Islington: Social club reviving the fun of real-life sport in a world of FIFA players

A new social club aims to remind Londoners of the fun and community to be found in sport.

Hollow Rocks Sports & Social Club has opened in Essex Road, Islington, providing members with the chance to rediscover the lost joys of games without the primary focus being on competition or fitness.

The business is the brainchild of Louise Dawson, 45, who grew up in Islington, and north Londoner Anthony Klein, 47. Both previously worked in marketing and the creative industries around sport.

The mission is to give people the opportunity to play, whatever their skill or experience levels.

Anthony said: "When you were a kid and you played sports, you played all sports. It was a real joy and there was a love of sports. Somehow as we get older that gets a little bit lost.”

Hollow Rocks uses its Essex Road gym space but also courts and facilities in surrounding areas of Islington. It provides football, basketball, gymnastics, athletics and boxing sessions. Netball will be introduced soon and other sports will be included seasonally.

"We've worked really hard with our coaches to develop programmes which are - we like to think - clever under the hood but on the surface it's enjoyable and it doesn't feel overly competitive,” said Anthony.

“Everyone's welcome - that's truly something that we're trying to achieve. We will have a pretty full kids' offering as well, that replicates' the adults. We've also got specific classes for over-60s."

One aspect of the classes is Skills and Drills in which people learn the basics onsite, before a session where those are expanded on out on the courts and then in games.

Sports Club is an hour-long session made up of three different sports, such as football, tennis and basketball. The sessions include drills and then a fun mash-up at the end.

"We had a football class the other day and there were three people who came in and said: 'Well, we play Playstation, FIFA, all the time but we never actually play football.'

"They were squealing with delight," said Anthony.

Membership is free, including the walking and running sessions with coaches and planned routes. Members can then buy packs of sessions and Hollow Rocks has an introductory offer of three free classes.

"We want to have as low a barrier to entry as we can feasibly do with a high street place. We want to feel part of the community,” said Anthony. “That's baked into what we're doing."

Conversations are beginning with local community groups, which might be able to use the Hollow Rocks space in down times.

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Anthony said the hope is that the club, which has a cafe with a pizza oven, will become somewhere people can socialise.

"I'm hoping in the summer it is filled with people outside and inside eating and enjoying themselves, and then the gym sport is going on and at the same time there's basketball session - but it's all part of the same family," he said.

Hollow Rocks is at 29-31 Essex Road, Islington. Find out more about classes and sessions via its website.