Ursuline School, Wimbledon

Getting to the end of the year now and staying indoors with a sport I played a fair bit in secondary school, and in my opinion the best of the big four North American sports. Our PE teacher was a basketball fan so we played in leagues from year 7-9 but I hadn’t really played since then, so with a 15 year gap between competitive games, I tentatively signed up for a session with Playfit, a group that organises basketball and volleyball games in London and you can sign up on a weekly basis. Go Mammoth are another company offering basketball games, where you can sign up for six-week league blocks.

Despite not playing for well over a decade, I didn’t disgrace myself, and apart from needing to be told where to stand when defending, I did OK and scored about 10 baskets in an hour period which wasn’t too bad for probably the most unfit person on the court. More than any other sport this year, I found basketball the most intense in terms of it being non-stop with no rest, which although would be different with subs, stands it apart from other team sports where you can take advantage of natural breaks in the game to catch your breath. With basketball there are barely any natural breaks, and with the addition of contact and jumping for rebounds etc, it is a brilliant way to keep fit as well as having that competitive element and room for flair – favourtie sport of the year so far!