The Sportmeets story (Part 2): Peter's Catalonian tale

• It's been a while since I posted the first part of the Sportmeets story. Now, with the first 4 months of my involvement (or is it a love affair?) with Sportmeets successfully behind me, and another big trip to Athens ahead of us, it's time to tell the world what made me join the team and think that an application like Sportmeets could ever work, that is, make it easier for people to play sports, wherever they are.

  I don't want to sound too cheesy, but I've traveled and spent some time in quite a few countries over the last couple years (precisely the last 5 years if you need to know). My traveling was something between what you'd call 'low-cost backpacking' (usually involving Teva sandals, big backpack and a cheap local equivalent to the Rough Guide)  and 'living abroad' (usually involving life outside one's country...). The peculiarity of this type of traveling is that whichever place you come to, you are a tourist for at least the first month. Then, gradually, you kind-of master the language, get to know the locals, appreciate the cuisine and stop ignoring the customs... and when you finally start feeling (and resembling) a local yourself, it's time to 'go home'.

  

  Anyway, my point relates to sports, in case you started wondering where this post is going to. As a backpacker, holidaymaker or just a roadtripper you never worry too much about playing a particular sport, since you never spend enough time in one place anyway and there's just so much to see (Hint: think 'frisbee' on these trips). However, if you work and live in one place for three months, and you happen to have a favourite sport or two, you will almost certainly miss it a lot if you don't get to play it! And that was my case over the 4 summers I spent in the US, Mexico, Spain and Catalonia (OK, I know, Catalonia is not OFFICIALLY a country).

  So here I was last august, with more free time, beaches and sun than ever, in the Catalonian city of Tarragona, wondering why finding a game of beach volleyball, football or tennis can take so much time and effort even if you happen to speak Spanish and Catalan. Apparently, just typing in 'volei playa en Tarragona' didn't do the job. Of course, not every single group of occassional volleyball players that meet up whenever they find time can keep a dedicated website with the game schedule for the whole summer, even if this would made my life easier. And,I thought, as with the Joe the Organizer from the first part of the story there must be many people like me with exactly the same problem. Why not make it easier to discover sports wherever you live? Well, that's what you can do now with Sportmeets.

  Well, this is my story, short but true, that made me think that becoming part of Sportmeets might be worth it. And had Miro not ask me to join him as a co-founder on that rainy October evening, I would certainly be his first paying customer today!

  

  by Miro Solanka Sat 17 Apr 0