Category Archives: Sports

“Howzat!?”

• Cricket is a bat and ball game, played with two opposing teams of eleven players and is very popular in Australia, New Zealand, England, South Africa, India, and West Indies.
• The main equipment used in cricket is a cricket bat, ball and wickets, as well as protective equipment for the players, especially the batsman and the wicket keeper.
• There is no set size or shape of a cricket field, although it is usually played on a grassy, circular or oval shaped field, with a 20 meter (22 yards) rectangular strip, called the pitch, in the centre.
• In cricket, a bowler throws a ball towards a batter, who is an opposing team member, who tries to hit the ball and then run along the pitch as many times as possible to score points, or runs.
• If the cricket ball hits the wickets, the batter is out, and the next team member comes in to bat.  An innings in cricket generally occurs when most or all members of the team have batted, and then the two teams swap positions.

Test Cricket
Image courtesy of Eltpics/Flickr

• Professional cricket generally has 20 to 50 overs, with one over every six balls.
• Cricket originated in the 1500s, in Europe and became popular in England in the 17th century, with significant matches being held towards the end of the century.
• The cricket bowling technique was originally underarm until it changed into roundarm in the 1800s, and than to overarm.
• Cricket can’t be played if the field is wet, since players may slip on the wet ground, and the bounce of the cricket ball on the pitch is significantly affected.
• Some English phrases have their origin in cricket, such as ‘bowled over’ and ‘had a good innings’.

Bibliography:
Cricket, 2013 Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket>

Quick action…

• Table tennis is also known as ‘ping-pong’ and ‘wiff-waff’.
• Table tennis is a sport or a game, played at a specially designed table, where a player must hit a ping pong ball over a net to the opponent, and can be played with two or four players.
• Table tennis is a quick game which requires very good reflexes.
• Table tennis has been governed by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) since 1926.
• Table tennis became an Olympic sport in 1988.

Table Tennis
Image courtesy of Singapore 2010 Youth Olympics/Flickr

• Table tennis was originally an English game that was invented in the 1880s and was commonly played by the wealthy after dinner.
• The modern table tennis ball was brought to Europe from the United States  in 1901 and the racket was also made in the same year.
• The table tennis ball is normally a small, light weight ball, 40 mm in diameter, and the modern table tennis table is 2.74 meters (9 feet) in length and 1.82 meters (5 feet) in width.
• Table tennis rackets, bats or paddles are often made from balsa, limba, cyress or hinoki wood and generally have a layer of rubber covering the surface.
• There are many different types of ways to hit or block balls in table tennis.

Bibliography: Table Tennis, 2013 Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_tennis>

Run, run, run, leap over the beam!

• High jump is an athletic event where one must jump, from only one foot, over a supported bar which is raised higher as the competition goes on.
• If the jumper doesn’t make it over, or knocks off the high jump bar, the jumper gains a foul.
• The earliest record of a high jump event was in the 1800s, in Scotland.
• Some high jumpers wear spiked shoes that help maintain stability on take off, and make it more comfortable.
• Most high jumpers run at the bar at a 30 or 40 degree angle.
  

High Jump
Image courtesy of Joe Cortina/Flickr

• The current high jump world records are held by Javier Sotomayor from Cuba, (1993) with 2.45 meters (8.03 feet) for the male record, and Stefka Kostadinova from Bulgaria, the female record holder, (1987) with 2.09 meters (6.85 feet).
• High jump has been included in the Olympic games since 1896.
• Once high jumpers have failed to make it over the bar three times in a row, they are no longer able to compete.
• There are a choice of two main techniques when high jumping: the Scissor Style, and the Fosbury Flop.
• The winner of a high jump competition is the person who was able to complete a jump over the bar at the greatest height.

Bibliography:
High Jump, 2013 Wikipedia,< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_jump>

Dribble, dribble, jump, shoot, score!

• Basketball is normally a non-contact sport that requires the player to throw balls through a basketball hoop to score points.
• Basketball is typically played in two teams of five players, with one ball, and a basketball hoop mounted 3 metres (10 ft) high on a backboard at each end of the court.
• Basketball is one of the most popular sports worldwide.
• Basketball was invented by Dr James Naismith, a physical education teacher, when he nailed a peach basket to a wall for his students on a rainy day in 1891, in Massachusetts, USA.
• Basketball originally used a soccer ball until brown basket balls were produced for the purpose, until the modern orange, more visible balls were introduced in the 1950s.

Basketball
Image courtesy of Hin255/ Free Digital Photos

• The first official basketball game was held in 1892, with nine people playing.
• Basketball was first played in the Olympic Games in 1936.
• A standard basketball is 75cm (29.5 inches) in circumference, although basket balls used in women’s tournaments are usually slightly smaller.
• Basketball is generally played indoors on a basketball court, the standard size being 26.8 meters (94 feet) in length and 15.2 meters (50 feet) in width.
• Professional male basketball players are generally 1.9 meters (6 ft 3) in height or taller.

Bibliography:
Basketball 7 March 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketball>

Run and jump… bounce, bounce, bounce.

• Bungee jumping is normally performed on very tall, vertical or horizontal objects, such as mountains, bridges and buildings.
• Bungee jumping is also sometimes spelt ‘bungy’ jumping.
• The term ‘bungee’ from bungee jumping, comes from a dialect of English, which means ‘anything thick and squat’, although the term is most likely a reference to the type of cord used.
• Bungee jumps are usually made from objects that don’t move but sometimes jumps are made from an aircraft.
• Bungee jumping uses an elastic rope that is tied around the jumper’s legs and protective equipment that is similar to the protective equipment used in climbing.

Bungee Jumping
Image courtesy of KCShearon/Flickr

• Bungee jumping is popular in film, and bungee jumping was performed in the 1995 opening of the James Bond ‘GoldenEye’ movie.
• Bungee jumping can be performed in many styles and techniques, such as starting the jump on low ground or jumping off a ramp.
• Bungee jumping can be dangerous if the equipment is not checked and used correctly, and if the equipment does not properly fit the jumper.
• One of the most common bungee jumping dangers caused by jumping, is damage to eyesight.
• Bungee jumping is proven to increase stress levels and affect the immune system.

Bibliography:
Bungee Jumping 28 February 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bungee_jumping>

Throw the ball and jump!

• In the sport of dodgeball, two teams throw balls at their opponents while dodging the balls that are thrown back at them.
• Dodgeball is typically played in primary and secondary school, and university.
• The aim of dodgeball is to throw balls at the opposite team and hit them with the ball, or to catch balls thrown from the opposite team, before the balls bounce.
• Dodgeball games generally use three to ten dodgeballs.
• A typical dodgeball  ball is made from foam and is about the size of a volleyball.

Dodgeball
Image courtesy of Presidio of Monterey: DLIFLC & USAG/Flickr

• Dodgeball is generally played on a basketball court, enclosed area or soccer field.
• There are many different rule variations to the dodgeball game including the use of pins or bottles.
• Dodgeball can be dangerous, as you could be hurt by a dodgeball or slip.
• A record was set for a dodgeball game with the most players on 25 September, 2012 by the University of California, Irvine (UCI) with 6,084 players.
• The phrase ‘playing dodgeball’ is sometimes used in America in reference to something unpleasant that was attempted to be avoided.

Bibliography:
Dodgeball 15 February 2013 , Wikipedia,  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodgeball>