Sports and games

Sport and games are very important for active relaxation and are also important for our physical and mental health. The main difference between sport and game is that game is the ‘collective’ and the sport is more individual - it means football or basketball are games and e.g. tennis or swimming are sports.

We can practise some of sports and games indoor and some of them outdoor. In the first group there are e.g. ice-hockey, basketball, handball, figure skating or gymnastics and in the second group there are e.g. baseball, golf, winter sports such as skiing (slalom, down-hill, ski-jump), rellyes or riding. There are also sports for both indoor and outdoor - swimming, athletics (sprint, jump, javelin), football, tennis, volleyball etc. Some sports such as diving, windsurfing or racing can be quite dangerous and very expensive.

Many sports have their origin in Great Britain (England). The most specific is cricket, often called the ‘English national sport’. It has never been adopted in foreign countries (expect the Commonwealth states). Also football, golf and tennis are very popular there. Rugby (rugby football) is very popular in Scotland and has its origin there, quite popular are rowing [1] and horse-riding too. The major sports events of the year in UK are The Grand Slam Tennis Tournament in Wimbledon (in London), The British Open Golf Championship and The Grand National (horse-riding steeple-chase [2]). In Great Britain the old clubs of aristocracy and very rich people have a big prestige and very long tradition.

In the USA there are especially baseball and basketball (NBA), which have its origin there, ice-hockey (NHL) and golf very popular. There is a long tradition of school sport clubs at all of the high schools and collages. Many Americans exercise for good health every day - fitness and keeping fit is an important part of American way of life. There are also very important world’s sport events. The most famous are The Olympic Games (the Olympics), which are held every four years and have got its summer and winter part, which change once every two years. Other important events (which are held annually or every two years) are The World and The European Championships and Cups in almost every type of sports (e.g. in football, athletics, swimming, skiing etc.), The Grand Slam Tennis Tournaments, The Formula One Championship etc.
 
[1] veslování
[2] překážkový dostih