England was the first home of many modern world´s most popular sports. Favourite games in Great Britain are cricket, golf, football, tennis, squash, but they don´t play volleyball at all.

University boat race - Since 1829 the university of Oxford and Cambridge agreed to have a rowing race. The tradition started. Now every spring the university of Oxford compete with the university of Cambridge on the River Thames. There are 8 men in each boat and there is also cox, who controls the boat. Royal Ascot - Ascot is a small town in the south of England. In June it becomes the centre of horse racing. The Queen always goes there. Wimbledon – It´s the world’s famous tennis tournament. It takes a place in south part of London. It started in the 19th century. The United States of America
In the USA most sports and games have been to a great extent commercionalized. The four foremost professional games there are baseball, American football, basketball and ice-hockey. These games are turned into big shows in which the sports stars make a lot of money.
Basketball – It´s a ball game played by two teams of 5 players. The aim of the game is to dribble the ball down the court and throw it into a basket. Height is a great advantage in this game. In basketball the scores are high, and it´s very exciting to watch. Basketball consists of two periods. One period lasts 20 minutes.


Polo

Polo, which is during the whole time played in gallop, is one of the quickest games in the world. Origin of this game is in Persia and China. It was brought to Europe by British soldiers. We can compare it to the "hockey on horses". There are two teams and two referees on the field. One team consists of 4 players sitting on small, specially trained horses called polo-poneys. The size of the playground is 275x180 m. The aim of the game is to place the wooden ball with the hammer into the rival´s goal and score as much as possible. The players are moving at the highest speed. The match is divided into 7 and half minute periods, so called "chukkas". Each period the horses are changed. The game is played with wooden hammers with long handles and a small hard ball. The players wear hard helmet, T-shirts, white riding trousers, brown highboots, knee shetlers and leather gloves.


The Olympic Games

The Olympic Games were already held in ancient Greece (first one were held in 776 B.C.) There was always a flame at the ancient Games, because it was a symbol of perfection and victory.