Sports Played in Britain

From: Subject: Sports Played in Britain Date: Sun, 14 Jan 2007 18:33:52 +0100 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0000_01C7380A.8A384380" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3028 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0000_01C7380A.8A384380 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/sport.html Sports Played in Britain

	Sports Played=20 in Britain
Learn about=20 England and her culture from children who live there=20
You are = here:=20 Homepage = >=20 England=20 Home > Sports

What=20 sports do you play in England?

See=20 our Sporting Events Calendar

Sports play an important part in the life of the = Englishmen and is=20 a popular leisure activity. Many of the = world's=20 famous sports began in England, including cricket,=20 football,=20 lawn=20 tennis and rugby.=20

England's national sport is cricket = although to=20 many people football (soccer)=20 is seen as our national sport. Football is = our most=20 popular sport. Some of England's football teams are world famous, = the most=20 famous being Manchester United, Arsenal and = Liverpool.

Cricket
Cricket is played on village greens on = Sundays from=20 April to August

The rules=20 of cricket became the responsibility, in the 18th century, of the=20 Marylebone Cricket Club(MCC), based at Lord=92s cricket ground in=20 north
London.

How to play Cricket
Teams are made = up of 11=20 players each. They play with a ball slightly smaller than a = baseball and a=20 bat shaped like a paddle. Two batters stand in front of wickets, = set about=20 20 metres apart. Each wicket consists of three wooden rods = (stumps) pushed=20 into the ground, with two small pieces of wood (bails) balanced on = top. A=20 member of the opposing team (the bowler) throws the ball towards = one of=20 the batters, who must hit the ball so that it does not knock a = bail off=20 the wicket. If the ball travels far enough, the two batters run = back and=20 forth between the wickets while the fielders on the opposing team = try to=20 catch the ball. The game is scored according to the number of = runs, which=20 is the number of times the batters exchange places.

=20	Cricket is England's National=20 Sport

Football (Soccer)
Football is undoubtedly the most popular sport in = England, and has=20 been played for hundreds of years.

In the English = Football League=20 there are 92 professional clubs. These are semi-professional, so = most=20 players have other full-time jobs. Hundreds of thousands of people = also=20 play football in parks and playgrounds just for fun.

The highlight of the English football year is the FA = (Football=20 Association) Cup Final each May.

Did you=20 know ?
The first set of Laws of the Game of football, = or soccer=20 as it is known in the US, date from the formation of The = Football=20 Association in England in = 1863.

Rugby
Rugby = originated from=20 Rugby school in Warwickshire. It is = similar to=20 football, but played with an oval ball. Players can carry the ball = and=20 tackle each other. The best rugby teams compete in the Super = League final=20 each September.

For many=20 years Rugby was only played by the rich upper classes, but now it = is=20 popular all over the country. There are two different types of = rugby -=20 Rugby League, played mainly in the north of England, and Rugby = Union,=20 played in the rest of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. = England,=20 Scotland, Wales and Ireland, together with France and Italy, play = in an=20 annual tournament called the Six Nations.

American=20 Football derived from our game of Rugby also Baseball derived from = the old=20 English game of Rounders.

Tennis
The world's most = famous tennis=20 tournament is Wimbledon. It started at = a small=20 club in south London in the nineteenth century. It begins on the = nearest=20 Monday to June 22, at a time when English often have the finest = weather.=20 Millions of people watch the Championships on TV live. =

It is=20 traditional for visitors to eat strawberries and cream whilst they = watch=20 the tennis.

Did you know ?
Wimbledon is = the oldest=20 of all the major tennis tournaments beginning in 1877. The = rewards=20 of prize money began in 1968 when the total purse allocated = was=20 =A326,150 (about $40,000). =

Netball
Netball = is the=20 largest female team sport in England. The sport=20 is played almost exclusively by women and girls, although male=20 participation has increased in recent years.

Basketball
Over = 3 million=20 people participate in basketball in the UK.

Golf
Scotland = is=20 traditionally regarded as the home of golf. There=20 are over 400 golf courses in Scotland alone. The most important = golf club=20 in Scotland is in the seaside town of St. Andrews, near=20 Dundee.

Horse racing
Horseracing, the = sport of=20 Kings is a very popular sport with meetings = being held every=20 day throughout the year. The Derby originated here, as did The = Grand=20 National which is the hardest horse race in the = world.

Horse racing and greyhound racing are = popular=20 spectator sports. People can place bets on the races at legal = off-track=20 betting shops. Some of the best-known horse races are held at = Ascot,=20 Newmarket, Goodwood and Epsom.

Ascot, a=20 small town in the south of England, becomes the centre of = horse-racing=20 world for one week in June. It's called Royal Ascot because the = Queen=20 always goes to Ascot. She has a lot of racehorses and likes to = watch=20 racing.

Polo
Another equestrian sport is polo, = brought to Britain=20 from India in the 19th Century by army officers. It is the fastest = ball=20 sport in the world.

Polo is=20 played with four men on horses to a team. A ball is hit with a = stick=20 towards the goal, one at each end of a 300 yard long by 160 yard = wide=20 field...
Find = out more=20 here ....

Table Tennis (ping pong)
Table tennis was invented in England in=20 1880. It=20 began with Cambridge University students using cigar boxes and = champagne=20 corks.
Although the game originated in England, British = players don't=20 have much luck in international championships.

Badminton
Badminton takes its name from the Duke = of Beaufort=92s=20 country home, Badminton House, where the sport was first played in = the=20 19th century.

University Boat Race
In the nineteenth century, students at = Oxford and=20 Cambridge, Britain's two oldest universities, were huge fans of = rowing. In=20 1829, the two schools agreed to hold a race against each other for = the=20 first time on the Thames River. The Oxford boat won and a = tradition was=20 born. Today, the University Boat Race is held every spring in = either late=20 March or early April.

Fishing (Angling)
Angling is=20 one of the most popular sports in the UK, with an=20 estimated 3.3 million people participating in the sport on a = regular=20 basis. Fishermen can be see sitting beside rivers and lakes.=20

Bowls
The two main forms of bowls = are lawn=20 flat green (outdoor and indoor) and crown green.

Boxing
Boxing in its = modern form is=20 based on the rules established by the Marquess of Queensberry in = 1865. In=20 the UK boxing is both amateur and professional, and strict medical = regulations are applied in both.

Swimming
Swimming is also a popular pastime and enjoyed by people = of all=20 ages.

Martial arts
Various martial = arts, mainly=20 derived from the Far East, are practised in the UK, such as judo = and=20 karate.

Darts
Darts is a very popular pub game.=20 The game=20 of darts, as it is today, was invented in the north of England in = a town=20 called Grimsby. However, the origins of the game date back to at = least the=20 Middle Ages.

Boxing Day Hunts
Traditionally Boxing Day is a day for fox = hunting.=20 The huntsmen and huntswomen ride horses. They use dogs too. The = dogs (fox=20 hounds) follow the smell of the fox. Then the huntsmen and = huntswomen=20 follow the hounds.

Before a=20 Boxing Day hunt, the huntsmen and huntswomen drink hot wine. But = the=20 tradition of the December 26th is changing. Now, some people want = to stop=20 Boxing Day hunts (and other hunts too) They don't like foxhunting. = For=20 them it is not a sport - it is = cruel.

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Sports Played=20 in Britain