Finding community in sports

In April, I was at a triathlon camp in Mallorca with the Amsterdam Triathlon and Cycling Club. Triathlon camp is a great opportunity to increase your fitness just before the triathlon season begins. Mostly, the focus was on cycling, but with a 25-metre pool at the hotel and plenty of places to run, it was a full triathlon training experience.

Our club is over 300 people, so when you arrive, you don’t know everyone you will spend the coming week with, or you might have met them once or twice but have never really had a conversation. Being in the club for so long, I was also with some friends whom I see regularly, not just while training but also socially. Hopefully by the end of the trip, you have made some good friends who enhance your experience of being in the club.

We were split into smaller groups according to our abilities. When you are training hard, being with other people going through the same experience is beneficial. We also had meals together and I got to meet the super fast cyclists who I am less likely to see on training rides back in Amsterdam. Being able to help each other when the going is tough, but also celebrating each other’s wins is essential.

The club’s community is really important to me. I currently swim with the group on Tuesday evenings, and it is good to cheer for each other at local triathlons. If I hadn’t joined the club, I would never have met the guys who did the triathlon in Austria with me. This was one of my favourite triathlon experiences, and it wouldn’t have been the same had I done it on my own.

While I was on this trip, my Wednesday Strength and Movement class came together at the regular time and did an unofficial training on their own. They even sent me a photo to show me how proud they were that they still had trained.

And this is the importance of community. Having a group who sees each other every week and goes for a coffee afterwards creates the importance of coming together on a regular basis. This is regardless of whether I am there or not. When each member of the group joined, I don’t think they were considering who they would make lasting connections with. When new members join the group, the existing members always welcome them and invite them for a coffee after. One of the group members says she comes not to let the others down, so the motivation to join isn’t only to come and train. It is also to be there for each other. The only downside can be that I sometimes have to stop them from chatting too much 😂.

So, if you want to feel the warm welcome of a group without judgement, my group is the one for you. We are not about being the best. We are about celebrating what we can do now and helping each other to keep going and get fitter. Sometimes I hear that people don’t feel fit enough to join, but if you want to get fitter, then come and join us and start where you are now.

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