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table of contents
Recreation
         Departments
Sports and
         Recreation
    Badminton
 tocspace.gif (49 bytes)Baseball and Youth
              Leagues
 tocspace.gif (49 bytes)Basketball
 tocspace.gif (49 bytes)Bicycling
 tocspace.gif (49 bytes)Bowling
 tocspace.gif (49 bytes)Boxing
     Disc Golf
     Fitness Centers
 tocspace.gif (49 bytes)Flying
 tocspace.gif (49 bytes)Football
 tocspace.gif (49 bytes)Horseback Riding
 tocspace.gif (49 bytes)Hunting
 tocspace.gif (49 bytes)In-line and Roller    
             Skating
 tocspace.gif (49 bytes)Kite Flying
 tocspace.gif (49 bytes)Lacrosse
 tocspace.gif (49 bytes)Marksmanship and
              Riflery
    Martial Arts
 tocspace.gif (49 bytes)Racquetball
 tocspace.gif (49 bytes)Rugby
 tocspace.gif (49 bytes)Running and Walking
 tocspace.gif (49 bytes)Skateboarding
 tocspace.gif (49 bytes)Soccer
 tocspace.gif (49 bytes)Softball
      Squash
 tocspace.gif (49 bytes)Tennis
 tocspace.gif (49 bytes)Triathlons
 tocspace.gif (49 bytes)Ultimate
tocspace.gif (49 bytes)Volleyball
 tocspace.gif (49 bytes)Wrestling
    Yoga, Pilates and
          Tai Chi

Parks
tocspace.gif (49 bytes)New Hanover County
     Wilmington    
     Wrightsville Beach  
 tocspace.gif (49 bytes)Carolina Beach and
           Kure Beach
 tocspace.gif (49 bytes)Brunswick County		 shorter_spacer.gif (52 bytes)

Sports, Fitness & Parks

Sports are very big on the southern coast. Whether you want to participate or just be a spectator, you'll find almost everything you want right here. In this chapter, we've included information about most of the area's sports and recreational activities. Look for Golf, Fishing and Watersports in separate chapters. A section on fitness centers and descriptions of area parks with their facilities follows the sports listings in this chapter. Related businesses and services are described along the way.

University athletics and professional team sports are popular, as are auto racing (especially NASCAR) and other motor sports. Because we mention only a few local teams in this chapter, you may want to explore what's available in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area and the cities of Charlotte and Fayetteville. The area's major phone books provide a surprising amount of useful information, such as how to obtain tickets, driving directions and stadium/arena seating plans.

Look in Wilmington's daily paper, the Star-News "Sports" and "Today" pages plus weekly "Currents" and "Neighbors" sections to find announcements about sports clubs and events throughout the region. Increasingly, groups and organizations are publishing information about their activities on the Internet, so check for a website if you're unable to find what you need in this section. New Hanover County has an excellent online listing of local participation sports activities, clubs and programs which will give you a good starting place www.nhcgov.com/PRK/PRKprograms.asp. Be sure to check the "Summer Camps" section in our Kidstuff chapter for summer sports camps.

Parents should note that registration fees for youth league sports are often discounted when registering more than one child in the same league. Frequently, seniors get discounts, too. Be sure to inquire.