The long-anticipated 2024 Paris Olympics are underway. With this brings excitement, admiration, respect, envy and may even have you wondering “Can I do that?” or “Where can I do that?”. Well – look no further because we’ve compiled a list of places that you can visit to live out your Olympic dreams in Chesterfield, VA! Please note this is not an exhaustive list of places. If we compiled it all, this blog would be far too long. 😉
Archery:
Nock nock. Who’s there? The archery range at Rockwood Park! This public range is behind Shelter 4 and is first-come, first-serve. All archers must bring their own equipment (or rig). Not sure where to start? Rockwood Nature Center is home to an instructional archery range and national award-winning archery development program. No sandbaggers here.
Basketball:
It’ll be a slam dunkin’ good time when you attend a basketball open gym at Beulah Recreation Center.Offerings include Ladies’ Night, 50+ Basketball, Adult (18-49), and Youth.Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned athlete, there’s no reason you can’t shoot for the stars!
Volleyball:
You can bump, set, spike your way over to one of many volleyball courts located throughout the county. Parks like Huguenot Park, Harry G. Daniel Park, Robious Landing Park, R. Garland Dodd Park at Point of Rocks, and Rockwood Park all offer either sand volleyball courts, or standard outdoor volleyball courts that are on a first-come, first-serve basis.
If you’re looking for indoor volleyball, Chesterfield Parks and Recreation offers a chair volleyball class designed with upper body mobility and flexibility in mind. You can also rent facilities like Beulah Recreation Center, or Stonebridge Recreation Center.
And if you have a player who wants to DIG into volleyball even further, be sure to check out Richmond Volleyball Club. This elite facility offers 8 indoor courts and 55,000 square feet of space and with adult and junior leagues, open gyms, clinics, private lessons, and so much more, you are sure to score an ace!
Cycling Mountain Bike:
Ready to shred? You can at parks like Dutch Gap and Pocahontas State Park. With miles and miles and mountain biking trails, it’s easy to live out your Mountain Biking Olympic dream in Chesterfield! Dutch Gap offers a 4.5-mile loop that’s great for beginners. Nestled along the James River, catch glimpses of diverse birds and habitats along your ride.
Head to Pocahontas State Park if you want to spend all day on the trails. Pocahontas offers 90 miles of trails, making it a popular location amongst bicyclists. In fact, they hold multiple bike races throughout the year such as Guts, Gravel, Glory. Offering easy, intermediate, and difficult trail levels, Pocahontas is a great place for all!
Golf:
Chesterfield is home to some of the region’s best golf courses so even if you’re in the rough, a good time will be had by all! Courses like The Golf Club at the Highlands, Magnolia Green Golf Club, and Lake Chesdin Golf Club offer scenic views over rolling hills and lush landscape. You can find a list of public golf clubs by visiting our blog.
If you’d rather work on your golf swing indoors, Chesterfield has that too! X-Golf, located in the Westchester Commons shopping center is one of the region’s premier indoor golf and entertainment experiences. With six state-of-the-art simulators designed for all skill levels, you’ll experience unparalleled accuracy and realism from golf courses across the U.S., Japan, Australia, France and more!
Gymnastics:
Although there is no public facility to live out your dream of an Olympic gymnast, Chesterfield is home to multiple gymnastics studios that offer group classes, summer camps and birthday parties. Virginia International Gymnastics is the largest facility specifically built for gymnastics with 26,600 square feet of state-of-the-art gymnastics equipment. We tried some gymnastics moves ourselves – you can see them here! Did we win the gold?!
Sport Climbing:
Make a BOULD move and LEAD the way to Peak Experiences to try your hand at sport climbing! Peak Experiences is the only climbing facility in Chesterfield and is known as one of the largest indoor rock-climbing centers in the United States. Climbers of all ages and skill levels can be challenged by more than 125 top-rope routes, lead-climbing, and bouldering.
Swimming:
Did you know that Chesterfield is one of the region’s top sports destinations, bringing in millions of visitors each year? SwimRVA is a flagship facility that serves the region by bringing tournaments and meets to the county most weekends. Not only can you stop in and watch major swim meets (like Summer Fest, USA Swimming Futures, and Commonwealth Cup to name a few), but you can also sign up for lessons, water fitness classes, and more! Fun Fact: The pool from the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials, where twenty-one American records and nine World records were broken, now resides right here in Chesterfield at SwimRVA. So when you step into the facility, you’re stepping into true Olympic territory!
Table Tennis:
For those 50+, head over to Stonebridge Recreation Center for a game of table tennis. Sessions usually start in May, end in August, and occur three times per week. During certain times of the year, you can also play at Beulah Recreation Center. The table tennis program was started in 2018 by Scott Kasson, who brought home the victory in the 2022 U.S. National Championship State Qualification Tournament in the over 70s division, proving this Olympic sport is truly for all ages!
Trampoline:
If you aren’t familiar with this Olympic sport, let us explain. Trampoline gymnastics is a sport where athletes perform acrobatic moves while bouncing on a trampoline, combining elements of trampolining and gymnastics, requiring athleticism and coordination. To live out your Olympic dream of a trampoline gymnast, you can flip, jump, tumble, and soar at one of Chesterfield’s trampoline parks: Launch or Sky Zone. Please note that a waiver is required.
So, which Olympic sport will you attempt this year?! Don’t forget to tag us on Facebook and Instagram when you’re living out your Olympic dream!
Experience Chesterfield promotes and celebrates all the things to see, do and experience within Chesterfield County. The website is not paid to endorse individual businesses or events and any that you may see mentioned are just a sampling of the many wonderful places to visit in Chesterfield. If you operate a hospitality related business in Chesterfield, please be sure to reach out to our partners at Richmond Region Tourism to create a business listing for our website. You can also reach out to Virginia Tourism Corporation to create a business listing on their site for additional exposure.