Clubs expecting a boost in participation following Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games will be a showcase for sporting prowess and talent from across the Commonwealth.
The 11 days of action will see the top sportsmen and women from the 72 countries and territories of the Commonwealth such as Australia, Canada, England, Fiji, India, New Zealand, Saint Helena and Tuvalu compete in 20 different sports and para-sports.
These range from the grace of artistic gymnastics to the power and strength of weightlifting to the endurance tests of triathlon and road cycling to the brute strength and technique of wrestling and judo and the popular core sports of athletics and swimming.
With tickets available for events and all sports being streamed on the BBC website and I-Player, the Games will provide plenty of opportunities for people to settle down and watch the best in action across the Games.
The Games also carries aims to bring people together and improve health and wellbeing, and one product of this will be a willingness for people watching the sports to want to give them a try.
The 2012 Olympics in London helped to contribute to a record boost in the number of people playing sport, with Sport England figures showing that the number of adults playing sport at least once a week had increased by 750,000.
Birmingham 2022 will hope to follow in the footsteps of the Olympics and increase participation in sport across the region through inspiring people to take up new sports.
Boxing will be a featured sport at the Games, with the action taking place at the NEC and 16 gold medals being up for grabs across men's and women's competitions.
Among the clubs which could see an increase in membership is Priory Park Boxing Club in Dudley, a club which has built a reputation for training successful male and female fighters.
Club chairman Paul Gough said a lot of people had watched boxing before, but whatever their view was about the sport, it changed for them when they entered the gym and saw what the club offered.
He said: "What we do is use boxing as a tool to engage kids and get them to think differently and realise that even though it's an individual sport, you are still working as a team and becoming part of what we see as a family.
"What we've found over the years is that it's been really rewarding to help get kids fit and healthy and being involved in our club has helped a lot with people's mental health, especially ones who have dealt with ADHD and autism, as well as a range of other issues.
"We run a special school pupil referral unit and one of the most important parts of the curriculum is sport and getting youngsters involved in health and fitness."
Mr Gough said that the Olympics had seen the levels of women boxing take off dramatically, with a lot of young girls inspired by the likes of Nicola Adams, and said he hope the Commonwealth Games would open up the sport to all young people.
He said: "Our doors will always be open to people wanting to try the sport for the first time, even those who think they can't, such as a lad who has autism and couldn't even talk, but who we go up and shouting directions.
"We have another lad who is the only boxer in the world with cystic fibrosis and we tend not to categorise adults and kids and run all-inclusive boot camps.
"It all comes down to being able to come here and work hard and we don't turn anyone away and we try to work around things, so we're very ready to welcome people to the club after the Games."
Another sport that could see a rise in participation is wrestling, which will feature two days of competition at the Coventry Arena and 12 gold medals awarded from six competitions each for men and women.
A sport that requires great discipline and skill has a base in the region at Wolverhampton Wrestling Club, based at the Guru Nanak Satsang Gurdwara in Wolverhampton.
The club, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary year, has produced mixed-martial arts world champions and national wrestling champions and head coach Ranjit Singh said the club had been working closely with the Commonwealth Games to increase awareness of the sport.
He said: "We've done lots of roadshows with the Commonwealth Games association to show kids what it's all about and there has been a lot of interest as it's a fun sport and natural for children.
"The sport itself is very demanding and is a tough one, but it's really important to build a child from a grassroots level and, for children, it's a brilliant sport to take up for balance, coordination and lots of different skills."
Mr Singh said the club was starting a performance pathway for youngsters to take up training and work towards qualification for future Commonwealth Games and the Olympic Games and said a number of his younger trainees were already on the right pathway.
He said that the Games would be a massive boost for the sport due to people seeing the athletes in action and said the work the club was doing was getting the interest.
He said: "We've been putting on lots of roadshows and getting a lot of interest and I think the Commonwealth Games will really help with this by giving the sport a lot of exposure from watching on TV or going to the event."
People looking for a place to take up one of the Commonwealth Games sports can do so by looking here:
Aquatics
Bilston Swimming Club
Darlaston Swimming Club
Dudley Water Sports
Gig Mill Swim School
Oldbury Swimming and Triathlon Club
Stourbridge Swimming Club
Walsall Synchronised Swimming Club
Warley WASPS Swimming Club
Athletics
Dudley Kingswinford (DK) Running Club
Tipton Harriers
Warley WASPS Triathlon & Running Club
Wolverhampton and Bilston
Badminton
Leasowes Badminton Club
Tiki Badminton Village
3x3 basketball
Slam! Basketball
Walsall 99ers Basketball Club
West Brom Basketball Club
Beach volleyball
Black Country Volleyball Club
Stourbridge Volleyball Club
Walsall Warriors Volleyball Club
Wombourne Volleyball Club
Boxing
Lions Boxing Club, Brierley Hill
Priory Park Boxing Club
William Perry Amateur Boxing Club
Windmill Amateur Boxing Club
Wodensborough Amateur Boxing Club
Wolverhampton Boxing Club
T20 Cricket
Bloxwich Cricket Club
Bronze Cricket Club
Himley Cricket Club
Lye Cricket Club
Springhill Cricket Club
Old Wulfrunians Tettenhall Cricket Club
Wolverhampton Cricket Club
Wednesbury Cricket Club
Cycling
Halesowen Cycling Club
Wolverhampton Racing Cycling Club
Gymnastics
Dudley Gymnastics Club
Walsall Gymnastics Club
Wolverhampton Gymnastics Club
Hockey
Aldridge and Walsall Hockey Club
Bloxwich Hockey Club
Finchfield Hockey Club
Wolverhampton and Tettenhall Hockey Club
Wednesbury Hockey Club
West Bromwich Hockey Club
Judo
Dudley Judo Club
Tekio Gemu Judo club
Wolverhampton Judo Club
Lawn bowls
Black Country Bowls Club
Hawkins Sports and Social Club
Penn Bowls Club
Woodfield Social and Sports Club
Netball
Bramford Park Netball Club
Dudley Netball League
Grasshoppers Netball Club
Kodiak Stars Netball Club
Midrange Netball Club
Re-Union Netball
Stourbridge Jets Netball Club
West Bromwich Netball Club
Rugby sevens
Bloxwich Rugby Club
Dudley Kingswinford Rugby Club
Old Halesonians RFC
Stourbridge Rugby Football Club
Stourport Rugby Club
Walsall Rugby Club
Warley RFC
Wednesbury RUFC
Squash
Staffordshire Squash Rackets Association
Wolverhampton Lawn Tennis & Squash Club
Table tennis
Cheslyn Hay Table Tennis Club
Dudley Table Tennis Club
Woodfield Table Tennis Club
Triathlon
Oldbury Swimming and Triathlon Club
Warley WASPS Triathlon & Running Club
Weightlifting and Para powerlifting
Oldbury Academy Olympic Weightlifting Club
Wrestling
Jet Singh Trust MMA Centre
Wolverhampton Wrestling Club