By Bejay Browne<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A new sport aimed at the over 50s is already gaining momentum in Paphos following the recent creation of a \u2018walking football\u2019 group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTwenty-four players aged from 50 to those approaching 80 have already registered with us and we are hoping to attract even more,\u201d Ian Charlesworth (Charlie) told the Paphos Post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Launched just seven weeks ago, \u2018Paphos United Walking Football\u2019 is attracting Paphos residents who hail from all over the globe, said Charlie who is group secretary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Walking football is predominantly aimed at the over 50s, although those in their 40s will be accepted in Paphos. The game involves playing football without running, sprinting or jogging. It\u2019s a non-contact sport and the ball should not travel above head height.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently matches are played with five or six a side and sessions are for men and women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charlie said that although a certain amount of skill is involved, players possess varying degrees of ability, and the aim of the initiative is for participants to enjoy the experience, which comes with the benefits of physical exercise, activity and social interaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese are the three F\u2019s under which we operate: fun, friendship and fitness,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Walking football was devised in 2011, by the Chesterfield FC Community Trust in the UK, as part of the \u2018Extra Time Initiative\u2019 aimed at people aged 50 years and over. Its aim is to keep people involved with football who may have mobility issues or for other reasons are not able to play a traditional game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018The Football Project\u2019, a Nicosia-based organisation is looking to help walking football progress in Cyprus and cooperate with the Cyprus Football Federation to help promote the sport to create an association and national leagues in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Walking football is a current UK \u2018craze\u2019 after coverage of a session featured on Sky Sports News and a documentary broadcast on Sky Sports Football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several other clubs have adopted the game and support is growing daily, with over 1,200 registered teams in UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAlthough walking football is based on association football, the main difference is that, if a player runs, then they concede a free kick to the other side.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This means players learning a whole new approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is also a ban on slide tackles, part of a set of rules to \u2018level the playing field\u2019 for those who may have a physical disadvantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe do have a couple of ex-professionals playing,\u201d said Charlie, including one from Denmark, who\u2019s in his 70s and very fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Walking football promotes cardiovascular fitness and produces little stress on the body.
The beauty of the game is that it is suitable for everyone, and currently one of the players, a 77-year-old man, is able to play despite having a double knee replacement, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recently, the UK\u2019s Graham Collier, a current England Walking Football Over 60s International, who played professional football for Nottingham Forest and Scunthorpe United, joining the group to undertake some coaching and offer helpful tips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In June, the \u2018England Walking Football Over 60s\u2019 manager, Stuart Langworthy, will also attend a couple of sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe thinks it will become huge here and he\u2019s got experience of setting up a team in UK. They started their team with only four players and just four years later, they have 60 players in their squads. They are now one of the best teams in England,\u201d said Charlie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The \u2018Paphos United Walking Football\u2019 sessions take place every Tuesday morning at 9.45am at the \u2018AM Fair Game\u2019 sports centre Tremithousa, and also at the Tala community council football ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Paphos United Walking Football\u2019 has a Facebook page which is kept up to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For further information: Malcolm-96645449 or Charlie-96742836 By Bejay Browne A new sport aimed at the over 50s is already gaining momentum in Paphos following the recent creation of a \u2018walking football\u2019…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[23,94,11,117,158,9,188,189,187,186],"class_list":["post-371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-cyprus","tag-living-in-paphos","tag-paphos","tag-paphos-lifestyle","tag-paphos-newspaper","tag-paphos-post","tag-paphos-sport","tag-paphos-united-walking-football","tag-sport","tag-walking-football","entry","double"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thepaphospost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Walking-football-players-in-action-770x540.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepaphospost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepaphospost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepaphospost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepaphospost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepaphospost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thepaphospost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":373,"href":"https:\/\/thepaphospost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371\/revisions\/373"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepaphospost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepaphospost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepaphospost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepaphospost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Email: malcbushel@sky.com<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"