WEBQUEST Sports in Great Britain designed by Katarzyna Pasik and Sebastian Antonowicz

Introduction Whenever you strike up a conversation in Britain maybe at the barber's, in the street or on a train journey, you get around to two subjects -- the weather and sport, which are as much part of English life as roast beef and the Houses of Parliament. English people are fond of all kinds of sports. England is a sports-loving nation. Sports in England take many forms: organized competitive sports, which attract huge crowds to encourage their favourite team to victory, athletic games played for recreation and others. The British are proud that many sports originated in their country and then spread throughout the world. The national British sports are: football, golf, cricket, table tennis, lawn tennis, snooker, steeplechase, racing and darts.

The aim of the webquest: Your task is to become familiar with all sports presented here. After that, choose two favourite kinds and present them to the class.

Cricket Cricket is played on village greens on Sundays from April to August. The rules of Cricket became the responsibility in the 18th century of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), based at Lord’s Cricket Ground in North London. Find out, what are the rules of cricket: Sports in Britain Cricket in Britain The history of cricket

Football It is impossible to say accurately where and when football started - but it is reasonable to assume that some type of ball game - from which the organised sport we know today developed - has been played somewhere on the planet for over 3000 years. Find out about football: History of football Wikipedia about football

Horse sports There is a long tradition of horse riding in the UK, and many paths in the countryside where horses can be ridden (these are known as bridleways). Horse racing is an equestrian sporting activity which has been practiced over the centuries; the chariot races of Roman times were an early example. Look for other information: Wikipedia about Horse Racing History of Polo

Tennis Real tennis was actually very different to the game that we know today. It was played indoors, in large galleries with jutting roofs and points were won according to how the ball was played off of the gallery walls. This is very different to today's Lawn Tennis, where the rectangular court is laid out on a grass surface and the play is within marked boundaries, not off of the walls. Search for other information: Wikipedia about Tennis History of Tennis

Rowing There are two types of rowing – rowing for pleasure (in a rowboat or dinghy), and rowing as a sport. Rowing for pleasure is still a fairly new concept in the UK and there are only a few clubs which cater for the leisure rower, such as the Weyfarers Rowing Club in Weybridge. Find out about Rowing: Rowing on the Thames History of Rowing

Evaluation Your task is to choose two sports and later to present them in a short speech in front of the group. Important for the teacher is your language correctness. Your presentation must contain informations about history of the chosen sports. Also you have to explain the rules: Are there some subdivisions of the chosen subdisciplines? Is it a team sport? If so, then how many players are there in one team? How long lasts a play/match? How do the players reach the scores? What are the names of the most famous and popular players?