Over 3 million people participate in basketball in the UK.

Swimming

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

Rugby

Rugby originated from Rugby school in Warwickshire. It is similar to football, but played with an oval ball. Players can carry the ball and tackle each other. For many years Rugby was only played by the rich upper classes, but now it is popular all over the country. There are two different types of rugby - Rugby League, played mainly in the north of England, and Rugby Union, played in the rest of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

Tennis

The world's most famous tennis tournament is Wimbledon. It started at a small club in south London in the nineteenth century. It begins on the nearest Monday to June 22, at a time when English often have the finest weather. Millions of people watch the Championships on TV. It is traditional for visitors to eat strawberries and cream whilst they watch the tennis.

Netball

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

Scotland is traditionally regarded as the home of golf.

Horse racing

Horseracing, the sport of Kings is a very popular sport. People can place bets on the races. Ascot, a small town in the south of England, becomes the centre of horse-racing world for one week in June. It's called Royal Ascot because the Queen always goes to Ascot. She has a lot of racehorses and likes to watch racing.

Polo

Polo was brought to Britain from India in the 19th century by army officers. It is the fastest ball sport in the world. Polo is played with four men on horses to a team. A ball is hit with a stick towards the goal, one at each end of a 300 yard long by 160 yard wide field...

Table Tennis (ping pong)

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

Badminton

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

Martial arts

Various martial arts, mainly derived from the Far East, are practiced in the UK, such as judo and karate.

University Boat Race

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

Fishing (Angling)

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

Darts

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

Boxing Day Hunts

Traditionally Boxing Day is a day for fox hunting. The huntsmen and huntswomen ride horses. They use dogs too. Before a Boxing Day hunt, the huntsmen and huntswomen drink hot wine. But now, some people want to stop Boxing Day hunts (and other hunts too). For them it is not a sport - it is cruel.

The Olympic Games (from Wikipedia)

The Olympic Games are a major international event in which thousands of athletes compete in a wide variety of events. The Games are held every two years, with Summer and Winter Olympic Games alternating. The Olympic Games cannot take place in countries at war. That is why there were no Olympic Games during the two world wars.

Originally, the ancient Olympic Games were held in Olympia, Greece, from the 8th century BC to the 5th century AD. In the late 19th century, Baron Pierre de Coubertin revived (возродил) the Games. For this purpose he founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, and two years later, the modern Olympic Games were established in Athens.

Date: 2014-12-22; view: 1191