JanineUnsung Sports 2023 by Peter Spafford
Unsung Sports is an arts project celebrating less well-known sports in Leeds and the people who play, organise and support them. Did you know that Leeds has won more international medals in Aikido than any other single city in the world? What’s Aikido? Look it up, it’s amazing!
Over the last six months, as Lead Artist on the project, I’ve spent time with Leeds Petanque Club, Ichiban Dojo, and South Leeds Valkyries women’s basketball team. Petanque is a French game but there’s a flourishing Yorkshire League. And the Valkyries in South Leeds won a Leeds Sports Award in 2022.
In Phase 1 of Unsung Sports, we worked with table tennis, roller skating and Gaelic Football, making three short films, several podcasts for Chapel FM, and a gallery of over one hundred photo-portraits of players. We also wrote a set of brand new songs. Well, football has loads of songs, why not table tennis or basketball?!
Phase of Unsung Sports 2023, which is part of Leeds 2023, all comes together on two nights this month: Oct 25th at Leeds Irish Centre, and Oct 26th at Leeds City Museum. It’s free, but you need to book a place and they are going fast.
Support independent community journalism!
East Side Story covers the people, places and stories in Leeds that are too often overlooked. While national headlines chase conflict and clickbait, we focus on real communities and the issues shaping daily life in East Leeds.
Divisive content, AI noise and online rumours spread faster than ever. At the same time, many mainstream outlets are stretched and rarely spotlight the community organisations and local champions who deserve recognition.
East Side Story was created to change that. We answer only to our readers. We have no corporate owners or billionaire funders. Our journalists report freely, ask difficult questions and hold power to account.
Your support helps us keep this work going. Monthly contributions make the biggest impact because they allow us to invest in deeper reporting and fearless local journalism.
Supporters also receive exclusive updates, behind the scenes insights and other benefits as a thank you for keeping independent journalism alive.
