by Rhia Daniel

Plenty of winter sports leagues are starting their seasons, with early training sessions for soccer, hockey and football being held throughout your Adelaide Park Lands.

But many people are also looking into playing sports solely as social activities, without paying membership fees, needing to find umpires, or attend organised training sessions.

The rise of social sports leagues, such as Urban Rec Adelaide, cater to this demand, attracting a diversity of players.

Its ‘Freeplay’ events serve as free come-and-try nights for those who don’t want to commit to a season or an official club just yet.

I talked to league manager Leish Charters to get more information about Urban Rec’s philosophy — and its recent gridiron event in Carriageway Park / Tuthangga (Park 17).

Hi, Leish. For the unaware, what is Urban Rec? 

Urban Rec is an over-18s, mixed, really social, social sports club. We pride ourselves on being a truly social sporting club, where players, of all skill levels, can come and play with us.

We offer a safe place for players, who may not be ‘sporty’ in the common sense, but want to come and give it a go without feeling judged.

It’s for anyone who wants to come and not have to commit to training and weekend games or play with a bunch of friends who don’t know sport.

Urban Rec is for everyone; [it’s] for people who want to experience the fun side of sport — again or for the first time.

How do you decide where to host new leagues? 

[Editor’s note: Urban Rec also has social sports leagues in Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Newcastle, Wollongong, and the NSW’s Central Coast. Plus, two in Sydney, where it originated, and one in Canada.]

We know people love our concept. We have thousands of people playing every week. We want to give as many people as possible the opportunity to experience what we do.

We often have members from one city move away and tell us we really need to start in their new city.

So, if there are parks and courts available to us, our players are asking, and we have passionate staff who can help us grow, we will try to get Urban Rec started there.

In our first season in Adelaide, over 20 per cent of players had [previously] played with Urban Rec in another city. 

Does Urban Rec run events throughout the year, or do you have an off-season?

Urban Rec runs four 10-week seasons throughout the year: summer (January to March), autumn (April to June), winter (July to September), and spring (October to December).  

You recently hosted a flag gridiron match in Carriageway Park / Tuthangga (Park 17). Did this get much interest? 

(Editor’s note: flag gridiron is a non-contact modification of American football, whereby players remove Velcro flags from opponents, rather than tackle them.)

It did [gain interest] — our first ever flag league, which was amazing! Unfortunately, due to venue hire, we are not able to hire the fields year-round [for gridiron].

We are on the lookout for more venues year-round, so we can keep going throughout the year, and add more sports [outdoors] – soccer, Aussie Rules, touch footy, multisport [where you play a variation of sports throughout the season, competing on the same team]. 

The Park Lands are amazing and there is so much activity year-round. If we can find a suitable venue [within them], we think Urban Rec would be a great addition. 

Do Urban Rec Adelaide events pull in diverse crowds, or is there a clear demographic that attends? 

Urban Rec is for everyone, and we see that in our member base. We have a large LGBTIQA+ membership.

Members range from 18 to 63 years old, and they seem to travel from all corners of Adelaide, which is great.  

Are you looking to hold more events in the Park Lands? 

We are hoping to, yes! Like mentioned before, we are seeking more consistent [outdoor] grounds for our leagues.

As soon as we can find a patch of grass to play on, we will be welcoming everyone to come and try social sport with us. 

Rhia Daniel has moved to Adelaide from Kapunda, and deeply values community and green spaces.