Anoushé and Para Climbing: “Make friends through sport”
Want to make friends? Try a sport! Last month, Anoushé told us how she overcame her fear of being a newbie. Here, she talks about the social benefits of climbing.
Over the last eleven years, I have lived in four countries: Luxembourg, Belgium, China and the UK. This has meant that I’ve had to make new friends, create a new social life and frankly start from scratch each time round. I have a very close circle of friends who I’ve known almost my whole life, one of which was the friend who got me into climbing in the first place! We make the most of the time we get together but we are all living and working in different countries and cities.
My move to London was somewhat sudden and it was for a new job so I couldn’t rely on a student community to make friends with as I had done for all my previous moves. Any move can be isolating, but imagine moving to a huge place like London where no one knows each other, or a small village where everyone is closely knit. How do you integrate? What can you find in common with all of these strange new people? It’s simple: a sport.
The health benefits of participating in a regular physical activity are yelled from the rooftops. I think we should yell just as loudly for the social benefits. Through sport, I have connected with some of the most diverse people in my life. They come from all over the world, all walks of life, religions, careers and disabilities. I have become more open and richer through this diversity and wouldn’t change it for the world.
This has been particularly true for climbing. This is a sport where you put your life in the hands of another person and if you are teaching, as I now frequently do, you teach new people how to hold that responsibility.
The level of trust and understanding needed in this sport have contributed to me making some very fast, amazing, inspirational and motivating friends.
I’ve also found that, unlike many other sports, you want to see everyone succeed. Even in competitions everyone is sharing tips and tricks on how to get up a certain wall. There’s a real sense of community that comes with climbing.
I came to London knowing almost no-one (aside from family, who I’m eternally grateful to for having helped me settle) and have now got my own community. I went climbing expecting to find a sport to keep me fit, something to keep me challenged. I got way more than that and I really believe that everyone can, no matter what sport or physical activity you try, make new friends and make their own community. I love climbing but I don’t think I would have stayed this determined and dedicated to train and compete the way I do without having the friends, community, support and following I now have.
My flatmate and I connected through climbing. I was looking to move to a new flat when Angela’s advert came up. On the day I went for the viewing we both realised we enjoyed climbing but didn’t have partners and so besides moving into an absolutely amazing flat, our climbing partnership began. We both lead very different and busy lifestyles but we make sure to go climbing together at least weekly. It’s the way we socialise, relax and bond. It also makes the journey home much more fun. On the weeks where we can’t climb together for whatever reason, we really miss it. Even when we are not climbing together, we talk about equipment, different international championships taking place or a new technique or crazy move I’ve picked up through training.
Climbing has woven itself into our lives and helped our friendship blossom.
Ultimately, I love all my climbing sessions but my favourites are the ones with Angela, my Wednesday group and my coach. The favourite day of my week is now Wednesday because after work, I go climbing with my favourite group. They are literally the highlight of my week. I don’t just feel physically recharged and less stressed after a climbing session with friends but emotionally and mentally replenished too.
I have made friends through other sports too, be it swimming, badminton, karate, yoga, hiking or walking. It doesn’t matter what activity you try, you’ll be doing it with other people interested in that activity and that’s where you can start a conversation and hopefully make new friends too.
