OLD DOGS, NEW TRICKS

An initiative looks to get men over the age of 50s to return to team sports. SportsNation spoke to David James, the founder of the Life in the Old Dogs scheme

Life in The Old Dogs is about getting the over 50s to participate in team sports by creating a safe environment where they play with people of a similar age creating great times, increased fitness levels and improving social engagement by meeting new friends in a team spirit,” says David James, the founder of the programme. He adds that the idea came after he realised that the most traditional activities for the over 50s had become badminton, tennis, golf, swimming, cycling, walking and going to the gym.

“These are all very good, but essentially, they are sports and activities that you take part in either one your own or with one or two other people,” James says. “So what makes the Old

Dogs games different are that they are team games. They are competitive but fun, played at a pace and a spirit that suits the over 50’s – and they have a social aspect to them too.”

Creating communities

The games have been running for over six years in Bath City and have resulted in not just new team games for the over 50’s but the development of a new community. Some of the games are mixed sex – such as Basketball and Tag Rugby. Some of the games have been dominated by one gender, but with anyone welcome. Football tends to be male-dominated, while netball is largely female dominated.

“The demand has been fantastic with most games drawing 7-a-side for weekly games,” James says. “The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. The over 50’s are loving the fact they can play team sports again and we now have at least 100 people playing weekly in Bath.”

In many cases, those taking part in “Old Dog games” had become physically inactive with no incentive to exercise. The prospect of team sports, however, has given them an incentive to give it a try. Another group of Old Dog attendees are players who have been taking part in the more competitive masters games, or in open leagues, who may want to switch to play in the far less competitive and much more friendlier Old Dogs games.

“Once players become part of an Old Dogs team it is rare to lose them – and often the players become the marketing arm for recruitment and expansion of new games,” James reveals. “People currently taking part in walking sports now have an alternative to ‘trade up’ to play Old Dogs games which will involve running.”

What makes the Old Dogs games different is that they are team games – competitive but fun, and played at a pace that suits the over 50s

A variety of sports

The programme’s most popular team sports are football, netball, touch rugby and basketball. Football games take part both indoors and outdoors and at a variety of formats – including 5v5, 6v6 and 7v7. Netball is available indoors and outdoors and, in addition to the traditional 7v7, is available through the highly popular Netball 5s format. Touch Rugby takes place outdoors at 7v7 or 8v8 formats, while a variety of basketball formats are played in sports halls – and outdoors in the summer.

The set up is simple. An Old Dogs sports leader greets players on arrival, does a gentle warm up and puts the group into two teams. Games are played in a fun friendly manner with a smile and bad language and unsportsmanlike activities are not tolerated. Anyone acting in such a manner is asked to leave and not invited to play in the future.

“To strengthen the social aspect and to build communities, we also encourage players to meet after the games for drinks and networking,” James says.

Participants register on the [lifeintheolddogs.com](https://lifeintheolddogs.com/) website. They are then kept engaged by regular correspondence, such as monthly newsletters. Social media channels including X, Facebook, TikTok and Instagram are also used to promote participation., while players are encouraged to post activities and set up local ‘Old Dog’ events/talks/lunches.

James adds that the future plans include expanding the initiative across the UK.

“We are just about to turn Life in The Old Dogs into a Community Interest Company (CIC), which will allow us to apply for grant funding to be able to bring the games to wider communities,” he says. “Our vision is to see Old Dogs games in every town and city in the UK.”

Life in the Old Dogs Mission

To promote healthy living and wellbeing to the over 50’s through increased physical participation in team sports and improve socialisation via providing a framework to meet a wider network of friends of a similar age. Contact: [help@lifeintheolddogs.com](mailto:help@lifeintheolddogs.com) [www.lifeintheolddogs.com](http://www.lifeintheolddogs.com/)