In Praise of the Unheated Sports Hall: Real Sport Has Always Been Played in a Cagoule
Our columnist on why Bell's new look is a return to the values of the 1980s school PE lesson.
Sport, Scottish style: sleeves down, chin up. Photo: Mtaylor848, “Sports hall, Wetherby High School (17th February 2019) 002”, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
When I heard Bell’s Sports Centre was to return as an “unheated covered space”, I felt something I had not felt since 1983: the cold sting of a netball against a frozen palm. And I loved it.
Real sport in Scotland has never been warm. It has been wet, windy and supervised by a teacher in a sheepskin coat. We did not “warm up”. We simply stayed at the temperature we were, which was blue.
The young people of Perth deserve the same character-building experience. Let them learn that a dropped shuttlecock may freeze to the floor. Let them discover that the long jump is longer when you are trying to get away from the wind.
My generation played hockey under the open sky, in sleet, with a goalkeeper who was mainly a cardigan. A roof is a luxury. I rest my case, and my knees.
The real story: Bell's Sports Centre plans (The Courier)
Letters to the Editor
The views expressed are those of the reader, and frankly that's on them.
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Totally agree. If you can’t see your breath, it’s not real badminton.
— Stevie R., North Muirton, 29 October 2026 -
Disagree. I’ve had enough real sport. I’d like a radiator please.
— Carol P., Viewlands, 29 October 2026
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