Rock climbing has a reputation as a 'life sport' and our statistics agree.
Across Australia there are more than 200,000 rock climbers (Ausplay 2022 latest) of which more than 90% are adults. The age brackets of participation are quite even right up to the age of 65. By contrast, most 'traditional / main-stream' sports peak in the mid teens and are doing well to maintain adult participation numbers. Hockey for instance peaks at 15 yrs of age.
Adults set the culture and lead by example in the T4L not from the sideline but at the coal face, shoes on, hands-on covered in chalk and sweat. And don't for a moment be deceived by the odd grey hair (or no hair). The capacity of these 'more seasoned' characters both men and women is much higher than most would know or even consider possible. And there's plenty of them.
The T4L has a lot of traction in the youth categories but it's the Opens category that carries the maturity and sets the cultural tone in all three clubs. Our statistics are a stark contrast to the Australian figures where the T4L is dominated by youth. Not to say the opens doesn't have it's own presence with over 80 players in the current Opens competition. It's just that there's more youth and numbers continue to grow.
Our eldest 'active' participant (and Honey Badger) is 72 years of age and is a valued member of the community. A car sticker has been proposed - ' Be like Pete'. Damb nice bloke too.
Then there's a certain regular face of which will remain nameless who is over 60 and inspires by his actions, is always positive and shows what's possible. Another nameless certain champion has withdrawn himself from the competition space not because of capacity (of which there's plenty) it's just that he can't seem to regulate his need to push hard.
There's a healthy cross-section of ages and capacity and that's important. Some push hard, others go gentle and both are absolutely ok. There's more to sport than the medals.
"It takes a village to raise a child" timeless African proverb lies very much at the heart of our philosophy.
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