Sporting prowess
If Yorkshire were to beat Scotland to the punch and declare
its independence from the rest of the country tomorrow, a new sporting
superpower would surely emerge. As I sat
watching the Brownlee brothers battling it out during the closing stages of the
Hamburg Triathlon, Jonny finally getting one over on big brother Alistair, I
found myself wondering just what gave sports people from the White Rose county
the edge not just over their fellow Britons but seemingly over athletes from
all over the world.
At the same time on our own fair shores a young man by the
name of Joe Root, ably assisted by fellow Yorkshiremen Tim Bresnan and Jonny
Bairstow, put the Aussies to the sword with an incredible 178 not out, leading
England to a mammoth lead at the home of cricket. Remarkably despite seeing their most prized
assets called up to represent their country on the biggest stage, Yorkshire
County Cricket Club still find themselves atop the county championship table
with just one loss from ten to date, seemingly on their way to yet another
title to put further room between them and their nearest challengers. Many experts believe that there are several
other promising Yorkshire Cricketers who may soon find themselves with
international commitments.
And that only encompasses the last few days of Yorkshire
sporting success!
Without doubt last summer featured the county’s most
spectacular sporting achievements in recent memory as its athletes outperformed
many nations at London 2012 on their way to what could have been a 12th
place finish in the medal table. What
began with Lizzi Armistead getting Yorkshire and Team GB off the mark with her
silver medal in the Women’s road race culminated in Luke Campbell rounding off
Yorkshire’s medal haul on the penultimate day with Gold in the Men’s
bantamweight boxing, their 7th Gold and 12th medal overall.
Along the way Sheffield-born face of
the games Jessica Ennis dominated the Heptathlon (eventually taking her Gold on
‘Super Saturday’), Nicola Adams became the first female boxer ever to win an
Olympic Gold and Alistair Brownlee took the top step of the podium in the Men’s
triathlon as his younger brother’s bronze made them the first siblings to ever
share an Olympic podium. Special mention
also goes to Ed Clancy, Katherine Copeland and Andy Triggs Hodge who did both
their country and their county proud meaning 3 more Gold Medals also now find themselves
at home in Yorkshire.
The key
to success
So why is it that Yorkshire seems to
be the ultimate factory line, churning out sportsmen and women who go on to
dominate and succeed on the global stage?
The first thing that came to my mind when considering what it’s like
growing up in Yorkshire is the now famous Monty Python sketch about the Four
Yorkshiremen (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe1a1wHxTyo) In many ways this sketch epitomises the stereotype
which is still rife in England that Yorkshire is a tough place to grow up. The often negative connotations which are
attached to a no frills approach to raising children are now being challenged by
the success which these tactics seem to bring.
There is nothing wrong in instilling in your children the value of
knuckling down and working hard in order to succeed in life because nothing is
handed to you for free in the world of today.
Perhaps if more young people displayed the commitment and dedication
which many of Yorkshire’s newly anointed sporting greats have consistently
shown during their lifetime, we could work to dispel the negative ideas that
many people have about today’s younger generation.
Maybe Yorkshire’s industrial history has something to with
it, whether that be the steel factories of Sheffield, the wool mills of
Bradford or the coal mines of Barnsley.
The people of Yorkshire have a hard-working nature deeply engrained in
their DNA and feed off the struggles and efforts of their parents and
grandparents from an early age. Sporting
prowess is also in their blood. As the
birthplace of the first ever football club, the founding location of the Rugby
Football League and the home of the world’s oldest Horse Race, Yorkshire’s long
sporting history serves as a constant reminder as to what the people of this
great county are capable of achieving.
A true Yorkshire childhood almost
inevitably leads to the development of a tough outer skin and a no nonsense
attitude (think Brian Clough or Geoffrey Boycott.) Resilience and a strong spirit seem to be a
natural characteristic of those from the White Rose County, fine-tuned at
school or even at home from a young age and then put to good use when the
pressure is on in the global sporting arena when it is most needed.
Ignoring the obvious qualities
needed to become a successful athlete, that is to say natural ability and
hard-graft, one thing which gives those from Yorkshire the edge over their
competitors is a strong sense of pride. I
challenge you to find one person from that particular part of the world who isn’t
fiercely proud of their Yorkshire roots and the heroes of last year’s Olympic Games
were quick to credit their upbringing as a key factor in their success. They seemed to take their supreme fighting
spirit from a desire to make their fellow Yorkshiremen proud and to disprove
some of the common misconceptions about their native land. Putting Yorkshire on the global map in a
positive light is a key motivation for sports people born and raised
there. Their recent successes are
undoubtedly making this aim a reality.
Pride is a two-way street in
Yorkshire. There are very few places in
the world which offers such unwavering and unquestioning support to its
sporting sons and daughters, as was best exemplified by the triumphant
homecomings of many of its gold medal winning athletes with thousands of people
lining the streets of their respective home towns. In one of the most heart-warming stories to
come out of the aftermath of the Olympic success, on top of their very own
homecoming parade on the streets of Leeds the Brownlee brothers were both
recipients of a £10 note, a gift from a proud Yorkshire pensioner who had taken
so much pleasure from watching their success.
Several post boxes across Yorkshire
were in need of a special re-paint following the Olympics. So many in fact that the Yorkshire tourist
board felt it necessary to produce a special Heroes Map so visitors could tour
the county searching out the 7 special golden monuments which honoured the
success and glory of the local men and women.
No other county in England was in a position to take such a measure.
More to
come
Yorkshire is undoubtedly on the rise
as a sporting force on the global stage. Four cities across the region will see
live action as the Rugby League World Cup comes to England and Wales in October
of this year. Headingly cricket stadium,
home to Yorkshire County Cricket Club, is still an England test match venue and
will be hoping to regain an Ashes Test in the near future. Several of the regions football clubs are
also on the up and it won’t be long before one of them makes the final step up
to the Premier League.
However without doubt the biggest
sporting occasion to take place in Yorkshire in recent memory will take place
in the summer of 2014 when the Tour de France will have its Grand Départ in the county’s largest
city of Leeds as well as being home to the Tour’s 2nd stage. This event will almost certainly receive the
same incredible support which every sporting event to come to the county gets and
represents another huge step in Yorkshire’s road to taking a place on the
global sporting map. It surely will not
be the last time a sporting authority deems Yorkshire as the ideal location to
base its biggest event.
The future is bright at the moment for
British sport and Yorkshire seems the likely destination from which the next
generation of young British athletes who are needed in order to push us on to
the next level will come. Our countries
sporting prospects will be safe in their hands.
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