A SPORTS MAD NATION
Is Britain a sports-mad nation? It’s pretty clear, after spending about a day here, that it is. Tere are so many events, from the al- most-mythic football World Cup win in 1966 to the success of British cyclists al- most annually to just about every appear- ance by Andy Murray on a tennis court, that unite the nation, or at least have it watching, talking and even arguing. It’s not really a surprise that Brits are obsessed considering so many sports were either in- vented in this country or had their rule- book set here. From boxing to cricket, tennis to golf, this small island nation has developed or shaped some of the world’s favourite sports and even some of the world’s more obscure ones – lawn bowls anyone? Some countries, even certain continents
have a defining sport. When you think of South America you think football, with New Zealand and Australia it’s rugby, and India and Pakistan have cricket. In Britain
sport is plenty and constantly evolving. In addition to the well-established British sports, the UK happily embraces other sports. In fact there are more people be- tween the ages of 14-25 playing basketball every week than golf and cricket combined and every year Wembley Stadium hosts several sell-out American NFL games. It’s not all about the millions of specta-
tors filling stadiums and arenas either, al- though those numbers are considerable. According to Deloitte, 74.5 million tickets for professional sporting events were sold in Britain in 2017. A huge number of Brits take part in sport every day, week or month. On most afternoons, just walking past any park, sports ground, track or club, you’ll see individuals or teams playing. From school days playing on a team and well into adulthood, Brits have a lifelong relationship with their sport of choice. Sport is deeply rooted to place in
Britain. Cricket has its roots in villages,
where residents make up teams that have been playing each other since the 1800s. Horseracing isn’t merely held in certain towns, it’s the very essence of them. Newmarket may have a race track but the business and culture of horse training and racing dominates the town. For every season there is a sport. At all
times of the year, throughout the length and breadth of the country, teams or indi- viduals can be immersed in competitions. Some of these, like Premier League football dominate for months while others, such as tennis, rule the headlines for a few weeks only at the start of the summer. A high point in British recent sporting
history was definitely the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics and their legacies. Te success of Team GB and the entire four- week event electrified the nation, and en- sured one of the few successful redevelopments of an Olympic village. Tese days anyone can cycle the Olympic velodrome where Sir Chris Hoy and Dame Sarah Storey won gold, or swim in the aquatics centre where Rebecca Adlington and Tom Daley won their medals. We thought we’d have a look at some of the nation’s favourite sports and let FOCUS members know how to join in.
RUBGY
If you know anything about the history of rugby in Britain, you probably know the story of how a boy at Rugby School de- cided to pick up the ball and run with in- stead of kicking it. Te story may or may not be true but it didn’t stop the Rugby Union naming the World Cup trophy the Webb Ellis Cup after that boy – William Webb Ellis. Like most sports that developed in the
Victorian era, the game that we know today arose from a need to set the rules of
4 FOCUS The Magazine July/August 2019
www.focus-info.org
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