When did you last do something for the first time? Well, my first time naked at a sports centre last Saturday (13th October) proved to be a hugely enjoyable experience. Chris and Sandra from Southampton Naturist Group gave a very warm welcome to around 60 to 80 guests (my estimate) at the naturist sports evening held at the excellent Alton Sports Centre complex in Hampshire. They offered a comprehensive range of activities including squash, badminton, volleyball, miniten and swimming. There was also a trampoline although I didn’t see anyone try it out. The wet side area also had a sauna, steam room and Jacuzzi, and the café was open serving light meals and refreshments.
I met up for the first time with one of my fellow buffers, Figaro, and we quickly stripped off in the mixed changing facilities and wandered around the centre wearing nothing but a pair of trainers (best not to twist an ankle) and headed for the (glass backed!) squash courts. As we were warming up the ball I remarked to Figaro “where else but in the naturist community can you play naked squash with a complete stranger (well, almost – we had emailed and spoken on the phone a little) within literally minutes of having met and paid our entrance fees?” We both had a jolly good laugh before continuing the game.
Neither of us had played for ages but we managed three games, the last one being close at 9-8 in my favour. The result wasn’t important but the experience I am sure will last us a lifetime. It was great fun.
Due to the volleyball game, before 9pm there is only one Badminton court set out and as you’d expect from the friendly nature of these events, a couple already on court (Steve & Frankie) invited us to join them; Figaro quickly pointed out that he was a squash player and that this would be his first time playing Badminton, naked or otherwise. However with a little instruction from me he soon got the hang of it and after a short break (in the café and the pool) we had a much longer session later in the evening.
I did manage a few lengths of the superb swimming pool (quite tiring for me as I’m not a great swimmer, used to hotel pools; this must be a proper length 25m pool) and tried out the steam room and Jacuzzi where Nigel informed us that they have a wet side naturist event every Sunday form 730 to 930 pm.
There was a raffle at 9pm with loads of prizes and quite a bit of humour since most tickets drawn seemed to favour the orange tickets despite there being several colours. There was a book stall selling various naturist publications and I bought one of the Naturist Life calendars produced by Suzanne & David Piper in support of their cat rescue charity (www.cats.rolvenden.org.uk)
We also were able to watch England’s semi-final against France (well done lads) in the café whilst enjoying a light snack (I had jacket potato with a healthy side salad and a couple of unhealthy fillings).
All the staff at the leisure centre were really nice and very helpful and made us feel very welcome.
For £9 for adults and only a £1 for children under 16 this was a real bargain and something that I feel we should all support next time. Please get in touch if this is something you are interested in. You don’t need to be Olympic standard to take part and if you only fancied being a spectator you could watch all the action from the gallery.
Sam
--enjoy the moment--
Click here to read more - if you want to be a part of ITB, sign up it is free to sign up and chat on line