Overview
Happier, healthier and more active communities seem to be a thing of the past these days and the reason for this is the technologial revoluttion that is from another world.
If you are reading this article while being in your mid to late 30’s, chances are you would have owned a Sega Megadrive or Super Nintendo when you were young – a piece of video gaming in history that looked like it was from another world.
Happier People: Digital Versus Analogue
Fast forward to the modern day and both teenagers and young adults look like they are immersed in the exact same world that we live in by virtue of plugging in their PS5’s and playing another online game of EAFC24.
However, it is the realistic duplication of digital football which is stopping many from going out and kicking a ball in anger. Why get yourself muddy, when you can just tap a couple of buttons and talk to your friends through your headset?
The reason why is because it is good for not only your physical but your mental health. It may not even need to be kicking a football as such but even just getting some form of fresh air or exercise can be beneficial to you and the wider community as a whole.
Because if a community is happy and healthy, it will then strive to foster strong relationships with each other and these relationships can help the same community improve and reach the targets they set for themselves.
Targets such as a fundraiser where the whole community is on board and a regeneration project that gets the buy in from a huge cross section of people in the local area, are just two examples of a positive activity.
Positive activity that comes only from having a happy body and a healthy mind and if you are somebody who does not possess this, it can quickly have a negative effect on both how you feel and how you act.
Admittedly this time of year is not the best time to be going out and having a kickabout with your friends but as always, getting out and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone is something that offers so many rewards. Sometimes, all you need is a nudge to get started and that nudge can come from asking where can I play football near me?
Not only is it the health benefits that come with being active but it also the social aspect that comes with it. Confidence in mind and body is confidence that shines through to everyone else and therefore, a stranger can soon become a new friend.
A stranger that has been living in the same community for quite a while now, but you have never given yourself the chance or opportunity to say hello. Little did you know that you are both massive football fans.
Where To Play Football
Soon you might be ditching the control pad and buying a new pair of football boots, as you are involved in a weekly 5-a-side. Nothing too important in terms of results at the end of 60 minutes, the win is finding the desire to make even more friends.
Not only is a happier community good in the sense that everyone wants to look for each other but because everyone is in far better health, it puts a much lesser strain on the medical facilities in the local area.
We all know how difficult it can be to get an appointment at the local GP surgery and sometimes the fatigue or ailment that you may be suffering form is due to a lack of activity or eating of too many of the wrong foods.
Add a mental health timebomb that is always threatening to explode and you wonder how the NHS can cope with the constant demands that it has placed upon its shoulders – the answer is that sometimes is struggles as much as the people it is trying to care for.
A Local Football Community
Therefore, a local community almost has a duty not just to itself but to also the others within it, to look be as happy and as healthy as it can and sometimes, just getting yourself on the 3G pitch is all that is required.