A SPORTS MAD NATION - Focus
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A S P O RT S
M A D N AT I O N
Is Britain a sports-mad nation? It’s pretty sport is plenty and constantly evolving. In where residents make up teams that have
clear, after spending about a day here, that addition to the well-established British been playing each other since the 1800s.
it is. ere are so many events, from the al- sports, the UK happily embraces other Horseracing isn’t merely held in certain
most-mythic football World Cup win in sports. In fact there are more people be- towns, it’s the very essence of them.
1966 to the success of British cyclists al- tween the ages of 14-25 playing basketball Newmarket may have a race track but the
most annually to just about every appear- every week than golf and cricket combined business and culture of horse training and
ance by Andy Murray on a tennis court, and every year Wembley Stadium hosts racing dominates the town.
that unite the nation, or at least have it several sell-out American NFL games. For every season there is a sport. At all
watching, talking and even arguing. It’s It’s not all about the millions of specta- times of the year, throughout the length
not really a surprise that Brits are obsessed tors filling stadiums and arenas either, al- and breadth of the country, teams or indi-
considering so many sports were either in- though those numbers are considerable. viduals can be immersed in competitions.
vented in this country or had their rule- According to Deloitte, 74.5 million tickets Some of these, like Premier League football
book set here. From boxing to cricket, for professional sporting events were sold dominate for months while others, such as
tennis to golf, this small island nation has in Britain in 2017. A huge number of Brits tennis, rule the headlines for a few weeks
developed or shaped some of the world’s take part in sport every day, week or only at the start of the summer.
favourite sports and even some of the month. On most afternoons, just walking A high point in British recent sporting
world’s more obscure ones – lawn bowls past any park, sports ground, track or club, history was definitely the 2012 Olympics
anyone? you’ll see individuals or teams playing. and Paralympics and their legacies. e
Some countries, even certain continents From school days playing on a team and success of Team GB and the entire four-
have a defining sport. When you think of well into adulthood, Brits have a lifelong week event electrified the nation, and en-
South America you think football, with relationship with their sport of choice. sured one of the few successful
New Zealand and Australia it’s rugby, and Sport is deeply rooted to place in redevelopments of an Olympic village.
India and Pakistan have cricket. In Britain Britain. Cricket has its roots in villages, ese 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.
RU BG Y
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. e 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
“The heart and soul of the tennis world, not to mention one of the oldest surviving courts, is located in London.”
the game. Up until that time it was a
pretty lawless affair with no limit to the
number of players on each side. Many of
the most prominent public schools in
England played a version of rugby and
Will to Win
football and each had a different set of
rules. It wasn’t until the late 1800s that the
sport started being played by adults out-
side of schools and a compromise on what
was allowed in play was finally agreed. e
sport that didn’t allow any handling of the
ball became Association Football (soccer)
Queen’s Club
and the sport that did became Rugby
Football (rugby.)
WANT TO PL AY?
You don’t have to look far to find a rugby
club. Check out www.findrubgynow.com or TENNIS Islington Tennis Centre
www.rubgyclubs.info. www.better.org.uk/leisure/islingtontc
Some form of tennis seems to have been
Dukes Meadows
For those with experience, Old
played for centuries, possibly even dating
Emmanuel plays at Blagdons sports
back to the Ancient Greeks and it may www.dukesmeadows.com/tennis
ground, New Malden, South London. e
The Harbour Club is a private gym with
have been in France where the sport was
club is open to children and adults.
refined. But the heart and soul of the ten-
Anyone from age 5 and up can turn up, indoor tennis courts
nis world, not to mention one of the oldest
try out and train. www.harbourclub.com/racquets
surviving courts, is located in south-west
London. If you know only one thing about Private tennis clubs in London require
tennis it’s that Wimbledon is the pinnacle an annual fee and sometimes a joining
of tournaments. A day out at Wimbledon fee or a debenture. ey are high-end
RU G BY FAC T S
is a sporting and social necessity for any pricewise and range in waiting times.
tennis fan. Last year, nearly a half million ree popular tennis clubs in central
e home of English rugby is people attended e Championship, as it’s London with indoor courts are:
Twickenham. officially known. Tennis is intrinsically
Ealing Lawn Tennis Club
Scotland’s home is Murrayfield.
linked to a British summer with its straw-
www.ealingtennis.com
berries and cream and jugs of Pimm’s.
Wales’ is the Principality stadium previ- Royal patronage underlies Wimbledon’s Campden Hill Lawn Tennis Club
ously known as the Millenium Stadium standing as a major event; everyone from www.chltc.co.uk
Queen’s Club
the Queen down in the Royal Family has
Rugby union is played in more than paid a visit.
Want to play?
70 countries around the world. www.queensclub.co.uk
e same whistle is used to kick off the Most public tennis clubs offer group les-
opening game of every Rugby World Outdoor tennis courts are available in sons, with a combination of women’s
Cup tournament. e whistle is named nearly any park. Look them up on your only, men’s only, and mixed drills ses-
after Gil Evans, the Welsh referee over- local council park’s website or on the Lawn sions at various levels. Cardio tennis with
seeing a match between England and Tennis Association’s (LTA) website its fast-paced tennis drills and music is
New Zealand in 1905. www.lta.org.uk under ‘Find a court’. For also a popular option
London Irish, Welsh and Scottish some popular park courts in central In the Play section on the LTA website
rugby clubs are all London teams made London try www.willtowin.co.uk and
Battersea Park
www.lta.org.uk/play you can book into
up originally of Scottish, Welsh and play in local tennis leagues, training ses-
Irish men living in London. www.batterseapark.org/info/what-to- sions, and social Tuesdays with players of
do/sports/tennis your standard
Every year from 1872 there has been
Local Tennis Leagues services provide op-
an Oxford v Cambridge rugby match. ere are a few indoor pay and play courts
Since 1921 it has been played at in London including:
portunities for groups.
Westway Sports & Fitness Centre www.localtennisleagues.com. Tennis Jeanie
Twickenham.
www.everyoneactive.com/activity/tennis www.tennisjeannie.com are two others
www.focus-info.org FOCUS The Magazine 5
BOX ING F O OTB AL L
Boxing has been popular in Britain for G O L F L ANG UAG E
DEC O DED
e English Premier League is the best in
centuries and it provides the perfect exam- the world, the teams that dominate it and
ple of a global sport with British roots.
Birdie – one shot below par
their high-profile players are the rock stars
Any boxing fan knows it’s governed by the of sport. You can go pretty much anywhere
Marquess of Queensbury Rules, the code in the world and see someone with a Eagle – two shots below par
Albatross – or double eagle, three
used in boxing in everywhere. ese regu- Manchester United, Arsenal or Chelsea
lations, codified in 1867 in London, in- football club shirt on. Premier League
cludes things like the use of ‘fair-size shots below par
matches are beamed around the world and
gloves’, waiting in the corner for a count of most stadiums are sold out each week from Par – the standard score for either a
ten if your opponent is knocked down and August to May. But it’s not all top level. hole or the whole course
Putt – a shot played on the green.
a ban on shoes or boots with springs in the ere are three other leagues in England,
ring. Boxing has never been bigger than it
Drive – a long shot
four in Scotland and a Premier League in
is now. Arenas around the country sell out Wales. Naturally, in a football-mad coun-
regularly and British world title holders are try, there is no shortage of ways to get in- Green – specially prepared grass
the norm these days, not the exception. volved and play. around the hole
Want to play?
Most of the revenue for boxing promoters,
about 70%, comes from ticket sales not
South London Football Network
broadcast fees, making it a very popular
live spectator sport. www.slfn.co.uk has teams playing week- GOLF
Some of boxing’s most famous names in- nights and weekends. You can join and
clude Brits Nicola Adams, the first woman ere’s a saying that “golf is a good walk
play an informal but well-organised match spoilt” but don’t tell that to the tens of
to win an Olympic boxing title in 2012;
or join an 11 a side league team and play thousands of people who play the game
Chris Eubank, almost as famous for his ec-
on weekends. Just book and play when you every year in this country. Britain has the
centric taste in attire and cars and Henry
want; sessions can be anything from seven oldest golf course in the world and while
Cooper who faced off against Muhammed
a side to full 11 a side depending on how the game may have been invented else-
Ali at Highbury Stadium in 1963 and
many people book. where, it was perfected in Scotland. St
again in 1966.
Footy Addicts is a social platform that al-
Andrews is without a doubt the home of
Want to play? lows users to find or organise matches
golf and has been for the past 600 years.
e 18 rounds played today were devised
York Hall in Bethnal Green is known as the based on postcode. www.footyaddicts.com on this historic course in the late 1700s.
home of British boxing. You can catch London FA has more than 1,000 adult e Open, one of the four major golf
boxing matches at this early 20th teams including women’s. Find out how to championships and also the oldest, is
century multipurpose indoor area and join here: www.londonfa.com played every year. It’s the only one of those
leisure centre.
Power Play organises five, seven and 11 a
four major tournaments to be played out-
www.bettervenues.org.uk/venues/york-hall side of the US and it’s always played in
Balham Boxing Club is open to all ages and
side matches after work at locations Britain. Opens traditionally are played on
around the country. Find them here: courses that are no more than one mile
abilities. www.powerplay.co.uk/football. from the sea. ey’re known as links
www.smokincherry.wixsite.com/bbc1 courses – the original type of golf course,
All Stars Boxing Gym is located in a Grade unmanicured and built on grass covered
II listed church on Harrow Road, west sand dunes. ey tend to be rougher, more
London. www.allstars-gym.co.uk wild type of courses and much preferred by
London Fight Factory has classes all week
golf purists.
and on weekends too at their Old Street
gym www.londonfightfactory.com
6 FOCUS The Magazine July/August 2019 www.focus-info.org
“According to Deloitte, 74.5 million tickets for professional sporting events were sold in Britain in 2017.”
Want to play?
Richmond Park has two courses, one shorter
and slightly easier than the other.
www.glendalegolf.co.uk/richmond-park-golf-
course
Dukes Meadow has a nine-hole course as
well as a teaching academy.
www.dukesmeadows.com/golf
St Andrew’s – the home of golf. www.stan- Commonwealth countries from Pakistan
drews.com. and India to Australia and the West Indies.
Holland Park Golf School – learn to play
e language around the game can be as
golf in the middle of London. baffling as the multitude of matches and
www.hollandparkgolf.co.uk tournaments. ere are test matches,
county cricket, international one days, lim-
NET B AL L
ited overs and Twenty20 cricket. And that’s
before you get to the terminology.
Netball is without a doubt a sport unique e spiritual home of cricket is the
to Britain and countries with strong his- MCC, or Marylebone Cricket Club. It’s
toric British ties such as Australia and New only downside to playing netball for years the world’s most active club and the
Zealand. It’s hugely popular in schools is “you can never have nice nails. ey guardian of the games rules. e MCC’s
here so if you have a child in a British have to be short and are checked by um- famous grounds are Lord’s in St John’s
school, chances are she’ll be playing netball pires every match.” Wood and on important match days you
Want to play?
at some point. see throngs of men in distinctive red and
But it’s not just for kids and it’s more yellow club ties marching along to the
Check out the North London Netball
than just a school sport. It’s one of the ground. London’s other major cricket
League for 27 clubs with teams of all levels
fastest growing sports among women who ground is the Oval, home of Surrey
loved the game growing up and have been County Cricket Club.
playing Broomfield Park London N13
spurred on by the success of the English e Ashes is cricket’s biggest competi-
from September to May. www.nlnl.co.uk
national team. ey won Commonwealth tion in this country and it’s played every
gold last year and there’s great excitement Netbusters runs leagues and teams all over two years. e term originated in a satirical
for them at this year’s World Cup held in London. You can join as a team or as an British newspaper immediately after
Liverpool. individual. www.netbusters.org Australia beat England at the Oval in
Despite its image of being a “wimpier 1882. e paper ran spoof obituary stating
version of basketball” because of the whole C R IC KET “English cricket had died and the ashes
not being allowed to move with the ball taken to Australia.” e Ashes became as-
thing, netball is not for the faint hearted. Cricket is the only sport in the world that sociated with the match between England
It’s actually a fast and vicious game now. breaks for tea in the middle of a match. and Australia and is one of sports oldest ri-
According to one committed player, the at alone surely qualifies it as quintessen- valries between two nations.
tially British. e sport originated in
NETB AL L IN A NUT SH EL L BIG EVENTS THIS S U MMER
Britain in a 13th century ballgame and
spread around the world thanks to Britain’s
imperial past. It’s now a dominant sport in
A match is split into four quarters July 2–31 Women’s Ashes
of 15 minutes
July 14 Men’s Cricket World Cup final
ere are seven players who each have
July 12–21
their own position and can only move
Netball World Cup, Liverpool
in certain areas of the court
July 18–21
Only two players – the goal shooter and
e Open golf championship
the goal attack – can score and they
The Ashes
must be inside the goal semi-circle August 1–September 16 e Ashes
Players are not allowed to run when August 6
they are in possession of the ball Kia Super League women’s cricket
With contributions from Gary Griffiths, Stella Williamson and others
www.focus-info.org FOCUS The Magazine 7
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