The dark nights are coming to an end and it’s warming up (slowly), so soon the Northern Hemisphere will be jumping into it’s favourite sports. So this week we’re taking you on a world tour of different country’s national sports. From Afghanistan to Anguilla we’ll show you the strange alternatives to football from around the world.
Afghanistan- Buzkashi You won’t find Buzkashi at the Olympics, but it’s the national sport of Afghanistan and has its origins with the nomadic tribes of Central Asia. It’s an aggressive sport where players mounted on horses compete to place a calf or goat in a goal.
Argentina- Pato Pato combines elements of Basketball and polo. Originally played using a live duck, the game now uses a ball instead of the bird. In order to win the game, the two teams compete to score the maximum number of goals within a specific duration.
Bangladesh- Kabaddi Remember this on SaturdaysC4Transworld Sport?Kabaddi is a contact team sport played between two teams of 7 players each. A designated raider must invade the defenders half and tag out as many of their defenders as possible before returning to their half.
New Zealand- Rugby Union Rugby Union has been New Zealand’s national sport for more than a century. The All Blacks are widely considered one of the best sports teams in history with a win-ratio of 77% and 3 world cups.
Japan- Sumo Wrestling In Sumo Wrestling a professional summo wrestler (rikishi) forces his opponent out of a circular ring or making them touch the ground with any body part. A rikishi is a type of lifestyle and he is expected to grow his hair long and wear a traditional Japanese dress at all times in public.
Anguilla- Yacht Racing Pretty self-explanatory this one! Yachts race each other between points with huge crowds gathering to cheer them on.
Hope you’ve learned something this week. Who knows maybe someday we’ll launch our own DADS v DADS Buzkashi games nights or a Kabaddi social 🤣. But for now, think we’ll stick with the football! See you at our games nights!
