Sports in Great Britain The British like sport very much. They are fond of all kinds of sports. Many sports were invented in Great Britain and then spread throughout the world. Sports became popular long ago. In the 19-th century sport was organized at public schools so that young people could develop their physical abilities. But shortly afterwards the idea was borrowed by businessmen who started to organize football and other sports for their workers. From the 1960s commercial companies began to sponsor different British sports and activities. The national British sports are: football, golf, cricket, tennis, racing, darts. Like everyone else the British adore football. Moreover, the Englishmen invented it. Nobody can say for sure when people started playing football on the British Isles. It is important however, that current uniform rules of the game were settled only in the 19-th century. At that time there was a great debate, whether one could use his hand to kick the ball or not. Those who wanted to permit the players to carry the ball with their hands united to form rugby. Rugby is played by teams of 15 men with an oval ball. Those who insisted on playing with feet and head only had the majority and that was the beginning of football as everybody knows it today. In Great Britain and more often in the United States football is called soccer to distinguish the game from American football, the game that has much in common with rugby. Soccer, played almost in all countries, remains one of the most popular games in Great Britain. Each team consists of field players and one goalkeeper. Only the goalkeeper is permitted to take the ball into his hands. The game lasts for 90 minutes with a 15 minute break between two halves 45 minutes each. Most British towns and cities have a football team. Every year, each team in England plays in the Football Association competition.

Gymnastics The centre has been chosen as a venue to host Olympic gymnastic teams from other countries while they prepare for the 2012 London Olympics. This is recognition of Sutcliffe Borough Councils and Notts Gymnastic Clubs efforts and funding over 11 years to develop and train potential Olympic athletes at the centre. The centre is home to many potential Olympians including the very talented Becky Downier, who represented Great Britain in the 2007 world gymnastic championships, when the team qualified for Beijing.

Tennis Tennis is also very popular in Britain. Two different games that do not have much in common bear the name of tennis - lawn tennis and table tennis. Both games first appeared in England, but today the British prefer lawn tennis to table tennis. Every summer, in June, the biggest tournament in the world takes place at Wimbledon. This world centre of lawn tennis is located in a suburb of London. Millions of people watch the Wimbledon Championship on TV. Table tennis originated in England in But the British players are not lucky in table tennis international championships.

Golf Golf is a widely spread all over Great Britain game. The Scots are sure the golf is a Scottish game. It is played all the year round.

Horseracing Horse-racing is a popular sport in Britain. A lot of people are interested in the races and risk money on the horse which they think will win.

Cricket One of the most British games is cricket. It is often played in schools, colleges, universities and by club teams all over the country. To many Englishmen cricket is a game and a standard of behavior. When they consider something unfair, they sometimes say: "That's not cricket".

Rugby Football, the most popular game in the world, is of two kinds in Britain: association football (soccer) and rugby. Soccer, played in almost all countries, remains one of the most popular games in Great Britain. Rugby football originated at Rugby public school. In this game players may carry the ball. Rugby is played by teams of 15 men with an oval ball.

Water polo Water polo is a team contest game, which takes place usually in a swimming pool. A team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals, as in every such kind of sport. The rules of water polo were originally developed in the late nineteenth century in Great Britain by William Wilson. The modern game originated as a form of rugby football played in rivers and lakes in England and Scotland with a ball constructed of Indian rubber. This "water rugby" came to be called "water polo" based on the English pronunciation of the Baltic word for ball, polo. Early play allowed brute strength, wrestling and holding opposing players underwater to recover the ball; the goalie stood outside the playing area and defended the goal by jumping in on any opponent attempting to score by placing the ball on the deck.

Ice hockey European immigrants brought various versions of hockey-like games to North America, such as the Irish sport of hurling, the closely related Scottish sport of shanty, and versions of field hockey played in England. Where necessary these seem to have been adapted for icy conditions; for example, a colonial Williamsburg newspaper records hockey being played in a snow storm in Virginia. Early paintings show "shinny", an early form of hockey with no standard rules, being played in Nova Scotia. Author Thomas Chandler Halliburton wrote in a book of fiction, about boys from King's College School in Windsor, Nova Scotia, playing Hurley on the ice" when he was a student there around 1800 (Halliburton was born in 1796).[5] To this day, "Shinny" (derived from Shanty) is a popular Canadian term for an informal type of hockey, either on ice or as street hockey. These early games may have also absorbed the physically aggressive aspects of what the Mi'kmaq Aboriginal First Nation in Nova Scotia called dehuntshigwa'es (lacrosse) IrishhurlingScottishshantyWilliamsburgsnow stormNova ScotiaThomas Chandler HalliburtonWindsorNova Scotia[5]ShinnyCanadianstreet hockeyMi'kmaqAboriginalFirst NationNova Scotialacrosse

Diving Diving refers to the sport of performing acrobatics while jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard of a certain height. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non- competitive diving is a common recreational pastime in places where swimming is popular. While not a particularly popular participant sport, diving is one of the more popular Olympic sports with spectators. Successful competitors possess many of the same characteristics as gymnasts and dancers, including strength, flexibility, kinesthetic judgment and air awareness. In the recent past, the success and prominence of Greg Louganis led to American strength internationally. China came to prominence several decades ago when the sport was revolutionized by national coach Liang Boxi and after intense study of the dominant Louganis. China has lost few world titles since. Other noted countries in this sport include Australia and Canada.acrobaticssport Olympic GamesOlympicgymnastsdancerskinestheticGreg LouganisLiang Boxi

Wrestling Wrestling in schools and clubs is a sport of individual participation functioning within the framework of team concepts. This aspect contributes to the development of life-long patterns of responsible behavior including respect for others regardless of social or racial origin. A young person involved in wrestling can be expected to display increasing self- confidence and appreciation of their self- worth, and develop analytical and adaptive skills. What is more wrestling is fun and, like other athletic pursuits, all the family can participate in various ways; from supporting the kids (yes girls can wrestle too!) and their clubs through to becoming a qualified referee. Want to learn more? Well why not visit one of the National competitions or use the 'Clubs' page to find out what activity is taking place near you.

Swimming Swimming. Many children in Britain learn to swim at school, or during the holidays at the seaside, and swimming pool as a summer pastime is enjoyed by millions of people. There are also indoor swimming pools which makes swimming possible all the year round. Swimming championships and competitions are widely reported in press and on TV. Attempts to swim the English channel have been made by swimmers of many nationalities every summer. Some of the attempts are successful.