The globalisation of sport and the effect of British colonialism

[Randall]

So my comment on dutch sporting success set me to thinking on the randomisation of how various sports have seeded themselves around the world.
Didnt want to derail the darts thread anymore so here we gp.....

[Randall]

It seems very clear that much of the way sports are played around the world can be linked to Britain's colonial past.
Remarkable enough that such a small island invented most of the world's populist games but probably no surprise it took them to the world.

Cricket, really only played in ex colonial countries in the Pacific, the sub continent, the Caribbean and the tip of africa.
Interesting though that rugby only really seeded in the Pacific nations and not elsewhere along the same lines as cricket.

[Randall]

America seems to be an anachronism to this entirely

Probably built from some need to separate itself it seems to have largely ignored global games in cricket and rugby, less so football more recently but has based its group based sports on games that are either unique to it like American football or at the periphery elsewhere like baseball and basketball

[Randall]

Australia seems to have embraced everything although football seems to be at the bottom of the list and like America they seemed to want to set themselves apart with aussie rules

Hobo, what is the split in popularity/participation between the team sports in Australia?
Cricket
Rugby
Football
Aussie rules etc

And has there been a shift?

[Randall]

No doubt climate and resources are also a huge factor

No real surprise that golf, tennis etc are hugely popular in the developed world given the investment required.
No surprise that Africa both by nation and genetics dominate athletic events.

[Randall]

Then you consider Europe which as a whole has embraced football but ignored cricket and rugby to the same extents and seem largely more focused outside football on individual sports.

Golf
Tennis
Cycling etc

[Randall]

Then to consider the communist states like China, such a regiment and state controlled country that only really seem to emerge for the Olympics unless its snooker.
The odd tennis player but beyond that I'm struggling

[Randall]

Even football in this country
Are we still seeing the effects of colonialism?
Asians plentiful in cricket in this country but football?

Are there any asian footballers in the football leagues?
Certainly none have ever played for England?
Is must just be a societal thing?

[Randall]

Then we come to our own game darts
Which has remarkable globalisation
Probably due to its simplicity and accessibility

I do wonder how many countries of the world you could expect to walk into a pub and find a board on the wall

[Randall]

Oh and yes
I am bored but would be interested in others thoughts on any and all of the above

[Randall]

As discussed last night.
What do they do in the lowlands beyond football and darts?

Europe, certainly mainland hasn't produced many boxers of note.
The Americas seem to dominate boxing which is possibly due to socio economic reasons.
That said the ex or still communist states like the ex Russian republic's produce boxers, might be linked to a military background.
Amateur boxing is huge in Cuba but pro fighters seem rare.

[Randall]

To the completely uninformed like myself
Say south America, beyond football which other sports are popular? They certainly generate olympic medals and boxers but team games ?

Odd that football is so much more popular in south America than north America

[The Ginge Reaper]

Combo breaker sympathy post.

[Randall]

Obviously the canadians are into ice sports but I'll be damned if I can think of a boxer, barely a tennis player and I'm struggling with golf.
Populist world games dont seem to produce anyone of note there?

Clearly the weather conditions in Italy, Switzerland conditions lead far more people away from populist sports in the uk as well

[sennafan24]

[The Ginge Reaper]

[Randall]

Nice curtains

[The Thorn]

South America is crazy for football, apart from that volleyball and tennis are pretty popular.

Basketball too, that's one of the biggest sports around the world and real big in Europe as well. Handball is pretty unique to Europe and fairly big.

[Randall]

South America is crazy for football, apart from that volleyball and tennis are pretty popular.

Basketball too, that's one of the biggest sports around the world and real big in Europe as well. Handball is pretty unique to Europe and fairly big.

Is basketball big in Europe?
Never read anything about it
It's often held up as the reason west Indian cricket is so short of fast bowlers now.

[The Thorn]

South America is crazy for football, apart from that volleyball and tennis are pretty popular.

Basketball too, that's one of the biggest sports around the world and real big in Europe as well. Handball is pretty unique to Europe and fairly big.

Is basketball big in Europe?
Never read anything about it
It's often held up as the reason west Indian cricket is so short of fast bowlers now.

Yep. Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, France are powerhouses, also very popular in the Balkans