In case you didn’t know today marks the “one year to go” landmark for the 2012 Games. It seems like only yesterday when every British sports fan was taking a late lunch to see the announcement live from Singapore but a great deal has happened since then. Athletes, coaches and NGBs have been preparing, stadiums have been built (and on time), funding has been debated and the general population have been discussing whether we even want the Olympic and Paralympic Games in this country. Today, you’re going to read about who to look out for in 2012, all about the venues and probably some catchy headlines about what could/will go wrong. I’m going to leave that to others and talk about one of the many reasons why I think having the 2012 Games in London is not only great but also a fantastic privilege. Watching sport live!

I know people are disappointed that they haven’t got the tickets they wanted. Having not got a single one of the tickets I originally applied for I managed to get a few in the second chance ballot. I could have complained and moaned but I just looked at what was left and said to myself, “I’m going to watch some sport at the Games and I don’t care what it is......it’s the Olympics/Paralympics!” Here’s why.

This year I’ve been to a number of sporting events and all bar one was a sport I’d never seen before. I started the year with some NBA basketball at the O2. I’ve seen the sport on TV many times and always felt that it was about playing out to the last few minutes and then striking ahead. Watching it live gave me an enormous appreciation of the tactics involved whether the scores are level, you are slightly behind or if you’re slightly ahead. The players are impressive athletes who are moving at speed, performing highly technical manoeuvres and constantly battling to find space. During the time-outs or breaks in play the crowd were constantly entertained by cheerleaders and mascots. If you’ve got tickets to the basketball or get some for the wheelchair basketball I am jealous! You’re in for a treat.

Next up was handball and a GB women’s qualifier for the European Championships at Crystal Palace. Again a sport I’d only ever watched a couple of times on TV and not one that I understood. Before the match even started I was impressed with the plain and simple English that was used in the programme to explain the sport. When the whistle blew to start the match I felt I really had a good idea what was going on. The ladies playing were as impressive as the basketball players. It’s not a gentle game and not only were they working physically and mentally hard to find an edge, they were also able to keep their composure whilst essentially being pushed around. The event team did a great job with commentary through the PA and pumping music in the breaks. If you’ve got tickets to the handball next year I am jealous. You’re in for a treat.

Earlier this “summer” I then had a chance to go to the Canadian Grand Prix. Seeing F1 live is something that I’ve been meaning to do for a few years so to say I was excited is a slightly conservative way of expressing my feelings. I’m not going to go on about a sport that has budgets we can only dream of but I will say it was better than I thought. Wet? Yes. Exciting? More than you can imagine. The thing that impressed me most was F1FanVision. I couldn’t have picked a better spot in the whole park to watch the race; right in front of the McLaren garage. However this clever little device delivers you the live host broadcast feed with commentary from your home nation. I saw lots of action right in front of me, including the Hamilton-Button incident, but this device kept me up to date on what was going on throughout the whole race. Pure genius and with a little bit of money you could use these for road cycling, the marathon, sailing or any sport where you want to watch something specific live (e.g. the high jump) but want to keep an eye on something else (e.g. Men’s 10k).

My last event (and I got back from it last week) so far this year was the European Fencing Championships 2011. This event was a little different to the others because I ran the media and communications for the event with a small team. (Thanks James and Nelson. Much appreciated.) Part of my job was to do the commentary so I still got to see a lot of live sport. However I have to say that if you’ve never seen behind the scenes at a major event you can never really appreciate the amount of hard work that goes into its delivery. I’m really proud that my team and I were part of an incredibly successful event. The commentary gave my whole team an insight into how difficult that job can be. The amount of research we had to do on each athlete, their background and making sure we knew the rules was phenomenal. However I’ve got to say I loved talking about my own sport whilst watching it live. It’s not quite as good as being on the piste but it comes a clear second. I hope to do more soon.

Business Update

Catch Sport Ltd has broken new ground since my last blog. The company were recently signed up by British Fencing to run their media and communications facility. As a former fencer, I am delighted that I am able to stay involved in my own sport in what promises to be an exciting year ahead.

The company has also taken significant steps in growing our joint venture, Sports-Experience.com with GlobalGamesSport Ltd. We have successfully delivered a number of events for Lloyds TSB and IHG (in partnership with IMG) and we have recently signed contracts with BT to deliver the BT FanZone at the Fidelity Blenheim International Horse Trials 2011, for the second year running. Our founding sports partners, British Fencing, British Handball and Volleyball England, will be delivering access to their sports at the event, 8-11 September. It’s a fantastic event which I’m really looking forward to.

At Sports-Experience.com we are continually developing new concepts to give clients and the general public access to sports that they might never have had the chance to try. In addition we are creating a much needed additional revenue stream for the national governing bodies involved in what is a crucial year for them.