Social Networking Promotes “Go Outside and Play”

Remember when your mother told you to “go outside and play,” and when you went outside there was a neighborhood full of kids waiting. There used to be a time when you felt like playing a pick-up game of football or flashlight tag that it was actually quite easy to find others to play with.

Sadly I grew up in the generation after this way of life was available to kids. I can imagine the fun of heading outdoors to suddenly find 10 of my peers ready to play kickball in the yard. By no means did I live a deprived childhood, but the days seem to be a gone where you can just go outside and play are growing less popular.  Now in today’s world “play” typically means sitting in front of the television or playing Call of Duty on Xbox 360.

It is sad to think that the days of going outside to play are gone. Is that time period really over?

Social media can be used for socializing with friends online, but can it also get people out of their office chairs and outside to play? With new websites such a www.sportmeets.com and www.juump.com, the idea doesn’t seem so far-fetched.

Sportmeets was designed to provide highly relevant, sport-specific tools to make meeting up for a particular sport that much easier. Sportmeets claims themselves as the best solution to recreational sports as it allows you to find the right people and groups to sports wherever you live, easily organizes your sporting groups, and it allows one to compete and share sporting events with friends. Sportmeets has just launched in the UK and it is a planning tool that one can use offline to connect with friends to engage in sports. One of the biggest struggles with trying to play a sport is getting people to participate. Anyone who plays pickup basketball can understand the hassle involved with trying to get a 5-on-5 game together. First you have to call everyone and see if they are interested, then you have to tell them the time and location, often times you have people backing out so you have to find last minute replacements. Sportmeets and other similar social networking websites eliminate this issue, as all of the hassle into organizing a recreational activity can be done easily and effectively on the web.

Another similar social platform growing in popularity is Juump. An online tennis community that helps you find people in your area to play against. It is a great site to get information when searching for tennis competitors with a similar skill level or someone who wants to play at the same location. Just type in the specifics as to what you are looking for in a tennis competitor, add a location and any other details you deem necessary, and results are instantly displayed.

Social media is evolving like rapid fire. While these specific resources might seemed limited by location and belonging to a specific sport, more sites are appearing every day. As this trend evolves it may be common to see a site used for each specific sport and sites focusing in on smaller and smaller demographics.

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Image by  kelsey e

About Matt Clark

Matt Clark is currently an intern for Sports Networker, studying sport management and public relations at York College of Pennsylvania. He has an extreme passion for learning about new trends in social media and technology and how it is revolutionizing sports. He has contributed as sports editor for the York College newspaper, been an event manager for collegiate sporting events, intramural supervisor, contributor to the sports information department, and executive board member on the Sport Management Student Association. Matt is heading into his third season as part of the game-day entertainment with the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees. Connect with him on Twitter @mattgclark

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Tagged as: Social Media and Sports, social networking sports sites, tennis social network