Thoughts on the 2016 Summer Olympics

This is been written on what has been a very wet and windy weekend here in the English Midlands where it hasn't been really fit enough to go out so I've been studying, doing some reading, colouring and watching the tv a bit.
One thing that I have been watching is the coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympics from Brazil, following the athletes in their attempts to win their own and their team medals  in their various stages from cycling to boxing.
Seasoned readers of this blog know one sport I do love is Hockey so it was a pleasure to watch the Women's field hockey competition that saw the British defeat New Zealand and then the Netherlands to take the gold medal in an exciting closely matched performance settled by a penalty shout out.

 In fact the British Olympic team have come second only to the United States in the standings with 27 gold medals included in its 67, beating their record from the 2012 games held in London, here in the UK which is a momentous achievement they can be proud of.
From a personal angle there are some life lessons you can draw from what was achieved, the importance of focus, being centred on what matters to achieve your aims, the preparedness to practise the skills you need to do it and personal self-discipline.
It also was interesting that a a number of teams had both a black out from social media use around an event and also curfews so people got the rest they needed and no distractions from what they needed to do.
Perhaps as a country the UK can believe in itself rather more than  has in the past having the ability to hold its own in the world for what it has to offer and its talented citizens.

Can we share the same baton?

Between a number of things like having a cold and encountering a number of interesting websites this week, I was reminded of something which has many implications some of which were relevant to us.

That's right a picture of the game I loved playing at school but it's a sobering thought that sport in many schools has a gender divide going on and not enough people are questioning it.
For instance while in the earlier years girls and boys may play the same sports and if really being radically have mixed teams (just fancy the concept of girls and boys actually co-operating!), as we work our way through the tweens, something starts to happen.
Sports start forming along  rigid gender lines in Britain with boys having to play soccer and girls hockey or netball as if having a few anatomical differences is sufficient to what may interest you or where your sporting abilities might lie.
This is a problem if your abilities do indeed lie in sports not judged to be acceptable to be played by people of your own gender, for instance a boy who is really good playing field hockey may struggle to find a team to play for.
It used to be difficult for girls to play soccer in school although The Football Associations in the UK have been working on that for a while now.
It's also a problem if like me you're transsexual, pretty much out on a limb wanting to spend time with those who gender you do identify with in class, sharing the same interests and yet there's little reason why it should be this way. 
Fortunately my last school was a bit flexible in that regard but many are not. 
It's really  time for a change don't you think?