International Sports Essay, Research Paper
International Sports
Polo – How the game is played
A polo match lasts about one and one-half hours and
is divided into six 7 minute periods or chukkers. Since
a horse in fast polo can cover two and one-half to
three miles per period, he’ll be too tired to play a
second one right away. After resting for two or three
periods, some horses can return to the game. Still, in
championship polo, a player will come to the field with
at least six horses. The mounts are horses, mostly
thoroughbreds, not ponies. The object of the game is to
score as many goals as possible. There are four players
on a team and each assumes a specific position either
offensive or defensive. However, given the enormous
size of the playing fields, the momentum of the
galloping horses and the ball’s unexpected changes of
direction, the game is very fluid, and the positions
continuously change. There are few set plays in polo,
and good anticipation is almost a sixth sense. With
thousand pound animals running at speed there is a
pre-eminent necessity for a right of way rule. The
central concept in the rules of polo is the line of the
ball, a right-of-way established by the path of the
traveling ball. Like the rules of the road, there are
do?s and don’ts governing access to this right-of-way
and crossing it. Within these limitations, a player can
hook an opponent’s mallet, push him off the line, bump
him with his horse or steal the ball from him.
Penalties are awarded as free hits. The more severe,
the shorter the distance to the goal. The closer hits
are almost certain goals. After every goal is scored,
the teams change sides in order to compensate for field
and wind conditions. A typical score would be 10-7.
Polo games are played on the flat or the handicap.
Every registered player is awarded a skill rating from
C (-2, the lowest) to 10 (the highest). When a match is
played on the handicap basis, the sum total rating of
the players on the team is subtracted from that of the
opposition. Any difference is then awarded to the lower
rated side in goals on the scoreboard.
Polo – The history
Possibly the oldest team sport, polo’s genesis is lost
to the eye of history. An Asiatic game, polo was first
played on a barren campground by nomadic warriors over two
thousand years ago Valuable for training Cavalry, the game
was played from Constantinople to Japan by the Middle Ages.
Known in the East as the Game of Kings, Tamer lane’s polo
grounds can still be seen in Samarkand. British tea planters
in India witnessed the game in the early 1800’s but it was
not until the 1850’s that
the British Cavalry drew up the earliest rules and by the
1869’s the game was well established in England. James
Gordon Bennett, a noted American publisher, balloonist, and
adventurer, was captivated by the sport and brought it to
New York in 1876 where it caught on immediately. Within ten
years, there were major clubs all over the east, including
Newport and Long Island. Over the next 50 years, polo
achieved extraordinary popularity in the United States. By
the 1930’s polo was in the midst of a Golden Age it was an
Olympic sport and crowds in excess of 30,000 regularly
attended international matches at Meadow Brook Polo Club on
Long Island. The galloping game produced athletes who would
doubtless have achieved greatness in any sport. Cecil Smith,
the Texas cowboy who held a perfect 10-goal rating for a
still-record 25 years. Devereux Melbourne, instrumental in
formulating modern styles of play and Tommy Hitch cock, war
hero and the best of the best in international competition
for two decades. In the past 20 years, polo in the United
States has undergone an unprecedented and remarkable
expansion. At present, there are more than 225 clubs with
over 3,000 players.
Cricket – The rules
There are 2 teams which have 11 players each. They play
on a large circular or oval field batting area pitch at
the center. At each end of the pitch is a 28inch-high
wicket consisting of three vertical poles called stumps
and two small horizontal sticks called bales.
Wicket is an old word for a small gate. One
team bats and the other team fields or bowls. All
eleven members of the fielding team are on the field at the
same time in various positions. Two members of the batting
team are on the field at a time, one batsman standing near
each wicket. One member of the fielding team, called the
bowler, the bowler throws the ball overran from one wicket
towards the other with the aim of hitting the target wicket.
The batsman at that end tries to hit the ball with his bat.
The aim of the batsmen is to score runs for his
team. There are 2 ways a batsman can get these runs:
1. By hitting the ball out of the field. If the ball does not bounce before it crosses the
boundary he scores 6 runs and if it does bounce he scores 4 runs.
2. By hitting the ball within the field and running from one end of the pitch to the
other. The other batsman runs in the opposite direction. One run is scored for each
length of the pitch they run.
The aim of the fielding team is to get each batsman out.
There are 3 main ways a batsman can be out:
1. If he is caught
2. If the batsman is run out
3. If a ball delivered by the bowler hits any part of the batsman and it is judged by the
umpire that the ball would have hit the wicket if the batsman had not been in the way.
The part of the body usually hit is the leg and so this type of out is called LBW.
When a batsman is out he is replaced by another member of
his team. Once the fielding team gets 10 of the 11 batsmen
out, or the over limit is reached, the
fielding team becomes the batting team and vice versa. The
new batting team then has to try to beat the other team’s
score. The game may last for one or two innings for each
team. The team with the highest number of
runs at the end of the game wins.
Cricket – equipment
Bat
For a young boy to learn the art of batting, the choice
of a bat, of suitable size and weight, is of the most
importance. It is best for the young batsmen to use a bat
which feels light rather than one which fells heavy. There
is little benefit to be had from using a heavy bat too
early, especially when one is just beginning. Don’t get t
aken in by the talk of heavy bats in modern cricket. You can
use it but only when you are sufficiently strong to be able
to handle it.
Pads
Careful instruction should be give by the coach on the
importance of selecting batting pads that will be suitable
to young players. Pads should provide adequate protection
from injury, fit comfortably on the legs, should not be
cumbersome or too heavy and must not impede or restrict
quick and easy movement.
Player Code
Players should always be neatly and correctly dressed.
All boots should be clean and properly sprigged, either with
spikes on the soles and heels or with spikes in the soles
and hardened ribbed rubber on the heels. Bad sprigging may
easily be the cause of a spilled catch or a run out. A
bowler will not be able to get a good foothold on a hard or
wet surface. No player should wear a wrist-watch or ring on
the field or should one carry a cap in a pocket. A protector
should be worn at all times by the batsmen and the
wicket-keeper and the fielders right near the bat.
Comfortable well fitting socks should be worn. In the case
of fast bowler, it is quite often good policy to wear two
pairs of socks. It is recommended that batsmen and keepers
wear only short socks. Not only do they give a smarter
appearance but are also more comfortable. Fold the trousers
in front of the legs and strap the pads tight to them.
Batting gloves should be worn at all times in all grades of
the game. This gives the player protection as well as
comfort in gripping the bat. Bad equipment or lack of
equipment in a match or at the nets can often be very
damaging to a player’s confidence. Often, players who are
hurt in the nets would have been spared the agony had they
been wearing proper equipment. Such shortage of equipment
can also lead a player into gaining the bad habit of not
getting behind the line of the ball. No Bowler can do
justice to himself and his team if his boots are
ill-fitting, if his toes are being pinched, if the sprigs
are piercing the material and keep getting at his feet, if
blisters are being caused by chafing and if toenails are
being compressed. A proper grip of the ground is also vital.
Pay a lot of attention when you are buying your first pair
of cricket boots. Boots must be laced tight to give support
to the ankles. Blisters must be avoided. An additional
innersole is often helpful. A little talcum power sprinkled
into the socks or a little Vaseline applied between the toes
may help avoid friction and stop the blisters. Aids to foot
comfort are not sufficient in themselves. Boots must fit
well. Helmets may become necessary at a later stage when
young batsmen come across bowlers who are really pacy. It
would be much better to learn to play the game without them.
It is not too difficult to adjust to the helmet once you go
up the ladder and you need the protection of this modern
headgear.
Rugby – Introduction
Rugby is a popular game played by men and women of
every race, from under age five to well over fifty, in over
100 countries of the world. In a few of those countries it
is the national sport – some say religion. The basic game
involves 15 players. The object of the game is to score as
many points as possible by carrying, passing, kicking and
grounding an oval ball in the scoring zone at the far end of
the field called the in-goal area. Grounding the ball, which
must be done with downward pressure, results in a try, worth
5 points. After a try a conversion may be attempted by place
kick or drop kick. If the ball passes over the bar and
between the goal posts the conversion is successful and
results in a further 2 points. Points may also be scored
from a drop kick in general play, worth 3 points and a
penalty kick worth 3 points. The ball may not be passed
forward (though it may be kicked forward) and players may
not receive the ball in an offside position, nor may they
wait in such a position. Players may not be tackled without
the ball. Play only stops when a try is scored, or the ball
goes out of play, or an infringement occurs. When the ball
goes out it is thrown back in at a line-out where the
opposing forwards line up and jump for the ball.
Infringements result in a penalty, or free kick, or scrum.
In a scrum the opposing forwards bind together in a unit and
push against the other forwards, trying to win the ball with
their feet. Substitutions are only allowed in case of injury
and there is no separate offensive and defensive unit.