Strange sports in the Townships: slacklining

Although people are active in different ways all year long, summer and sports have a tendency to go together. The world of summer sports, though, is a lot bigger than the local soccer and softball leagues. In an effort to show off the diversity of ways that people stay fit and test the limits of physical endurance in and around the Townships, The Record is preparing a series looking at some of the stranger or more unusual sports that are practiced by people in the area starting, today, with slacklining. Slacklines are more and more common sightings, particularly in urban parks or people’s yards: a long, often colourful strap, an inch or two wide, pulled taut and anchored between two trees roughly a foot off the ground. “Slacklining is a practice of balance,” explained slackline enthusiast Dany Bouchard, adding that although people’s first impression is often to compare slacklining to tight-rope walking, the two are actually very different disciplines. See full story in the Wednesday, May 29 edition of The Record.