. We’re then off for a week in wintery Europe before heading back to Australia for Christmas.
You can join us on our journey through our facebook page or at 365daysofsport.com
What’s your best bet? For great odds on all your favourite sports check out PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
It’s a pretty good time to be a Tasmanian sports fan right now. After years in the sporting wilderness with not much to celebrate,…
Olympic swimming legend and Australian Sports Commission boss Kieren Perkins has warned that "someone will die" if a multi-sport event that allows athletes to…
In 2015 when heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury beat Wladimir Klitschko, the fighter regarded by many as the ‘Greatest of all time’ in the sport,…
Join Australia's most vibrant online sports community and you have the chance to win $1000. The Roar is the perfect blend of sports reporting,…
Here is a review of our boxers who made a splash in the world rankings over the past year.
After intense debate at Roar HQ, we’ve selected the 23 most controversial moments for 2023.
