S
witch Sport was born out of an idea Danny Hibbert had while watching the 2012 Olympics. “I thought to myself, why isn’t there a sport anyone and everyone could play?” he explains to LK.
A sports facilitator and football coach in west London, Danny devised the rules of Switch – a hybrid of football, basketball, volleyball, netball and handball – after a dream. “I woke up having thought up the rules in my sleep.”
He wrote down the concept of what would become Switch and set about introducing it to local children taking part in sports programmes he was facilitating.
“I got them to play it as a warm-up before playing football – but pretty soon they were asking to play Switch instead of football. That’s when I knew I had something special!”
Fast forward almost 10 years since the seeds of Switch were sown and Danny estimates between 10-12,000 people of all ages and abilities have played the game – pretty impressive.
I thought to myself, why isn’t there a sport anyone and everyone could play?
Games can be three-a-side, up to seven-a-side, played on football pitches or any area where the pitch can be split into three sections, with a goal at each end. Players can only use their feet to kick the ball in the middle section and use their hands in the goal ends.
Having established the game on the PowerLeague football pitches beside the White City estate, Danny has taken the game all around London, to other parts of the UK – and now other parts of the world, too.
“In 2016, we were invited by Team Jamaica to demonstrate Switch in Jamaica. We got great media coverage, and were invited back for a second visit to teach Switch at a summer camp with Usain Bolt’s coach, Glen Mills. We know from the footage on social media that Switch has evolved in Jamaica and is also taking off in South America.
“It’s growing in popularity all the time and there’s no reason why – one day – we won’t see it as part of the Olympic or Commonwealth Games. That will be my other dream come true!” Keep on dreaming, Danny.
To learn the rules and to start playing Switch, head to switchsports.co.uk
