Dubrovin Anatoly and Rabusov Maxim
A short research paper on the topic "Popular sports in Great Britain and Scotland"
Download:
Preview:
- Introduction 2
2. Main part:
2.1. Basic facts 2
2.2. The role of sport in the UK 3-6
2.3. From the history of professional sports 7-10
2.4. Other interesting sports 11-14
2.5. Scottish national sports 14-16
- Final part
Conclusions 17
4. List of used literature 17
We have been studying the beautiful spoken language English for several years now.
We learn a lot of new and interesting things from the history and culture of this amazing country - Great Britain. But we are especially interested in sports. Many sports are said to have originated in Great Britain. And the rules of the games were invented by the British. In our work we would like to talk about the national sports of the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
Here are the basic facts:
- Many sports originated from England.
- Golf is Scotland's main contribution to British sport.
- Football is a working class sport like boxing, wrestling, snooker, arrow throwing, greyhound racing.
- Aerobics and yoga, squash and cycling are among the sports where participation has been increasing in recent years.
- There are several places in Britain associated with a particular sport.
- Wimbledon is a suburb in south London where all English lawn tennis championships have been held in July (since 1877).
- Wembley is a stadium in north London where international football matches and the Football Cup have been held since 1923.
- Football is a game played in almost all countries.
- A football game usually lasts one and a half hours.
- The football final takes place every May at the famous Wembley Stadium in London.
Today, a variety of sports are popular in the UK, involving a huge number of participants and spectators. Some sports appeal to a minority or only certain classes of society, while others appeal to the vast majority of Britons. The number of people participating in sports has increased in recent years, as have sports centers in both the private and public sectors. This has coincided with greater concern for health and exercise among the majority of Britons. Around a third of UK adults regularly exercise outdoors, and a quarter in gyms. Spending on sports, attending sports competitions and purchasing sports equipment takes up a significant part of the budget of British families.
The principle of British education has long been “A healthy mind in a healthy body”. All schools must take care of the physical fitness of students and provide them with a choice of several sports. Schools play football, rugby or hockey in the winter and cricket, tennis, swimming and athletics in the summer. Some schools may be better stocked with sports equipment than others and offer a greater variety of sports games and activities.
The most popular sports in Great Britain are: football, cricket, rugby, golf, athletics, badminton, squash, curling, etc.
Football
In England and Scotland, football is the national sport and it is the passion of many Britons. The level of teams in the Scottish Premier League is high, and the English Premier League is considered the best in the world. There are fans all over the world of famous English clubs such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea, and broadcasts of matches with these teams sometimes attract an audience of over a billion people.
Cricket
Cricket is the main summer sport in the UK. It is played by athletes of different skill levels - from small town teams to the England national team. The rules of the game of cricket appeared in the 18th century and the game is still very popular among young people. Cricket is played wherever there is green lawn in a village or city, from April to August. Cricket competitions between teams from Commonwealth countries are very popular. England play tournament games at home, one-day internationals, play the Twenty20 form of cricket (the game is named after each team's number of overs) each summer, and travel overseas for matches in the winter. The main event is, of course, the biennial Ashes Cup competition between the teams of England and Australia.
Rugby
The Rugby Union and the Rugby League parted ways in 1895 when some of the northern English league clubs decided to allow their players to become professional rugby players. There are certain differences between amateur and professional rugby, the most obvious of which is the number of players on teams. Rugby Union games are played in teams of 15 players, while Rugby League games are played in teams of 13. Rugby in the UK and the Northern Hemisphere is currently on the rise. British clubs perform successfully atHeineken Cup", also known as the European Cup. English ChampionshipGuinness Cup" and Celtic League matches are very popular - all tickets are sold out every week. The Six Nations Cup, held annually in January–February, is another peak of interest for the sports audience. But the biggest event is the World Cup, the games of which are held every four years. In 2007, the South African team became the Rugby World Champion.
Rugby League matches are mainly played in the north of England, but the Premier League also includes a team from Perpignan (France), as well as London team Harlequins. English, Scottish and Irish teams are expected to compete in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.
Golf
Great Britain is the birthplace of golf. There are hundreds of beautiful courses to play in, hosting world-class competitions. "Wentworth», « Belfrey" And " Carnausti" and the field in St Andrews- some of the best golf courses in the world.
The British Open, held annually in July, is the oldest and most famous of the four golf championships. Competitions are held on various fields throughout the UK.
The Association of Professional Golfers' European Tournament is held at different times of the year at different courses across the country. OnAssociation websiteThere is a competition schedule.
Athletics
The UK hosts many international athletics events each year, including the London Marathon and the annual "London Grand Prix».
Athletics will form a significant part of the London 2012 Olympic Games program.
Tennis, badminton, squash
Tennis, badminton and squash are very popular in the UK. Tennis is perhaps the most famous sport among them, because most of the summer season in the UK is occupied by tennis championships: Wimbledon and Stella Artois Championships, Queens Club tournaments. More details - atLawn Tennis Association website.
British badminton players have achieved great success in recent years. The biggest achievement was the silver medal won by Gail Emms and Nathan Robertson in the mixed doubles competition at the 2004 Olympic Games. The main badminton competition of the year is the open tournament.The Yonex All England Open" - held in March in Birmingham.
Squash is another extremely popular sport in the UK. Some of the world's best squash players include James Willstrop and Nick Matthew.
Curling
From the history of professional sports
Football
Each of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom has its own national football association, which governs football matters within its territory. ThisFA, founded in 1863,Scottish Football Association, founded in 1873,Football Association of Wales, founded in 1876 andIrish Football Association, founded in 1880. They are the four oldest football associations in the world and hold four of the eight seats on the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which determines the rules of the game (the remaining four seats on the board are held by FIFA). INEngland, Scotland, Wales And Northern IrelandThere are various football league systems. Wales did not have a national league until 1992 (previously there were only regional leagues), which is why some leading Welsh clubs compete in the English league system. The English football league system includes hundreds of different leagues and is made up of thousands of different divisions. The elite division isPremier League, followed by English Football League And Football Conference. Northern Ireland's football league system includesPremier League. One Northern Irish club, "Derry City", performs outside the UK, inIrish Championship. The Scottish football league system consists of two national leagues:Premier Leagueand the Football League, as well as several regional leagues. The Welsh football league system includesWelsh Premier Leagueand several regional leagues.
Cricket
Cricketwas invented in England and is very popular throughout the country and former colonies. Wales does not have its own national team and plays together with England, as do representatives of Scotland and Ireland, whose cricket teams have only recently begun to develop. Rugby league is popular in some areas of the UK. It originated in Huddersfield and is mainly played in Northern England. The British Lions team previously competed in the World Cup and Test matches, but since 2008 England, Scotland and Ireland have competed as separate nations. INrugby-15 prefabricated England, Scotland, Wales And Irelandthemselves are very strong. The Six Nations Cup, played between the above-mentioned teams, as well asItaly And Franceis considered an unofficial European Championship.
Tennis
Game of tennisappeared in the cityBirminghamsometime between 1859 and 1865.Wimbledon tournamentis an international tournament held inWimbledon on South Londonevery summer, and is considered one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world.
Rugby
It is believed that rugbyappeared in 1823, whenWilliam Webb Elliswhile playing one of the versionsfootball(it should be understood that in those days in each village and school the rules could differ significantly from each other, and today at least 7 types of rules for playing football are popular, and handball is prohibited only in association football) at school Rugby (there is also a more correct version of the transliteration Rugby from the point of view of the rules), took the ball in his hands and ran with it to the goal. However, for a long time there were no clearly established rules (as in “regular” football), the teams agreed on them each time before the match. When the English Football Association was created in 1863, it prohibited picking up the ball and trying to take it away from an opponent. Thus, football and rugby, which are familiar to us, became separate sports (which is why football is sometimes called association football). INyear, the Rugby Football Union (RFU, Rugby Football Union) was created, which still governs rugby in England, and inyear - International Rugby Union (IRB, International Rugby Board). The first international match was played on 27 March 1871 inEdinburghbetween the teams of England and Scotland. Rugby soon spread to other countries, in particular to many British possessions:Australia, New Zealand (1870), South Africa(1875). IN North Americaevolved from rugbyAmerican And canadian football. By the end of the 19th century, there was a gap between the northEngland, where rugby became very popular among workers and townspeople, and the south, where the game remained largely the privilege of gentlemen. The main issue was the opportunity to become professionals, that is, to receive money for playing rugby. As a result, on August 29, 1895,HuddersfieldNorthern Rugby Football Union (NRFU) was formed. Teams that joined the Northern Union were allowed to have professionals on their roster. The rules of the game were also changed somewhat and the Northern Rugby League was formed in 1901. At the beginning of the 20th century, similar splits occurred in Australia and New Zealand. The new game was called rugby league (sometimesRussiacalled rugby-13, based on the number of players on the team). To avoid confusion, they began to call “old” rugbyrugby union(as its rules were originally drawn up by the RFU). Rugby union remained strong in the south of England, as well as in Scotland and Wales (where it was also popular among workers, especially miners from the valleys in the south).
Motorsport
Great Britain is also represented inmotorsport. Many Formula One teams and drivers are based here, and British drivers have won more titles than any other country. The very first Grand Prix was held in Great Britain in 1950 atSilverstone,
Badminton
In the 19th century, English officers serving in India became interested in the ancient Indian game puna, which can be considered the prototype of the modernbadminton. The British brought their passion for the game with them to their homeland. The modern tradition of the game originates in England, in the ancient estate of Badminton House, whose owner, the famous sports enthusiast and publisher of a series of books about sports, the Duke of Beaufort, built the first badminton court in 1873. In 1893, the Badminton Association of England published the first regulations on the official rules of the game. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) was created in 1934. Since 1947, the largest men's team competition has been held, the Thomas Cup. Among women, the main team competition - the Uber Cup - has been held since 1955. Since 1992, badminton has been included in the program of the Summer Olympic Games.
Golf
It is believed that the gamegolf originated in Scotlandand was inventedshepherds, who used staves (future clubs) to drive stones into rabbit holes. Presumably the game existed already in the 14th century, and in the 15th century several laws were passed in Scotland prohibiting the game of goof. In the 17th century, balls were played with sticks in the Netherlands. The game in its modern form took shape in the 19th century in Scotland.
Snooker
It is believed that snookerwas invented by a colonel of the British colonial forces inJabalpur (India) Neville Chamberlain in 1875. There were initially only four colored balls, but by 1890 there were 6. In 1919, the rules of snooker were officially laid down by the BA&CC and the first World Championship took place in Birmingham in late 1926/early 1927. Before the war, the game was dominated by the British and Australians.Snookeris very popular inGreat Britain, and annual world championship held in Sheffield. Team sports such as Gaelic football and Hurling are also popular in Northern Ireland and attract large crowds to their matches. The game Shinty is popular in the Scottish Highlands.
Curling
It is known that Curlingoriginated in Scotland at the beginning of the 16th century, factual confirmation of the existence of this sports game is a curling sports equipment (stone), on the surface of which the date of manufacture (“1511”) is stamped, found at the bottom of a dry lakeDunban. The first chronicle mentions of curling are found in medieval monastic books dating back to 1541, preserved in ScottishPaisley Abbey. Two paintings by the artist date back to approximately the same time (1565)Pieter Bruegel, which depict Dutch peasants playing icestock, a game similar to curling, on the ice of a frozen lake. Interestingly, Scotland andNetherlandsin the 16th century they had very strong trade and cultural ties, as evidenced by the widespread spread of not only curling, but also golf in continental Europe.
Other interesting sports
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Scottish national sports
Scotland is an amazing country. And there is a reverent attitude towards sports here.
There are types of rivalries that appeared here many years ago and are now popular in various countries around the world. These are, for example, football, rugby, cricket, golf, athletics... And there are the so-called purely Scottish Highland Sports Games, the history of which began many centuries ago. These are what we will be talking about first of all.
In 1057, King Malcolm Sinmore ascended the throne of Scotland. As a determined man, he demanded reckless courage from his soldiers to cultivate “strength of spirit, will and body,” and organized competitions between them, during which they had to show strength, dexterity and skill. The soldiers took part in such “military reviews” with pleasure. Over the years, these military tournaments also captivated “civilians” and turned into holidays with the participation of bards, musicians, and dancers.
The atmosphere, both then many centuries ago and now during the modern Highland Games, is full of friendliness and fun. Bagpipes sound. Representatives of different clans are dressed in national costumes. Moreover, the color of the kilt or checkered skirt indicates belonging to a strictly defined clan. Anyone can take part in the competition. In what? These are mainly exercises for lifting and throwing various weights. Let's talk about some:
Pushing a stone.
There is no standard size for the cobblestones, which are pushed with one hand from behind the neck. Two types are especially popular. The first is Open Stone, where the total weight of the stone leaves 16 to 22 pounds for men and 8 to 12 pounds for women. Throw as you want and as far as possible. And this is available to many people. But the second type - Braemar Stone - is more complicated. The stone weighs between 20 and 26 pounds for men and 13 to 18 pounds for women. The condition is strict - the legs must remain motionless.
Throwing weights over a distance.
“Shells” are made of metal. They are of various shapes in the form of a sphere, hemisphere or cube. A handle in the form of a ring, triangle or the letter “D” is attached to them with a chain. Weight -56 pounds for men and 28 pounds for women. Overall length does not exceed 18 inches.
Hammer throwing.
The hammer head is spherical and made of metal, and the handle is made of wood, bamboo, rattan or plastic. Rattan and bamboo are more popular than wood or plastic. The total weight of the hammer is: 16 to 20 pounds for men and 12 to 16 pounds for women. During the throw, the athlete's legs must be strictly motionless. You can change the position of your legs only immediately after the throw.
Tossing a pillar.
The pillar is made of wood and is a log, thicker on one side and, accordingly, thinner on the other. There are no exact dimensions and weight of the barrel, the only thing is that they must be such that at least half of the participants in the competition can turn it over (in a throw, of course). Although its normal size ranges from 15 to 19 feet in length and weighs between 65 and 130 pounds.
The competition begins with the participant taking the light end of the pole in a vertical position (if after this the athlete cannot bear the weight of the pole and drops it, this will still count as an attempt). After this, the throw itself begins. The athlete runs up and throws the pole up and forward so that the heavy end touches the ground, and the light end, accordingly, falls to the ground in the direction of the player’s run.
Tossing a sheaf.
A sheaf is a bag or plastic bag filled with suitable material such as straw, hay or rope. It is thrown over the crossbar using a pitchfork. The total weight of the sheaf is: 20 pounds for men and 12 pounds for women. The throw can be made in any way, but with the help of a pitchfork with at least two tips.
A game of brushes and stones.
Many of us now know about the sport of curling, which is included in the program of the Olympic Games. It turns out that it originates in Scotland. Comes from the English word curl - “spiral, curl”. The first mention of curling dates back to the distant sixteenth century. A piece of stone with a date engraved on it was found in the Scottish Highlands. Therefore, Scotland is now considered the birthplace of curling.
In winter, on frozen lakes between wars, Scottish Highlanders trained and played this game. At first, ordinary rock fragments were used, but in the eighteenth century, English soldiers “optimized” the stones, giving them the appearance they have now. Over time, the game transformed, the rules changed and developed.
Rugby
It is impossible not to mention this sport, which has now spread throughout the planet. It all started on April 7, 1823 in the town of Rugby, where a match was held to mark the anniversary of the victory at Waterloo. Sixteen-year-old William Webb Ellis, in the midst of a battle for the ball, grabbed it with both hands and ran. This was a violation of the rules of the game at the time, but it was this action that led to the creation of a new sport. And it was named the same as the city in which this famous match took place - rugby. On the walls of the college where William Webb Ellis studied, there still hangs a memorial plaque with the following text: “Let this plaque remind you of the glorious deed of William Webb Ellis, the first who dared to break the rules, grabbed the ball with his hands and ran with it. This is how the game of rugby originated in 1823. Among the Scots it received the greatest popularity and appreciation.
Conclusion.
We were very interested in the topic “National Sports in Great Britain and Scotland” and had fun working with the encyclopedia materials and Internet resources. We have created a presentation on this topic.
It should be noted that such research work maintains interest in learning a foreign language and awakens curiosity to explore other areas of regional studies. And most importantly: I had a dream to travel to England and see the international tennis tournament in Wimbledon and watch games of cricket, snooker, rugby, croquet and, of course, watch the unique and fascinating sports in Scotland.
List of used literature
- Soviet Encyclopedia
- Internet resources:
- Encyclopedia of sports in Great Britain
adelanta.info/encyclopedia/sport
- English sports. adelanta.info/encyclopedia/sport
- Sport in Great Britain. en.wikipedia. org>wiki/ Sport in Great Britain
- CoolReverat.com> UK _ sports
- http://www.uk.ru
- Langinfo.ru>indexphp?sekt_id=2419
- ru. wikipedia.org/wiki/McKeever_Ed
It is common knowledge that sport plays an important role in the UK. The results of the Olympic Games eloquently confirmed this. But it turns out that the British are not only a sporty, but also a very inventive nation. This becomes clear when you look at the extreme competitions in which the residents of Foggy Albion participate.
Racing against a horse
Once upon a time in 1980 landowner Gordon Green from the town Llanurthyd V Wales I heard a debate in a pub about whether a man could outrun a horse when running a long distance. The enterprising Green decided to check this out, and at the same time attract the attention of potential investors to his lands. This is how the annual marathon was organized "Man vs Horse", the distance of which is 22 miles (42.195 km).
Horses perform in pairs with their riders. For twenty-four years the competition was won by the rider and the horse, however, to the joy of all mankind, revenge was taken in the twenty-fifth year of the marathon’s existence. IN 2004 British Hugh Lobb covered the distance in 2 hours 5 minutes and 19 seconds what I got it for 25,000 pounds prize money
Extreme ironing
This unusual sport originated in 1997 year in an English city Leicester. It was founded by a Briton Phil Shaw nicknamed Par. Phil worked at a local textile factory and ironed new clothes there, and in his free time he conquered local rocks. One day he had the idea to combine everyday routine with thrills. Extreme ironers know how to iron clothes with high quality in the most unfavorable conditions: in the mountains, under water, in the forest, in the snow and even on a bicycle.
Zorbing
A Zorb is a transparent plastic ball with a diameter 3 meters, with a camera for the passenger inside. Zorb is designed for rolling down hills, mountains and other heights. The speed at which zorbonauts go down, reaches 36 km/h. Entertainment for true extreme sports enthusiasts!
Running with your wife on your shoulders
On Alternative Olympic Games, which this year took place in Wales simultaneously with the London Olympics, running with your wife on your shoulders was one of the most important competitions.
Participants in this competition, which came to Great Britain from Finland, you need to run the distance as quickly as possible 253.5 meters with his wife on his shoulders, while overcoming various obstacles. The wife must weigh at least 49 kg, otherwise the contestant will be given a backpack with additional cargo.
Reade set Go! Just be careful with your wife :) Unicycle hockey
In the UK there is national league unicycle hockey ( unicycles), which consists of 10 teams.
Competitions are held on a hard plastic surface and not on an ice rink. The main similarity with regular hockey is the goal and sticks. Masterfully controlling unicycles, extreme hockey players manage to maneuver across the field and score goals without colliding with each other.
Cheese races
The most popular cheese races take place annually at the end of May on the slope of Cooper Hill in the English city. Gloucester. For the competition, a wheel of cheese weighing 100 pounds is rolled down from the top of a hill. 8 lbs (3.5 kg), and the race participants roll down after her. The first person to cross the finish line at the foot of the mountain receives cheese, which was used as a sports equipment, as a prize. In theory, competitors should run rather than roll for the cheese, but due to the very steep slope and high speed, this is almost impossible.
Great Britain is the birthplace of football, tennis and other popular sports around the world. But the British know how to compete with each other in a way that is less familiar to us. It was in Great Britain that the largest number of unusual competitions and sports games arose, which from a fun tradition turned into new sports recognized far beyond the borders of this country. Competitions whose description makes us smile.
1. Egg all-around
It is unknown who first came up with the idea of throwing eggs, but the tournaments, which have been held in the central counties of England for several decades, have become national, and have recently received international status.
These competitions are open to everyone, as long as they have eggs at hand. And you can come up with a lot of fun with eggs: you can throw them for accuracy, at a distance, you can put the egg in a spoon, take it in your mouth and run a race. But the most popular discipline is called Russian roulette for some reason. Six eggs are placed in the basket - five hard-boiled and one raw. This is what is considered a bat. Athletes sit opposite each other and take turns breaking eggs on their opponent’s forehead. The one whose face has egg slurry flows out of the game, and the winner advances to the next round - and so on until the final.
2. Lawn mower racing
Mowing the lawn is a sacred duty of any English homeowner, a tradition passed down from generation to generation. Lawn mowers were created to make this hard work easier. This was taken advantage of by a group of young people looking for new and cheap entertainment. As the official story goes, in 1972, several young Englishmen were sitting in a pub sipping beer when one Jim Gavin said: “We all have a lawnmower - let's race them.” This is how the British Lawn Mower Racing Association was born. Later, the initiative for cheap motorsports was taken up by the Americans. Officially, the first lawn mower race took place on April 1, 1992.
The main thing is to remove all blades from the machine. Thus, tractors turn into mini-cars, and their price after all modifications increases from $5 thousand to $200 thousand. Racers compete in four classes that differ from each other in the technical characteristics of the “cars”: stock (16 km/h), imow (32 km/h), prepared (80 km/h) and factory experimental (96.5 km/h). The prize for the winner may be a cup or certificate. “We turn weekend chores into a competitive sport!” - says the motto of lawn racers.
3. Man versus horse
One day in 1980, landowner Gordon Green from the town of Lanurtyd Wells heard two men arguing in a pub. One of them claimed that when running a long distance, a person can overtake a horse. The enterprising Green decided to test this statement, and at the same time attract the attention of potential investors to his lands. This is how the annual Man versus Horse marathon was organized in the smallest town in England.
The Welsh Marathon distance is 22 miles (42.195 km) and takes place in the countryside through fields, hills, streams and moors. One person or a group of people can take part. Horses perform in pairs with their riders. Everyone pays entry fees, which then add up to the prize fund. For twenty-four years in a row, this money was won by a rider and a horse, however, to the joy of all mankind, revenge was taken in the twenty-fifth year of the marathon’s existence. In 2004, Briton Hugh Lobb completed the distance in 2 hours 5 minutes and 19 seconds, for which he received 25 thousand pounds in prize money. Recently, 40 horses compete against five hundred runners.
5. Snorkeling in the swamp
The restless Gordon Green wanted to glorify his town so much that he invented another strange sport. In the early 1980s, he invited the residents of Lanurtyd Wells to cast aside their inhibitions and splash around in the mud as best they could. They liked the idea, and the swamp diving championship became an annual event, which attracts enthusiasts from Europe, the USA and even Australia.
Anyone can participate, as long as they have a swimming mask, snorkel, fins and a £15 deposit. Athletes need to swim 60 m in a ditch dug in the middle of a swamp and filled with mud. Participants can be dressed in any way they like - even a wedding dress, even a wetsuit. But there is an age limit: athletes must be at least 14 years old. But there is no upper limit: one of the participants celebrated her seventieth birthday during the competition. The old lady did not break the world record set by Miss Abigail James - 1 minute 57 seconds, but she received an unforgettable experience.
6. Underwater hockey
Underwater hockey was invented by the British in 1954, but now it is popular in many countries of the world, and in some places with the most complex interpretations. For example, an international ice hockey tournament was recently held in Austria: the players passed the puck to each other not along the bottom of the reservoir, but along the back side of the ice crust. It was possible to breathe only in the window of the ice hole located next to the “field”.
To play, you need a pool with an underwater gate. Two teams play, each with 6 people, equipped with swimming trunks, masks, ear plugs, fins and snorkels. The task of these brave guys is to use a 30-centimeter stick to score a plastic-lined metal puck into the opponent’s goal.
7. Rolling the cheese
Every year for 200 years, the picturesque Cotswold Hills have hosted a game in which a crowd of daredevils race down the hill in pursuit of a wheel of Double Gloucester Cheese. People from all over the world come to Cooper's Hill to watch and even take part in this dangerous, but very fun competition.
8. Shin Kick Championship
This rigorous competition is quite popular in the Cotswolds, where the Cotswold Cheese Race is held. The essence of the game is simple, like its name. You need to kick your opponent's shin until he falls. Victory is yours if you win two out of three rounds.
9. Eton Wall
A traditional sports game played exclusively for students at Eton College in England. Some compare it to rugby or football, but this is wrong, since Eton wall is a very special game in which the playing field is the wall. Players move along the wall and lean on each other in the fight for the ball. If the player is close enough to the edge of the wall, he gets to kick the ball at a target, which can be a tree or a door. This game is not as simple as it seems, considering that the last time a goal was scored was back in 1909.
10. Royal Shrovetide Football
In the English town of Ashbourne, for more than 800 years, the most unusual football match, reminiscent of rugby, has been held annually during Shrovetide week for a crowd of thousands. In this football, the rules are completely different from the rules of regular football, since the ball can be picked up with your hands and thrown, no cards are issued for violations, and the main prohibitions are: violence, the use of various vehicles to move the ball, it is also forbidden to hide the ball in bags, backpacks. The entire city serves as a football field, with the exception of the territory of cemeteries, church yards and memorial areas.
A Royal Shrovetide football match lasts about 8 hours. The match begins at lunchtime in the city center, where a local dignitary throws the ball into a crowd of people and the teams try to get the ball to the opponent's goal by any means. The gates themselves are about 3 miles apart and are old mills that are located in opposite parts of the city. A goal is scored when someone hits the opponent's mill post with the ball three times. The game lasts until ten o'clock in the evening, and if a goal is scored before five o'clock, then the townspeople return to the center of the field and continue to play.
The ball used to play unusual football is also unusual. It is larger than a standard soccer ball. Every year a new ball is used, which local craftsmen paint by hand, after the game the winner’s name is written on it and sent for storage to one of the local pubs. If the goal was never scored by either team, then the name of the referee is indicated on it, to whom it is given for safekeeping.
Royal Maslenitsa football can be played by an unlimited number of people, and not only residents, but also tourists can participate.
11. Worm Charming Competition
In the UK, worm charming is an official sport. It's so popular that Cheshire hosts the World Worm Charming Championships every year. The rules are quite simple. You are given a 3x3 meter plot of land, and you must lure out of the ground and collect as many worms as possible in 30 minutes. I bet this sport is ideal for those who need cheap fish bait.
12. Game of conker
The World Conker Championship is held every October in the small British village of Ashton, located in Northamptonshire, where conker players, the number of whom exceeds three hundred, come from all over the world. The goal of the game is to break your opponent's conker. “What are these conkers?” - you ask. These are horse chestnut fruits that are hung on a string.
Players take turns hitting their opponent's conker. The player whose conker will be hit first holds it with a string wrapped around his hand. He must raise or lower his hand to a position favorable to his opponent, and then hold his conker perfectly still, awaiting the blow. The batter takes his conker in one hand and holds the opposite end of the string with the other hand. Before hitting, he pulls the conker back and then releases it with a sharp twisting motion in the direction of the opponent's conker. If the striker misses the opponent's conker, he is allowed a maximum of two more attempts. If the players' strings are intertwined, the first player to shout "Strings!" may require an extra try. The game continues until one of the conkers is destroyed - that is, until there is not a piece of chestnut left on the string.
Football is the most popular and widespread sports game all over the world. Ball games have existed since ancient times in many countries, including Ancient China, Sparta and Ancient Rome, but the rules of football in their modern form took shape only in the 19th century. In 1863, the Football Association of England was created, which formulated the main set of rules. The basis was taken from the rules that existed in prestigious private English schools, where football was incredibly popular.
Interesting Facts:
- The full name of the game is association football, that is“ football in accordance with the rules of the Association“ . There are other versions of the game, for example, rugby football or rugby for short - football according to the rules Rugby School (a prestigious private school in the county Warwickshire).
- In Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, the USA and Canada, “football” is a game with completely different rules.
- Soccer ( soccer) is the name used in the English-speaking countries mentioned above to refer to the football we are accustomed to. The term originated in England in the 1980s, but modern English fans perceive it as outdated and even disparaging.
- The 2014 FIFA World Cup was England's worst in 56 years. For the first time since 1958, the British, who gave this game to the world, failed to qualify from the group and left the championship after two matches.
- Linguistic facts:
- In Russian, the word “football” is a direct borrowing from English. In Spanish (fútbol), Portuguese (futebol) and Norwegian (fotball), the name of the game is also directly borrowed from English.
- In German (Fußball), Finnish (jalkapallo ) and Polish (piłka nożna) the corresponding word is a calque (literal translation) from English.
- In Italian, the name of the game is derived from “kick”, “kick” - calcio.
Tennis
Tennis is perhaps the second most popular sport invented by the British. Some historians believe that the ancestor of tennis was France in the 12th century, but the game took shape in its modern form in Birmingham in the 1860s.
For a long time, tennis remained an entertainment for the elite and did not have mass fans. The reason for this was both the origin of the game (the privilege of the hereditary English nobility and later students of prestigious universities and colleges) and the limited space for spectators on the court.
Until the 1920s, tennis was a non-commercial game, and the first fee for playing in public was received by a French tennis playerSuzanne Rachelle Flora Lenglen. During her thirteen-year tennis career, she became a two-time Olympic champion and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Badminton
Badminton, the “little brother of tennis,” was also invented by the British. It was brought to England by British soldiers serving in India. The Indian game “Puna” was taken as the basis, and badminton acquired modern features through the efforts of the famous sports enthusiast the Duke of Bosfort. The Duke's residence wasBadminton House, from which the name of the game comes.
Interesting Facts:
- The average speed of a shuttlecock when hit by a professional athlete is 414 km/h. This is a flight speed record for a sports projectile.
- Professional badminton players run up to 10 km per match. Football players run a little more than 10-12 km, depending on the match and position in the team.
Cricket and Baseball
The first mention of cricket dates back to the Tudor dynasty (1485–1604), and the first professional cricketers appeared after the Stuart Restoration in 1660.
Cricket is not as widespread as football, tennis or badminton, but enjoys continued popularity in English-speaking countries.
Baseball is perhaps the main national sport of the United States, which begins to be played from early childhood. Baseball is also popular in Cuba, Venezuela, China, Japan and South Korea.
Baseball is considered an "invention" of the Americans and a kind of adaptation of rounders or cricket, the rules of which are very similar to the rules of modern baseball. Some historians argue that baseball originated in England. As evidence, quotes from Jane Austen’s work “Northanger Abbey” are cited, in which baseball is mentioned as one of the hobbies of the main character of the novel.
Curling
Looking at the players rubbing the ice in front of a special granite apparatus, you might think that this funny sport has recently appeared for the amusement of the public. However, the origins of curling are in Scotland in the 16th century. The Scots, of course, will be mortally offended at you if you call them English, but we decided to include curling in this list because they live in the same country as the English.
Is it really more pleasant to run a race with a hefty stallion than to sip beer in front of the TV and lazily cheer for our team? You will be surprised, but a lot of people think that the stallion is better. It all started with incorrigible dreamers who stubbornly delve into their garages and invent something inexplicable there at night. Sooner or later, these eccentrics acquire crowds of like-minded people and armies of fans, and their strange entertainments turn into full-fledged competitions with strict rules. Are you ready to take off into the sky on wheels? Then go ahead!
It's all about a bicycle with a motor and a propeller, to which an ordinary parachute is attached. This two-seater device can easily support a pilot and a passenger, moves at 50–60 km per hour and rises to a height of 6 kilometers. You can fly with the engine turned off, gliding on the canopy, and if it’s winter, there’s a reason to replace the wheels with skis.
Where did it come from: From the workshop of Valery Digoev, a resident of North Ossetia, although the Americans, as always, claim that they were the first to invent the aerochute.
What do you need: Good weather, 20 liters of fuel, high-quality oil and 50 meters of flat space for take-off. If you want to steer, you will have to take a three-hour training course (and with a clear conscience brag to your friends that you are now a skyrider). You can fly just like that, without a judge and rules, or for time or accuracy of jumps, because the most reckless passengers also parachute from aerochutes - while the pilot remains at the controls. Which is certainly encouraging.
It's played by everyone from princes of the blood to garbage collectors - especially in Denmark, which has the most federated clubs. And although boccia is an ordinary team game, the main thing in it is still not muscles, but brains: to win, you need to calculate the trajectory of the ball as accurately as possible and determine the force of the throw.
Where did it come from: Appeared in ancient times in ancient Greece.
What do you need: An area with any surface, an area of 6 by 12.5 meters, participants (2, 4, 8 or 12 people), as well as leather balls slightly larger than tennis ones: 1 white, 6 blue and 6 red. The white ball is considered the goal and is located at the edge of the field. “Blue” and “red” try to throw their balls to white. The winner is the team whose shells are closest to the target.
To come up with it, the descendants of the samurai did not need any effort: they only made the task of the football players extremely difficult by tying binoculars to their eyes.
Where did it come from: From Japan.
What do you need: Players wearing binoculars with cyclopean magnification run across a standard football field after an ordinary soccer ball, without completely understanding where it is - three meters from the boot or thirty centimeters from the goal. Naturally, a binocular match is a hilarious spectacle: only a few people hit the goal, as well as the ball, but basically everyone is pointlessly waving their legs and swaying from side to side, trying to determine their coordinates in space.
Underwater hockey is played in many countries around the world, and in some places in the most difficult conditions. For example, an international ice hockey tournament was recently held in Austria: the players passed the puck to each other not along the bottom of the reservoir, but along the back side of the ice crust. It was possible to breathe only in the window of the ice hole located next to the “field”.
Where did it come from: It was invented by the British in 1954.
What do you need: Swimming pool with underwater gate. Two teams play, each with 6 people, equipped with swimming trunks, masks, ear plugs, fins and snorkels. The task of these brave guys is to use a 30-centimeter stick to score a plastic-lined metal puck into the opponent’s goal.
Who is faster - a horse or a man? You don’t doubt the answer, but in vain, because once a man did win: in 2004, Huw Lobb overcame the distance, overtaking the horse by more than 120 seconds (and received a prize of 25 thousand pounds sterling). Yes, it happened only once - but the trouble has begun: our men will show these stallions yet!
Where did it come from: The marathon was first held in 1980, again in Foggy Albion.
What do you need: A lot of health, willpower, 35 km distance and horses. Recently, 40 horses compete against five hundred runners.
In 1973, the Frenchman Gilles Ebersol came up with a ball of two spheres, the space between which is filled with air, and you can climb inside and roll anywhere you want, and patented his invention. On the mainland, the ball was viewed with caution, and it became famous only when it landed in the other hemisphere.
Where did it come from: It became popular thanks to the light hand of extreme sports enthusiasts in New Zealand.
What do you need: Zorb, stopwatch and a half-mile hill - grass, snow or artificial. If there are no hills, water will do. In amusement park brochures, sliding down earthen hills is called Hill zorbing, riding on water is called Water or aqua zorbing, and sliding down snowy slopes is called Snow zorbing. There is also Hydro zorbing (this is when a ball is filled not with air, but with water), Aero zorbing (the ball rolls along a wind tunnel), Night LED zorbing (night zorbing in a ball stuffed with LEDs) and a lot of other variations. In short, there is enough fun and squealing for everyone.
12 rules for not looking like an idiot if you come to the gym for the first time
Do you have one minute? Then you have time to practice Snookball is a billiards game that can be played with your feet. Pele was so good at football that he “paused” the war in Nigeria with his play.
Loading...