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 ‘collective’ and sport is more individual – it means football or basketball are games and e.g. tennis or swimming are sports.

We can practice 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.

Olympic Games

Every four years, athletes from around the world come together to compete in the Olympic Games. Olympic Games are called because the games were first held at Olympia in Ancient Greece. The ancient Olympic Games honoured the Greek god Zeus. Today, the Olympic Games are held in different cities around the world.

The ancient Games

Ancient Olympic Games began as far back as 776 BC. That’s when the Greeks began keeping records of the winners. The Ancient Games continued until about 392 AD, more than 1000 years.

Athletes came from cities throughout Greece to compete in races, boxing and wrestling matches, gymnastics, and weightlifting. They also threw spears, hurled a discus (bronze disk), and jumped for distance. Wealthy Greeks raced their horses. Winners were crowned with wreaths of olive or palm leaves.

The ancient Olympic Games were not just a sporting event, however. There were competitions in poetry, music, speechmaking, and other arts as well.

At the beginning and end of the Games, animals were sacrificed (killed and offered) to Zeus. A splendid temple was built at Olympia in Zeus’s honour. When people stopped worshipping the Greek gods, the Olympic Games were cancelled.

Basketball

Basketball is a sport in which two teams of five players each try to score points on one another by throwing a ball through a hoop (the basket) under organized rules.

Points are scored by passing the ball through the basket from above; the team with more points at the end of the game wins. A regular jump shot inside the arch is worth two points, beyond the arch is three points, and a free throw is one point. The ball can be advanced on the court by bouncing it (dribbling) or passing it between teammates. Disruptive physical contact (foul) is not permitted and there are restrictions on how the ball can be handled (violations).

Through time, basketball has developed to involve common techniques of shooting, passing and dribbling, as well as players‘ positions, and offensive and defensive structures. While competitive basketball is carefully regulated, numerous variations of basketball have developed for casual play. Basketball is also a popular spectator sport.

While competitive basketball is primarily an indoor sport, played on a basketball court, less regulated variations have become exceedingly popular as an outdoor sport among inner city groups.