Looking at oldgit’s thread made me think there must be some “odd” sports people have done (do).

Me:

Played Fives to a reasonable standard at school (like squash, but with a hard ball and played using just your hands).
Tenpin Bowling to County level as a teen.

Who’s hiding a secret lacrosse career? Competitive knitting? 🙂

bit posh those…

I used to be a bit of a dab hand with a croquet mallet

UK & England cadet full-bore target rifle gold medallist.
Competition Clay pigeon shooting

hockey goalie for 15 years, ended up in Southern Prem league.

Squash & fives at school.

Have tried fencing and rackets. Would like to have done more of both.

Cricket scorer 🙂

I played ultimate frisbee for 4 years then my knees gave up on me 🙁

fly fishing

When I was at school at trampolined for the world…

Mountain bike riding. It’ll never catch on.

Er, squash and the 200m are the least popular sports I’ve played I think. Although MTBing is probably less popular than those two!

I used to know a UK Punting champion, and I’m currently world pea shooter (team) champion.

I think whatnobeer might be edging it at the moment 🙂

Late Edit – richmars takes it!

I was North of England Junior Barebow Field Archery champion.

But then I was also the National Pig Impersonation Champion two years on the trot(ter) – not sure how sporty that is.

I have a silver medal from the BUSA Canoe Polo championships back in my university days.

I still help out at the Whitewater racing events and Slalom but they aren’t as unusual.

I always wanted to get good at a niche sport and say I was national champion etc.

A neighbour took me to play billiards once. God, that was dull. And is it a sport?

Racketball is ace – squash for tennis players/ old men.
Fell racing.

Improvised bobsleigh down Cave Dale in the ice.
Improvised road luge on skateboards.
BMX jousting – riding flat out at an opponent and trying to knock them off using a big piece of pipe lagging

I’m surprised I made it past the age of 12 to be honest.

I don’t consider Windsurfing to be all that odd but I did it all through my teens, and not living on the coast, I was the only one in the whole school (town even apart from my Father) who did it.

Life time regret, getting an invite to join the Olympic development squad aged 12, and declining as I was “too scared”. 🙄

Played hurling up till late teens – not at all unusual for me for probably looks a bit savage to most of you. Got some right hammerings from psycho corner backs; if you were small and fast, you played corner forward. If you were big, psycho and fast, you played corner back…I would stand at the start of each game shitting myself waiting to see what big country mullicker I was facing this time 🙂

I hold my hand up for Lacrosse.

Note i played the international rules game (as popular in American schools collages) not the girls boarding school version.

Now it’s getting interesting 🙂

To my shame (now) I was Bible Quiz champ 2 years in a row when I was in the Boy’s Brigade. Not really a sport I know, but it was competitve!

Just remembered another one!
At school I was slow bicycle champion. (The last one to ride 100m without putting your feet down. I’m still waiting for the call from the BCF.)

Just spotted GL’s windsurfing comment. I didn’t mention it co’s its not obscure but me and my mate were also the only people we knew who did it. I would have done more if it hadn’t been for the lacrosse!

Windsurfing a lot, although not particaully niche. Dinghy Sailing competativly although pretty average. Gliding at a reasonable level, that was a good one. I’d be doing it today except for the cost issue!
Biggest regret not winnning the world champs in any of the above. Only natural talent, dedication, time, money, beer and girls stood in my way.

Slow bike races! wow reminisce moment

Trackstands really spoilt that….

played volleyball for the North of England region while at school.

Have tried my hand at duck punting

Fencing, at school. That was very cool.
XC ski-ing, very popular in Kentish Town. Did it when I was in the TA’s the infantry regiment I was in had stong links with Norway. Bought my own kit and it never snowed again.
Pocket Billiards.

I was Northern Ireland salmon casting champion when I was 13 – beat all the adults

Any Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling runners here?

😉

National (well, more like regional really) league Shinty for a pretty average Edinburgh team. Used to get punched, clobbered and kicked every week by nutters from the Highlands. Gave up when I’d broken all my fingers at some point, and had become a bit of an A+E regular.

Trackstands really spoilt that….

None of that allowed, your bike had to be the one you rode to school on, which for me was a Raleigh Wayfarer.

How do you compete at salmon casting? Catching, sure, but casting?

accuracy.

I did the 4 man bob. Bloody scary. Seem like a good idea at the time.

there was distance casting and then accuracy – landing the fly inside floating hoops

pony club gymnkana.. just for the girls.. cant beat a bit of posh

Played volleyball in the national league (only Div 3 though) for a few years, then played London Div 1 for a while which is a pretty similar standard

Played ultimate for many years, was a founder member of a couple of teams – Bradford Uni team, Bad Habits in the London league

Tried fives at school once or twice, but never really got on with it. I now do a fair lot of wakeskating (thing a more niche version of wakeboarding) and a lot of winching (think a more niche version of wakeskating. Hmmm Double niche. Must be like riding a Marin singlespeed with a beard and SPD sandals, but cooler).

Play in a rounders league with all the dental nurses! 😉
Followed by cold beer…followed by an even colder shower….

did pole vault quite seriously for about 5 years.

We used to play a game in primary school based on a netball court that involved throwing a football end to end. Was quite good actually.

I have a silver medal from the BUSA Canoe Polo championships back in my university days.

I still help out at the Whitewater racing events and Slalom but they aren’t as unusual.
I was national junior champion at canoe polo, and went on to play in Div 1 at senior level. More unusual than any of those though is surf ski racing, which is the kayak sport I dabble in nowadays.

However I reckon I can trump the lot of you with a sport less than 30 people in this country have ever taken part in. Ski orienteering. Like XC skiing, but in a specially prepared maze of narrow tracks with a map. I competed in the World Masters championship this year (and didn’t come last!)