Hello, everyone!

I’m 26 years old from London and extremely fit, and I’m eager to transition into a professional athletic career. I have a passion for sports, literally all of them, and am open to exploring different options. I’m looking for guidance on any sports that have opportunities/ trouts for someone my age.

Could anyone share insights on how to get started, potential pathways to going pro, or specific sports that might be more welcoming to latecomers? Any advice or resources would be greatly appreciated!

Or do I need to contact every sports governing body directly? I’ll literally play any sport, baseball, dodgeball, hockey, tennis, just need an opportunity.

Thank you!

  • ZgBluesB
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    7 days ago

    Pro? Eh, probably not. Any sport that pays any kind of salary requires training to begin very early on, probably before puberty.

    Also, baseball and hockey are team sports, so it would be even more difficult to get into that. In team sports athletes start retiring soon after they hit 30.

    Maybe - and that’s a very big maybe - you might have a shot of making it to the Olympics in something that isn’t too taxing on the body, like archery or sports shooting. Maybe sports climbing or sailing?

    Or maybe something that requires an awful lot of dedication and training but not much in the way of specific skills, like I dunno triathlon, or race-walking?

    Thing is, any kind of training necessary for a “professional athletic career” at your age would require so much time and effort just to maintain your body and career that you would first have to become a pro before becoming an athlete.

    Meaning, if you started training today you would literally have to drop everything else you are doing with your life, and maybe after a couple of years of that you might have a very tiny chance of maybe achieving something in your sport.

    So you would have to be very rich to afford to pay for coaches, competitions, training, equipment and whatever else you need - without holding a job. For years.

    If you still want to try, the best way to get into it is to join a sports club. If you are in London I’m sure there are tons of clubs doing all kinds of sports - see what interests you, and get in touch with them.

    • DrivingMyLifeAway1B
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      6 days ago

      Thoughtful advice. Problem is op doesn’t have any actual interest in ANY sport and is ostensibly open to anything.

      This is one of the weirdest posts I have seen today. It would be a perfect fit for r/stupidquestions