Throughout history, sports have fascinated people around the world. During the age of colonialism, nandi runners in Kenya’s Rift Valley seemed to run distances that brought European athletes to pitiful physical collapse and Tutsi high jumpers soared to heights unimaginable to whites.
Hosting a major international sporting event brings a boost to tourism in the host country. However, some worry that sports tournaments are becoming permanent political battlegrounds.
Tennis
Tennis is one of the most popular and engaging sports in the world with millions watching the four Grand Slam tournaments each year – Wimbledon, US Open, Australian Open, and French Open. It’s easy to see why – it is a physically demanding sport and has produced global stars from Rod Laver, Martina Navratilova, Pete Sampras, Steffi Graf, and Rafael Nadal to name just a few.
Unlike some other competitive sports that require expensive equipment and extensive training, all you need to play tennis is a racket and a ball. And it’s a great sport for people of all ages and abilities, from young children to senior citizens.
Often called the sport of kings, tennis is played on a variety of surfaces including grass, clay, and hard courts made of concrete or asphalt topped with acrylic. Traditionally, players wear white but nowadays many use a range of brightly colored clothes. The sport is governed by the International Tennis Federation.
Volleyball
Volleyball is the most widely played sport in the world with more than 800 million players. It is a high-energy, fast-paced game that improves aerobic endurance, also known as cardiovascular fitness. In addition, volleyball develops agility and mental alertness, as players must anticipate and respond quickly to quick situations and strategies.
The sport was created by William Morgan, Physical Director of the Holyoke YMCA in Massachusetts. He developed the game to replace less vigorous gymnastic exercises. He called the game Mintonette, but it was later renamed Volleyball.
A game of volleyball is played between two teams of six players on a court separated by a net. The team that wins points by hitting the ball over the opposing team’s net and landing it in their court is said to win the match. During the match, players may only make three contacts with the ball. The game is played indoors and outdoors. The game is played in a variety of settings, including collegiate (driven by the NCAA), interscholastic (driven by the NFHS) and club play (driven by USA Volleyball). FIVB, an international sporting organization founded in 1947, oversees competition rules for the game worldwide.
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport that requires skill and precision. It is played with a basketball (orange-brown ball) that can be shot through a hoop mounted on a backboard at each end of a rectangular court. The game was invented in 1891 by James Naismith at the Springfield College in Massachusetts, and it became popular worldwide soon after. It was first introduced in Europe, then in Australia and Asia.
Today, it is one of the most widely-played sports in the world. The game attracts a global fan base and is watched by more than 2 billion people. In addition to its thrilling gameplay, the NBA has become an important cultural and economic force. Get the info you need from 해외스포츠중계.
However, playing professional basketball overseas comes with its own set of challenges. As the Hartford Courant reports, American players often find themselves with short contracts and have to miss out on important events and holidays. They also may experience a lack of cultural integration in their host countries.
Soccer
Known as football in much of the rest of the world, soccer is a global sport with an estimated three billion fans worldwide. European sailors, soldiers and traders brought the game to Africa in the second half of the 19th century and it spread rapidly among societies with vibrant indigenous athletic traditions.
The Saudi government worries that its young population could become radicalized – as was seen in the unsuccessful Arab Spring pro-democracy protests of 2011 – and a thriving soccer industry is one way to keep them placated. The industry also generates jobs, revenues and export earnings for the nation, Chadwick notes.
Men’s soccer has featured in every Olympics since the 1900 Games in Paris. Women’s soccer was added at the 1928 Games in Amsterdam. The sport has been included at the Summer Olympics every four years since then except for 1932, when it was removed to help promote the newly conceived World Cup.
