Sports and games
Sports are one of the most popular leisure activities. Sport help one to keep fit both physically and mentally. It is a form of relaxation, it can help take off some weight, and makes use of one’s skills and strength. Last but not least, during sports events one can meet a lot of new people and see how it feels to be a winner or a loser.
Usually all sports and games are further diferentiated into two groups according to where they can be practiced. Indoor sports include for example gymnastics, table tennis, boxing, wrestling etc. On the other hand among outdoors sports are skiing (down-hill, cross-country, slalom or ski jump), sledding, hiking, rock climbing, horse riding, golf, and some aquatic sports such as rowing or windsurfing. Non-professional cycling or riding a (mountain) bike, which is one of the most popular activities, is also enjoyed out of doors (on the roads or paths). But most sports and almost all games can be done both indoors and outdoors. Meetings in all the track and field events (sprints, middle and long distance runs, hurdling, high and long jump, pole vault, shot put, javelin and discus throw) take place in summer stadiums as well as in athletic halls. Also one of the healthiest sports, swimming, and figure skating do not actually demand a roofed room. One can easily recognize that those sports which can be done only on ice or snow (skating, skiing etc.) are winter sports whereas all the rest we call summer or all-season sports.
The games are usually all-season activities, and they are practised both indoors and outdoors. The most numerous group of games are the ball games. The British are great lovers of competitive sports, and when they are neither playing nor watching games they like to talk about them. England was also the first home of many popular modern games. Among these, football is the most widespread. As is commonly known, in this collective game two teams of 11 members play with a ball on a grass playing field. The purpose is to kick the ball so as to get it into the opposite goal. In Britain there are a great number of clubs (some of them are Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Manchester United, Arsenal or Queens Park Rangers), and in London there is one of the world’s biggest football stadiums – the Wembley Arena. Football is played all over the world. In the United States, however, it is called soccer. Rugby football is also very popular. This game was first played at Rugby (a town) School, England. In this game the ball is oval. While golf is of Scottish origin, cricket was and still remains an English national game. Next to soccer the chief spectator sport is horseracing. The best-known steeplechase race is the Great National, run at Aintree near Liverpool. Another annual sporting event that the British look forward to is the famous university rowing race between Oxford and Cambridge, which is held on the river Thames. The lawn tennis season reaches its peak every year at the Wimbledon tournament, which is played in London in early June. For relaxation squash is also played.
In the USA most sports and games have been to a great extent commercionalized. The four foremost professional games there are American football, baseball, basketball, and ice hockey. These games are turned into big shows in which the sports stars make a lot of money. American football differs from European mainly in the shape of the ball (oval), the way in which it is carried by the players (in the hands), and the form of scoring (touchdowns at field goals). Other sports such as the former Indian game lacrosse or field hockey are also popular.
In our country ball games rank among the most popular ones. They include especially football, volleyball, basketball, handball, and tennis. Besides this ice hockey is played at a very high level here too. Our country has produced many sportsmen who have achieved success in top international competitions. In the first place athletics (recently javelin and decathlon), but also netgames (tennis and volleyball) players and shooters have excelled abroad.
In our town there are rather many sports facilities available. We can visit the swimming pool, ice hockey stadium, football stadium. We have tennis and volleyball courts and a handball playground too. We can play mini golf or cycling to the Křivoklát along the Rakovnický stream. For indoor activities there is a modern sports hall and several fitness centres in the town. Besides many other small fields in the town there are a few gymnasiums near the schools. Rakovník has many sport teams – the most important is football or volleyball.
We do some sports in our grammar school too. Our physical training lessons are quite rare – we have them only twice a week. Usually before the lesson starts we change into sports wear such as T-shirts, shorts, track pants, sweatshirts and sneakers in a dressing room. When the weather is good, our lessons are usually filled with running, jumping or playing games. But first we must always do a little warm-up exercise. In winter or in bad weather, we go to the gym and do gymnastics. Our gym is fully equipped – there are many apparatuses there (wallbars, horizontal bar, parallel bars, beam, rings, vaulting horse, mats, springboards, climbing rope and pole). We can attend basketball club too.
The Olympic Games are the most important and the most famous games all over the world – they are held every 4 years, they have their summer and winter parts since 1924 and they change once every 2 years. The first recorded Olympic Games took place in Olympia in Greece in the year 776 B.C. There exist many legend about the origin of the games. They were so important to Greeks, that even the wars were stopped during they took place. Then they were forgotten and then in 1896 renewed by Pierre de Coubertin.
Sports and games have an important role in my life and even now they are my hobby. I like cycling, football or volley-ball. I like jogging or hiking too. But I don´t like watching sports on TV. My brother likes watching sports on TV especially football, ice-hockey, horse-racing or winter sports, but I thing it is damage of time.