Sport in different countries of the world
1. Sport in Great Britain
British people are very fond of sports. Sport is part of their normal life. The two most popular games are football and cricket.
Football is the most popular game. Football, or soccer, is an example of a professional game. The game of football was first played in Britain, and later people began to play football in other countries.
Football, also called soccer, is the most popular sport in the United Kingdom. England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own Football Leagues and national teams. There are two main prizes each season. Games are played on Saturday afternoons from August to April. The football league championship is won by the team that is top of the first division. In addition to the FL games there is a competition called the Football Association Cup. The Cup Final is played at Wembley Stadium (London) in May. Some of the best-known clubs in England are Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. But many clubs have problems with money at the moment. Some people say that the league is too big and that the players get paid too much. Others say that television is making the crowds stay at home.
Cricket is considered to be the English National game. Its rules are very complicated. It is played by two teams of eleven men each, the player at a time tries to hit the ball with a bat.
Rugby is another popular British sport which is played in other countries. It is also called rugby football. The story is told that in 1823 boys at Rugby school in England were playing football in the normal way, when suddenly one boy picked the ball up and ran with it. That was how a new game was born. There are two forms of rugby football: the amateur game and the professional game. The two games have different rules.
Golf is the Scottish national game. It originated in the 15-th century and the most famous golf course in the world, known as the Royal and Ancient Club, is at St. Andrew's.
Lawn tennis was first played in Britain in the late 19-th century. The most famous British championship is Wimbledon, played annually during the last week of June and the first week of July.
Those are the most popular kinds of sport in the UK. But there are many other sports such as swimming, golf, horse-racing and the traditional fox-hunting.
Sport has for along time been a very important part of a child's education in Britain, not just — as you may think to develop physical abilities, but also to provide a certain kind of moral education. Team games encourage such social qualities as enthusiasm, cooperation, loyalty and unselfishness.
2. Sport in the USA
Americans' interest in sports seems excessive to many foreign visitors. Television networks spend millions of dollars arranging to telecast sports events. Publications about sports sell widely. In the US professional athletes can become national heroes.
Nowhere else in the world are sports associated with colleges and universities in the way they are in the States. College sports, especially football, are conducted in an atmosphere of intense excitement and pageantry. Games between teams attract nationwide television audiences.
Americans are very fond of sport. The most popular sports in the USA are football, which is played from April to October, baseball, played from September to December, basketball, played from October to April and ice hockey, played in most northern cities from October to March.
American football derives from the English game of rugby. It started at Harvard University in the 1870's. It is a game for two teams of eleven men on the field. The object of the game is to have the control of the ball and to score points by carrying it across the goal-line.
Baseball is a team game derived from the English game of cricket. It is played with a bat and ball by two teams of nine players each, on a field with four bases. Baseball is the national game in the USA and it is very popular in Canada too.
Basketball is a game which nowadays is popular all over the world. It was invented in 1891. During the 20's the first US league championship was organized. In the 70's the American Championship was divided into two leagues: the ABA (American Basketball Association), which does not exist any longer and which played with a blue, red and white ball and the NBA (National Basketball Association).
The NBA is a professional league which still plays.
There are more activities which Americans take part id such as golf, swimming, tennis, aerobics, wrestling, etc.
Many Americans job every day, or play tennis or bridge two or three times a week. They go on ski trips and hunting expeditions that require weeks of planning and organizing. In the Americans' view, all these activities are worth the discomfort they may cause because they contribute to health and physical fitness. That is probably why Americans are known as a healthy nation.
3. Sport in Australia
A lot of Australians think you shouldn't worry too much about life.
But some things in life are really important, and to many Australian men, one of these things is sport. It's something they don't joke about. Sport matters. In pubs, clubs and even at work you'll often find men who can talk about only one thing – sport.
Australians are lucky. They have a perfect climate, and an endless amount of land. They have wonderful waves for surfers on their beaches. They also have a strong wish to win. Put these together and you get a lot of good sportsmen and women. In fact, Australia has a very high number of world champions, in all kinds of sports, for a country of only 16 million people.
Around the country you'll find plenty of opportunities for golf, squash, tennis, trail riding (horse or motorcycle), fishing and so on. Surfing is almost a religion for many Australians who follow the waves around the country and there are a number of important surfing contests.
You'll find football of assorted types including the unique Australian Rules Football. ............
