Sports and games are one of the most popular free time activities. They are very important for our physical and mental health. There are many reasons why people take sports. Most people take sports to keep themselves fit, for a good body condition, nice figure or just for fun. Another people sport professionally and earn a great deal of money by it. Professional sports have good as well as bad acpects. Good thing is that these sportsmen have a lot of money, they feel fit and healthy. But professional sports bring also things which are not good.

Many fatal injuries happen, sportsmen after long training have problems with joints and bones. Professional sport is also very stressful and people are always under pressure. They have to start training in the early childhood and that´s why these people lose childhood and haven´t got too much free time for themselves and friends too. They have to be better and better so very often it happens that professional sportsmen use drugs or stimulants so called - doping. It helps them to increase their body energy for a short period of time, but later on they can become adicted. Before competitions all the sportsmen have to undergo medical and dopping check-ups. Then there is an evident presence of dopping, the person is disqualified from the competition or even suspended for a certain period of time.

In general, sports can be divided according to where they can be practised into indoor and outdoor.Typical indoor sport is gymnastics which includes apparatus training on uneven bars, horizontal bar, ballance beam, mat, springboard or rings. Another very common indoor sports are table-tennis, boxing, wrestling , chess etc. On the other hand, typical outdoor sport is athletics. Athletics includes track and field events, sprinting events, jumping and throwing. Track and field events are for example the Marathon, middle and long-distance runs, hurle-race, cross-country run and relay race. There are four types of jumping - high jump, long jump, triple jump and pole vault.

To throwing belongs hammer, discus, javelin, shot-put. Although athletics is a typical outdoor sport, it can be practised in summer stadioms as well as in the athletic halls. Among other outdoor sports are winter and summer sports. Typical summer sports are swimming ( which includes breaststroke, backstroke, crawl and butterfly ), rock climbing, hiking, horse riding, shooting, golf, cycling, rollerblading, scateboarding or some acquatic sports such as windsurfing, rowing, sailing, canoeing, regatta, water polo, diving, water skiing, wave-gliding. In winter people can go skiing, skating, snowboarding or tobogganing. Skiers can practice giant slalom, down-hill, croos-country, ski-jump. Skating includes speed skating and figure skating which are practised on skating rinks.

Games are those sports in which at least two players are involved. They are usually all-year activity and can be practised both indoors and outdoors. People all around the world participate in games. Ball games are popular all around the world. They include handball, basketball, volleyball, rugby and football. Other very common games are tennis, cricket, ice-hockey, golf etc. Milions of people like to attend matches, watch them on TV or listen to them on the radio and cross their fingers for their favourite team or player. The British love competitive sports. England is the first home of many modern games such as football. It is a collective game in which two teams of 11 members play with a ball on a grass playing field. The purpose is to kick the ball to the opposite goal. In America football is called socker. Rugby football is also very popular. It is an old game and was first played at Rugby School in England. That´s why it is called rugby. It is played with an oval ball and hands and feet can be used. Golf comes from Scotland and is popular among the people of all ages. The player tries to hit the ball with a club into each hole in as few strokes as possible. Cricket is considered to be the most typically English, but it is a very difficult game to understand. Tennis can be played on a grass court or a hard court. The best tennis-players of the world play every year in june at Wimbledon in London. English people also love horse-racing.

In USA most sports and games have been to a great extent comertionalized. The most favourite games in here are American football, , baseball, basketball and ice-hockey ( it has its roots in Canada). These games are now big shows in which the sport stars earn a great deal of money..

In Slovakia ball games are the most poular. They include especially football, volleyball, handball and basketball. Besides this ice-hockey is played at the very good level. Many sportsmen from Slovakia have achieved success abroad, especially ice hockey and football players.

In our town we don´t have too many sport events and places. In summer we can go to the swimming pool, tennis courts or we can play beach volleyball. In winter we can ski on the slope with rope tow or we can go skating or play ice-hockey.

In our shool, we have physical education twice a week. Before the lesson starts we change into sportswear in a dressing room. When the weather is good, we go out for a lesson. In winter or when the weather is bad we stay in the gymnasium.

When talking about sports we mustn´t forget to talk about the biggest sport event in the world - the Olympic Games. The first Olympics were held in Greece. They were renewed by Pierre Coubertin about a hundred years ago and they are held every four years. Since year 1924 there are two parts of the Olymic Games - the winter part ant the summer part. They alternate every two years.

To sum it up we can say that each of us can be a sportsman, but not everyone can be a good one. A good sportsman should also lead a healthy way of life- he shouldn´t smoke or drink, must sleep well, eat healthy food. He should do everything to excel in his sport, listen to his coach, devote most of his time to it. For those who don´t sport professionally sport should be a way to relax and stay healthy as well as a means of an entertainment.