SPORTS
Many sports developed from ancient times, when running and throwing skills were essential to survival. Any activity governed by rules and requiring physical ability is considered a sport – and at the heart of many sports is a ball.
- Hurling: This fast-paced Irish game involves teams of 15 “hurlers” with axe-shaped sticks, two goals, and a small ball.
- American football: Points are scored by players carrying or throwing an oval ball into the opposition’s area.
- Polo: This ball game is played on horseback. Riders use long-handled mallets to drive a ball into the goal.
- Football: The world’s most popular sport involves two teams of 11 players trying to score goals in the opposition’s net, with each game lasting 90 minutes.
- Hockey: In this game, two teams armed with hockey sticks try to score by smashing a ball into the opponent’s net.
- Shot-put: Players compete to throw a 7 kg (16 lb) metal shot as far as possible.
- Gaelic football: With its roots in an ancient Irish game called caid, players score by kicking or hitting the ball through H-shaped goals.
- Aussie Rules football: Players pass the oval-shaped ball to team-mates by kicking or throwing it. To score, they must kick the ball between four posts at each end of the field.
- Juggling balls: Jugglers keep several balls in the air at once. Experienced jugglers can swap balls for knives and fire torches.
- Lacrosse: Invented by Native Americans, players catch and throw a rubber ball with netted sticks. They must throw it into the opposition team’s goal to score.
- Softball: In this team sport, players use a bat to whack a ball as far as possible to give them time to run around four ground markers.
- Rugby: Players attempt to gain points by landing the oval ball beyond the other team’s goal line or kicking it over a high H-shaped goal.
- Medicine ball: Athletes put these weighty balls on their bodies to increase their muscle strength while exercising.
- Baseball: This sport is very similar to softball, but played with a smaller, harder ball.
- Cricket: A bowler throws the ball at a wicket (set of wooden poles), which is defended by a batsman.
- Golf: A club is used to hit a small ball a long distance to get it into, or as near as possible to, each hole on a course.
- Boules: Very popular in France, players compete to throw heavy balls at a much smaller ball, called a jack.
- Bowls: On well-maintained lawns, players try to roll balls closer to a small target ball than their opponents.
- Snooker: Using sticks called cues, two players attempt to pot 15 red balls and six different coloured balls into six pockets on a special wool-covered table.
- Rounders: Two teams take turns at batting and fielding. A rounder is scored when a player hits the ball far enough to run around four posts before the ball is returned by a fielder.
- Basketball: The game was first played using peach baskets on poles for hoops. If a team scored, the referee climbed a ladder to get the ball.
- Netball: Based on basketball, this team sport is played on courts and is most popular with women in Australasia.
- Volleyball: Two teams of six players compete to pass a ball over a high net using only their hands. If the ball touches the ground, the other team gains points.
- Croquet: French peasants in the 14th century used wooden mallets to whack a wooden ball through hoops crafted from bent branches, inventing the game of croquet.
- Tennis: Played on grass or clay courts, two players (singles) or four players (doubles) use racquets to hit a felt-covered ball over a net.
- Pool: Similar to snooker, two players use cues to sink either red or yellow balls into pockets. The winner is the player who pots the final black ball.
- Squash: Inside a walled court, players take turns to smash a rubber ball against the wall with a racquet.
- Beach volleyball: First played on California’s sandy beaches in the 1920s, this sport can now be played on artificial sand courts.
- Table tennis: This sport began in Victorian England, when dinner guests turned their table into a mini tennis court. Champagne corks were used as balls.
- Water polo: Players swim to catch the ball to stop the opposing team from reaching their goal.
- Tenpin bowling: Players hurl a heavy ball down a wooden lane to knock down the 10 pins.
- Marbles: Players compete to throw glass marbles inside a designated circle or at another target marble.
Picture Credit : Google
