EVEN MORE WAYS TO BE A SURGELYMPIAN
ATHLETICS - Athletics better known as Track and Field is one of the original Olympic Sports and basically embodies the Olympic Motto "Citius, Altius, Fortius," which means faster, higher, stronger. The athletics competition includes all types of events, which include the 100-meter dash, discus, and high jump. If these are the type of sports that you enjoy, well there are several places you can experience them around the beach. If you like to compete versus others you can check out www.SCRunners.com which is a website that lists Track and Field events along the Grand Strand area and also the entire state of South Carolina. If you are the marathon type, the Myrtle Beach Marathon takes place every February to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of South Carolina and the Horry County Chapter of the American Red Cross. Registration for the event began on Aug. 14. The Myrtle Beach Marathon is a full day event and there will be a post-race party at the House of Blues. For info and to sign up you can visit www.mbmarathon.com. If you are a homebody and none of this works for you then you can always go to any local Wal-Mart or Gamestop and buy yourself a Nintendo Wii along with the game "World Sports Competition,'' which includes 18 Olympic-style track and field events that you can play right in your living room but I can't guarantee that this money spent will stay in the U.S.
CYCLING/BMX/MOUNTAIN/ROAD/TRACK - Being around the beach it seems that there would be a BMX park in the area and there used to be but currently there is not. Don't fret though - did the kids from Dogtown have to have skate parks to excel at skateboarding? No, so you don't have to have a preppy park to get down BMX style along the Grand Strand. There are two very good bike shops in the area that offer BMX specialty bikes. One is Mr. C's Cycles in Surfside Beach and the other is Beach Bike Shop in Myrtle Beach. Mr. C's is located at 720-A U.S. 17 N. in Surfside Beach. Mr. C's offers sales and service in BMX bikes and equipment. For more information, call 238-3222. If you don't find what you need at Mr. C's you can check out the Beach Bike Shop, one of the larger dealers of BMX equipment on the Grand Strand. Beach Bike Shop offers several different types of top notch BMX bikes along with all the equipment you will need and if you just want to ride for a day they even have bikes you can rent. They also have repair with free estimates on all equipment if needed. Beach Bike Shop is located at 711 Broadway Street in Myrtle Beach. For more information you can call 448-5335 or visit on the web at www.beachbikeshop.com. You can even email the owner if you want, how cool is that? Mr. C's and Beach Bike Shop also offer mountain bikes and speed bikes, which you can ride all around the beach and there are also some available bike trails in the area such as the one that goes along S.C. 31 and Grissom Parkway.
EQUESTRIAN - Whether you enjoy equestrian events or just riding the trails, there are several places that offer horseback riding in the Myrtle Beach area. Inlet Point Plantation Stable in North Myrtle Beach offers beach rides, trail rides, pony rides, and also winter campouts along the Intracoastal Waterway with private access to the beach. Whatever type of horseback ride you are looking for, Inlet Point Plantation has it. The Inlet Point Plantation Stables are located at 5800 Highway 236 in North Myrtle Beach. For more info you can call 249-2989 or logon to www.inletpointplantation.com. Another place to find horseback riding in the Myrtle Beach area is the Circle A Plantation Riding Academy in Conway, which offers several different riding options. Circle A Plantation Riding Academy is located at 5699 Privetts Road in Conway. For more details, call 365-6880 or visit online at www.myrtlebeachhorsebackriding.com. If you aren't a rider and you just want to see some horses in action - and having a craving for rotisserie chicken - Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede can fulfill those desires. The Dixie Stampede in Myrtle Beach is located at 8901-B U.S. 17 Bypass, Myrtle Beach. For more details, show times, and tickets you can call 1-800-433-4401 or logon to www.dixiestampede.com/myrtlebeach
FOOTBALL (AKA SOCCER) - They might call this football in other countries but what does that matter, this is the U.S. and we call it soccer. Soccer a.k.a. football is a sport that Americans have struggled to compete in on a world stage so even though we have half the passion of other countries when it comes to this sport, it looks like it's time to practice. If you are looking to play soccer no matter what age, there are plenty of places to play around the Grand Strand. There are leagues that start up year round and there are several places to get involved. Check out these websites for all the information you need on soccer in the Grand Strand. First you can take a look at www.grandstrandsoccer.com, which is a more local source for info on leagues and places to play in the area. Also check out www.usclubsoccer.com, which has tons of info on soccer and how you can get involved, including local and regional tournaments. If you need any equipment to get started, you can stop by The Soccer Locker in Myrtle Beach. The Soccer Locker has everything you need in the world of soccer. The Soccer Locker is located at 4719 South Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach. For more details you can call 1-866-512-4266 or visit www.sockerlockermb.com.
GYMNASTICS/TRAMPOLINE - Growing up in the Carolinas as a kid, the closest thing that you had to gymnastics was at the local park with the swings, monkey bars, and jumping over the fence instead of walking through the gate to get in. And we are not that old, but things sure have changed through the years. There are now great locations for gymnastics all over the Myrtle Beach area. Three such places to perform gymnastics in the area are Gymnastics Inc. in Myrtle Beach, Terry and Don's Gymnastics Center in Myrtle Beach and Gymnastics and More in Little River. All three locations offer top notch gymnast facilities and all the equipment and training that you could ask for. Whether you are just looking for fun or to compete at a high level you can find what you need here in the Grand Strand. Gymnastics and More in North Myrtle Beach also has gymnastic programs available for adults 18 and older, which is great seeing all that we missed out on as kids. Gymnastics Inc. is located at 579 Burcale Road, Myrtle Beach and for more information you can call 236-9021 or visit them online at www.gymnasticsincmyrtlebeach.com. Terry and Don's Gymnastics Center is located in at 280 Hidden Woods Drive, Myrtle Beach and for more information you can call 650-6731 or visit online at www.terryanddonsgymnastics.com. Gymnastics and More is located at The Sports Zone Center at 304 S.C. 90 East, Unit B, Little River. For more information on Gymnastics and More you can call 249-JUMP or logon to www.gymsandmoresc.com.
HANDBALL - Handball in the Olympics is not at all like the handball that most Americans are used to. The objective of the Olympic game of handball is to throw a ball into the opponent's goal. So virtually it's soccer using your hands instead of your feet or better yet water polo without the water. Thus you can play Olympic handball virtually on any soccer field in the area. Most recreation centers and parks in the area have facilities that include soccer fields. To find out the nearest recreation center where you can play some handball, visit www.myrtlebeachinfo.com. If this doesn't sound like you and you would rather play the traditional American handball all you need is a ball, a friend, and a brick wall. Wait, somebody call the IOC, I think we have a new Olympic Sport on hand...American Handball.
HOCKEY - "Do you believe in miracles?" Yes? We do too but hockey in the Summer Olympics is not a Miracle on Ice, it's actually the oldest hand-and-ball game known to man and has been played at least since 2000 B.C. and needless to say there were no manmade ice rinks in those days. Summer Olympic hockey is like ice hockey, but it's played on grass with a ball, no skates, and no ice and is actually more like inline hockey without the skates. Summer hockey, better known as field hockey, can be played on multiple surfaces including gravel, natural grass, sand-based or water-based artificial turf. To play field hockey all you need is a court, hockey sticks, and a small, hard ball - plus it always helps to have some friends to play with. Field hockey can be played anywhere around the Grand Strand that you can get the space, including parking lots, soccer fields, or your back yard. You could even play it on the beach, but mainly in the winter when there aren't as many people on the beach. If you grew up in the South, this was probably the closest thing to hockey you ever played until rollerblades came along. Field hockey is also one of the more popular intramural sports played at colleges and universities across the U.S. It's good to know that all the money we've wasted on college went to something even if it was funding intramural sports for kids with rich parents.
JUDO/TAEKWONDO - Judo and Taekwondo seem to get little pub in the Olympics but that doesn't mean that they are not hella cool sports. Judo and Taekwondo have many different styles and are found all over the world. Judo and Taekwondo are also used in many different forms or fighting such as kickboxing and today's latest fighting craze, Mixed Martial Arts. So you want to be the next John Anderson or Tiger Kim but you don't know where to go, well that's what we are here for. There are several different places in the Grand Strand for martial arts training including Judo and Taekwondo. Master Kazu's Karate School offers training in Judo and Karate and is located at 4125 Dick Pond Rd in Myrtle Beach. For more information you can call 650-5608. One of the top Taekwondo studios in the Myrtle Beach area is the U.S. Taekwondo Center, which offers martial arts training, including Taekwondo. The U.S. Taekwondo Center is located at 3701 Renee Drive in Myrtle Beach and for more details you can call 236-7005.
- Compiled by J.B. Horne, for Weekly Surge