You’re going to write a quiz on famous sports’ origins.
Hi folks! Ouch, my face! My legs! They hurt! I’m just back from the pitch, I played a rugby game with my teammates. By the way, do you know where rugby comes from? And basketball? And other sports? Let’s find out!
Dr. James Naismith was a Canadian teacher at Springfield College in Massachusetts.
He wanted the school’s rugby and soccer players to play during winter. So he found a peach basket and hung it about 10 feet from the floor. Dr. Naismith decided to cut a hole in the basket. On December 21, 1891, he made the first 13 rules for basketball, which resemble many of the rules used today.
James Naismith Wikimedia
The exact origin of hockey is hard to find.
Some people say it came from hurling –an Irish game– but others say it came from the English game of field hockey. When the English came to North America they realized that they could move way faster on ice-covered ponds than on grass, so they started playing ice hockey.
In England, during the 19th century, William Webb Ellis, a soccer player, was sick of only using his feet to move the ball, so he decided to pick it up and run with it. At first other people were mad about this, because it was against the rules, but then they accepted it, and it gave birth to a separate sport.
Where did the player come from? A city called … Rugby!
Rugby Getty/VCL/Alistair Berg
American football is a mix of two popular European games, soccer (known as football in Europe) and rugby.
In the United States, in the late 1800s, players used an oval ball instead of a round one and took rules from both games. At first, American football was very similar to rugby, then the rules changed and the game became what you can watch on Super Bowl Sunday.
Football Getty/"Don Tremain
What about ancient sports today ?
During the Middle Ages, the most important sporting events were the Jousts. These sports were dangerous, men were killed at tournaments. Feudal lords and knights used such weapons as swords, lances, daggers and battle axes and many medieval sports were designed to provide practise of such skills. Today, tent pegging is one of only ten equestrian disciplines officially recognised by the International Equestrian Federation. The specific game of tent pegging has a mounted horseman riding at a gallop and using a sword or a lance to pierce, pick up, and carry away a small ground target.
The Super Bowl is the name of the national finals of the American football championship.
It is a very popular event, and the day of the year it is held
on is known as “Super Bowl Sunday.” Each year, it is the most watched event on American TV. In 2011, more than 111 million people watched it.
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Page créée par lelivrescolaire
Le 06 Janvier 2012
