A hands-on guide to a plethora of different sports was on offer to inquisitive youngsters as part of the inaugural Youth Sports Expo on Saturday.

About 25 national sports governing bodies set up booths at the National Sports Centre to provide youngsters and their parents with information and demonstrations, as well as an opportunity to get a feel for different games.

Organised by the Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation, the Island’s most popular sports such as football, cricket and athletics were among those showcasing what they can offer youngsters aged between 5 and 15.

Many minority sports also set up fun activities for the hundreds of visitors to get an interactive experience of games they may not have been familiar with.

Jamal Hart, the Department’s property development officer, said the expo provided the perfect platform for the lesser-known sports to capture the imagination of young Bermudians.

“Bermuda is a sporting mecca for amateur sports with 35 national sporting governing bodies,” Mr Hart said.

“One of the reasons we felt the need to have this event was to expose the kids and their parents to the different sports on the Island.

“We’re definitely looking for this to be a regular fixture and whether it takes place in September or in the summer will be determined after we have done our postmortem.

“I was expecting a larger turnout but it’s the first one and we’re definitely looking for it to grow.”

One of the most popular booths at the expo was the Bermuda Motorcycle Racing Club’s, possibly because of their eye-catching inflatable racetrack giving rookie riders a chance to handle their first motorcycle safely.

Cyril Whitter III, the BMRC president, said he was keen to dispel the negative connotations surrounding motorsports.

“It’s been awesome and we’re really happy that Youth and Sport decided to put it on,” he said. “There are so many different sports on the Island and people just don’t know what’s available.

“We’re teaching kids how to ride properly and to deal with any conditions. There’s a lot of negativity about the sport and people tend to associate it with speed and accidents.

“What we’re trying to promote is a controlled outlet for someone trying to learn to ride. If they do have a need for speed then they can take it off the streets and bring it down to Southside raceway where they can go as quick as they want.”

Another sport getting into the swing of things at the expo was baseball, with scores of youngsters practising their slugging skills in a batting cage and having the speed of their pitches measured with a radar gun.

“Baseball is probably not everyone’s first choice but we’re trying to market it and give kids on the Island another option,” Damian Resnik, the YOA Baseball Bermuda president, said.

“It all started when there was the American base at Kindley Field with the officers running the league.

“Participation has decreased over the last ten years because fewer Americans are here. However, we still average between 250 and 300 kids aged between 4 and 15 and we’re just trying to get more involved.”

The YOA have leagues for t-ball (4-5), rookie-minors (6-7), rookie-majors (8-9), Cal Ripken (10-12) and Babe Ruth (13-15).

The Bermuda Boxing Federation pulled no punches in their attempts to draw in future Floyd Mayweathers, with Controversy Gym coach Leo “the Lionheart” Richardson putting on sparring sessions with plucky aspiring pugilists.

Nathan Dill, who was elected as the new BBF president last month, said he already had plans to expand their booth for next year’s expo.

“It was a slow start and our booth is not as dynamic as other groups but next year will have a ring up and speed balls,” he said.

“We just came to have a presence and Leo has already got the gloves on a number of kids! They just love the action of it and we really feel like we’ve represented ourselves well.”