МИНОБРНАУКИ РОССИИ

Федеральное государственное автономное образовательное учреждение

высшего образования
«ЮЖНЫЙ ФЕДЕРАЛЬНЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ»

The report on linguistic and regional studies

named:

« The place of the USA in international sports events»

Completed by:
The 4th year student, group G-1
Belous Daria Vitalievna
Checked by: Associate Professor
of the Department of Intercultural
Communication and Methods of
Teaching Foreign Languages
Belousova Tatyana Fedorovna

c. Rostov-on-Don
2021
 CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION................................................................................................3
The history of sports in the United States.......................................................5
Team sports.......................................................................................................7
American Football.............................................................................................7
Baseball..............................................................................................................9
The place of the USA in international sports events....................................11
The greatest American sportsmen.................................................................13
CONCLUSION...................................................................................................15
REFERENCES...................................................................................................16

2
 INTRODUCTION

A man doesn't need full-featured smartphones and gadgets, expensive cars

and villas by the sea. All he needs is health. One of the most important
requirements for it is sport. It is difficult to imagine our life without sport. For
some people it is a bright spectacle, like a performance, for others it is a
profession, the purpose of the life.

Physical culture has become a part of the culture of society and each person
individually. At present, it is impossible to find a single sphere of human activity
that would not be associated with sports and physical culture.

In recent years, physical culture has been increasingly mentioned not only as
an autonomous social fact, but also as a stable quality of personality.

Historically, physical culture was formed under the influence of the needs of
society in the physical preparation of the younger generation and the adult
population for work. At the same time, with the evolution of the systems of
upbringing and education, physical culture became the basic type of culture that
forms motor skills and abilities. Physical culture should accompany a person
throughout his life. [1]

Americans are an athletic nation; sport is loved, respected and actively

practiced in the USA. Features of American culture and lifestyle have led to the
fact that there are American sports that are popular exactly in the United States.

It is worth noting, that both amateur and professional sports are developed in
the United States. For all the time of participation in the Olympic Games,
American athletes won the largest number of medals (over 2500 pieces).
Americans traditionally succeed in in those sports that are most popular in the
country: basketball, hockey, athletics, tennis, swimming, rowing, golf, bowling.
Amateur sports are developing in educational institutions. School teams, college

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and university crews fight among themselves in different sports. High results allow
you to apply for increased scholarships in universities. The National Collegiate
Athletic Association coordinates young people that are involved in sport. The
prototype of the association was the "Ivy League", which united eight the most
popular and prestigious educational institutions in the United States. [4]

The chosen issue is very actual, because sport is one the vital spheres of our
modern life. Practicing sports allows a person to meet personal needs for
communication, to get new acquaintances and of course to establish one's health.
Also it is curious to learn about the achievements in sports of other country. Not
many countries in the whole world are as passionate about the sports as the United
States. The spirit of competitiveness is felt everywhere and sports facilities are to
match it.

The general aim of the research is to go thoroughly into a question of the

history of the sport in the USA and to and learn the information about the place of
the USA in international sports events.

The following tasks are to be solved in this paper:

1. To collect some data concerning the history of the sport in the USA;

2. To search for the information about the current state of sports and mass
physical culture in the United States;

3. To give a summary of the executed research.

4
 The history of sports in the United States

Physical exercises and sports were a necessary part of the harvest festivals
among the ancient peoples of the American continent, the Indian tribes of the Incas
and Maya. Especially popular among the Incas were the so-called "chaskis" -
competitions for ultra-long distances, during which the participants ran and
marched fast for 200 kilometers or more. The most widespread among the Mayan
peoples was the ball game - "tlatchlu", the rules of which were very similar to the
game directive of today's basketball. [1]

The conquest of America by Europeans required the ability to ride fast and
shoot accurately. With the development of animal husbandry, there appeared a
need for horse shepherds-cowboys, endless skirmishes with the Indians demanded
skillful possession of cold and fire arms. Shooting and various types of riding,
including horse racing, overcoming obstacles, shooting at full gallop, throwing
lasso, riding wild horses (mustangs), etc. become an indispensable attribute of the
festivities held at that time.

Modern sports appeared on the American continent in the XIX century and
soon reached a reasonably high development for its time. It should be borne in
mind that physical culture and sports developed faster in the most colonized part of
the American continent - on the territory of the United States of America. This gap
in the development of sport from the rest of the countries and peoples of the
American continent remained, in fact, until recently. The United States was the
first and for some time almost the only (except Cuba) participants in the Olympic
Games from the American continent. [8]

In America, before any other continent on our planet, complex regional

games appeared. A well-developed calendar includes a large number of regional
and continental championships (Pan American, Central American and South
American) in a variety of sports, as well as complex competitions separately for
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the countries of Central America, a number of South American countries and
continental for all states of the American continent. It's a matter of the Central
American and Caribbean Games, the Bolivarian Games and the Pan American
Games.

The most representative competitions of the American continent are, of

course, the Pan American Games. The idea of holding these competitions arose in
1948 in London, where the regular Olympic Games were held at that time.

Representatives of the American continent created the Pan-American Sports

Organization (ODEPA) and elected Buenos Aires as the venue for the first game.
The first Pan American Games were held in 1951 Most of the prizes in the sports
included in the program of the Games went to American athletes, who were by
head and shoulders above their rivals. [6]

For a long time, U.S. athletes remained unattainable leaders in all the Pan
American Games. Their undivided dominance could be broken only by the athletes
of Cuba, who since 1959 have been worthy competitors to the permanent leaders.

As for the Olympic Games, the United States and Chile, the only countries
of the American continent, have been involved in the Olympic movement from the
very beginning. At the Games of the First Olympiad in Athens, the United States
was second, losing the overall team championship to the hosts of the competition.
At three more Olympiads (in Paris in 1900, London in 1908 and Stockholm in
1912), the United States lost the team championship to the hosts of the Games. [5]

From the Games of the VII Olympiad in Antwerp, the US athletes came
forward and maintained their leading position until the XV Olympiad, when
athletes of the Soviet Union first appeared on the Olympic arena, putting an end to
the undivided domination of the United States at the Games. But even now, the US
athletes are rightfully included in the world sports elite and regularly occupy the
podium at any Olympic Games.

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 Team sports

American Football

American Football - known as just Football in the US, and also known as
Gridiron in the rest of the world - is one of the most popular sports in the USA.
The major league of American Football is the NFL in the USA, though other
leagues can be found throughout the world.

There are several versions regarding the date of birth of American football.
There is an opinion that it took place in 1823 in the English town of Rugby. During
the match, one of the players violated the rules and ran to the gate of another team,
holding the ball in his hands. This was the beginning of the development of new
games, among which were rugby and the American football. However, there is
another, official version, according to which the date of his birth was the 6 of
November, 1869, when a match between the teams of Rutgers and Princeton
universities took place on the football field. The match was played under very
vague rules, that was reminiscent of both rugby and European soccer. It is believed
that this was the first match in the American football. [1]

This new game was accepted, the boundaries of its popularity expanded. The
"father of American football" is called Walter Camp, who sealed the rules and
introduced new standards of the game. Despite this, in the American football there
were a lot of dangerous power techniques that led to serious injuries to players,
there were even several deaths. Not only the public demanded to change the rules
of the game, American President Theodore Roosevelt also insisted on it. As a
result, the rules were changed, high penalties for rough play were introduced, the
number of players was decreased from 15 to 11, the defensive form appeared for
the first time, the emphasis of the game shifted from pure force to speed. [5]

7
 This sport is a team ball game. The first balls in American football were
round in shape. They were uncomfortable to throw and hold. The best was the ball
that was used to play rugby. However, this ball has undergone changes while it
was adjusted for the game. It is necessary to move the ball on the opponent's field
towards the scoring zone and score points. The team that scored more points is a
winner. If at the end of normal time the score is equal, the judge appoints
additional 15 minutes. The victory goes to the team that first scored points.

There are two variants of the American football: hall and Canadian. Hall
football takes place in a specially equipped hall, and not on the field. It is popular
among American schoolchildren. Canadian football is played in the Canadian
Football League. The main differences from the American football are the size of
the field, the number of players on the field, the location of the goal, the number of
attempts of the team that owns the ball and some others.

American football is a very tough sport. However, a big role is devoted not
to a brute force, but to certain strategies and tactics.

8
 Baseball

Baseball is hugely popular in all parts of North America, with Major League
Baseball (MLB) by far the biggest, most prestigious and most lucrative
competition in the world. It features mainly American teams along with – in the
current season – one Canadian team, although the sport is also massive in Cuba,
Puerto Rica, the Dominican Republic and Japan, among others.

The British believe that baseball appeared around the second half of the 18th
century. But, nevertheless, the facts tell their own tale: the first baseball club was
created by American officers. The Americans approved the rules, the standard of
the composition of the teams and held the first baseball game, which marked the
beginning of the development of an interesting sport, which was later included in
the list of Olympic sports. [7]

In the 60s of the 19th century, the first club appeared, which began to pay its
players fees for games, so baseball was immediately divided into professional and
amateur. [3] Moreover, professional sports have reached unprecedented financial
heights in the United States in our time, because the average salary of a baseball
player is more than 500 thousand dollars a year. The best players become real stars
and national heroes. At the same time, in the 19th century, the National Baseball
League was created, which is now considered the most powerful sports
organization, with an annual turnover of more than $ 900 million a year.

Each game involves two teams playing by turns in offense and defense.
They play with a ball, which is the size of a fist, that is covered with white leather
with red stitches and weighs no more than 150 g. The goal of the game is to score
more points (runs) than the rival team. A point is counted if a player of the team

9
that plays in offense takes turns running through all the bases (they are represented
by square pads attached to the ground) on the field.

Looking from the outside, the movements seem chaotic, but there is a clear
strategy in the game of baseball. To understand all the peculiarities of the rules,
you need to be aware of the role that the player takes. The transition of the players
from defense to attack also has its own significance. As soon as the players of one
team are out, they go on the defensive. In just one period, the team manages to
play both in attack and in defense. There are exactly nine of such periods. And if
after the periods the teams remain with a draw, they have tenth and eleventh
periods. This extra time should determine the winner. Sometimes matches last for a
good while. One of the record-breaking games lasted for more than six hours.

There is no need to repeat once again that traditional American sports in the
United State are wildly popular. Baseball is not an exception, and therefore MLB
(Major League Baseball or Major League Baseball) confidently enters the top five
leagues in the world in all sports: an average of 30 thousand people attend each
match. Moreover, MLB is not just a high-quality and spectacular championship,
but an integral American tradition and a part of the country's history. For almost
fifteen hundred years, the map of the world, technology and people themselves
have changed, but baseball and tremulous attitude to the game remained almost
untouched. [7]

10
 The place of the USA in international sports events

Speaking about the international performances of the Americans, it is

important to mention of the Olympic Games, where they have become the outright
winners.

In the program of the Games of the first Olympiad there were nine sports. It
was decided to hold competitions in athletics, gymnastics, swimming, weight
lifting, wrestling, shooting, fencing, cycling and tennis. Americans were most
successful in athletics disciplines. They were the first in nine of the twelve types of
the program. James Connoli, who was he winner in the triple jump, became the
first Olympic champion in the history of the modern Games. The example of the
American athlete Robert Garrett is very significant in this sense. He won the
competition of the discus throw and shot put. In the long jump and high jump he
respectively took second and third places. Garrett wasn't going to perform at the
Games at all. Quite accidentally he and his friends from Harvard University found
themselves in Athens. He learned about the competitions from the poster, came to
the stadium and simply enrolled for the participation.

The Games of the third Olympiad were held in St. Louis (USA), because
American athletes at the previous two Olympic Games performed more
consistently and successfully than anyone else. [4]

At the Olympic Games there were several insulting incidents. One of such
cases played a cruel joke with two-time champion of the Stockholm Games Jim
Thorpe. An Indian by birth, the pride of the native population of the United States,
Thorpe won two of the most difficult competitions: the athletics pentathlon and
then the athletics decathlon. The further fate of the athlete doesn’t need to be
11
explained: universal fame and worship. The rules of that time were firm:
participants of the Olympic Games had to remain amateurs. It means that they had
to be non-professional athletes throughout their sports career.

The admirers of "fried facts" learned and trumpeted around the world, that
Jim Thorpe in his time played several games in a professional baseball team.

Nowadays, athletes have the right to receive funds for preparation for
competitions and fees for successful performances, have the right to advertise the
goods of various firms. And at the same time, an athlete can compete at the
Olympic Games.

After the death of Thorpe, the modern IOC restored justice and rehabilitated
the great athlete. The competitions at the first ten Olympic Games were not
organized as clearly as expected. For example, in St. Louis one person called
Lords, who played for the US team, won the marathon distance. In fact, he was not
a champion at all, but an ordinary deceiver: Lords did not run most of the distance,
but drove his friend's car. The real champion Thomas Hicks, also from the USA
team, crossed the finish line and fell unconscious. The misunderstanding was
clarified, but the medal wasn’t given to the winner. The daughter of the President
of USA Theodore Roosevelt, Alice, had already managed to present the medal to
that false marathoner. [4]

We can dwell in endless discussion on the victories of the Americans at the

Olympic Games. Since the XX century almost all the games of that time were won
mainly by residents of the United States of America. It can be explained by the
fact, that at that time they had a strongly developed team spirit, they were taught to
be genuine winners in schools and are still taught.

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 The greatest American sportsmen

It is oddly enough to realize, that in baseball and American football there are
no famous athletes at the world level. Of course, in principle, they exist. However,
these sports didn’t enjoy much popularity in the world. Thus we mostly know the
outstanding people in the world of basketball.

Of course, the most famous sportsman in our time is Michael Jordan.

However, we will focus on another athlete, who might be less popular, but more
intriguing –Charles Barkley.

Charles Barkley is undoubtedly one of the most significant figures. He went

through many schools of basketball of the past basketball decade. Charles's career
has some overtones of the tragedy - after graduating from the basketball academy,
possessing a number of remarkable achievements established by him during
fourteen years of staying in the NBA basketball league, this outstanding player
never managed to achieve that cherished championship ring, for the sake of which
he postponed the completion of the basketball academy. [8]

He started his highroad to fame in 1972 in Philadelphia, in the basketball

academy, and before that in many other basketball schools. Then the sportsman
moved to the Phoenix Sans. After a sensational trade before the regular season, he
moved to Houston, having lost his league title the year before.

Barkley has always been one of the most popular and beloved players in the
NBA basketball league. The reason of it consists in the sincere and impetuous
nature of the idol of the public. Cheerful bickering with the referees during the
match, a bartender, who was thrown into the glass case in the nightclub, wrestling
techniques against Shaquila O'Neal - all these actions attained international fame
and warm love for Charles.
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 Therefore, a sudden injury that forced Charles Barkley to announce his
retirement was treated with a deep sense of sympathy by most NBA basketball
fans. However, after a little while, irrepressible Charles said, that he didn’t want to
leave the league under such circumstances. [9]

In the match with Vancouver in the basketball academy, Barkley played not
studiously; a long (more than three months) absence from the court due to the
injury could not but affected is professional skills as a basketball player.

Charles left basketball without realizing his cherished dream of becoming

the NBA Basketball League champion.

14
 CONCLUSION

Thus, we got closely acquainted with the history of sports and physical
culture in the United States, the most popular team sports and with general
information about the place of the USA in international sports events.

Sport possesses a value in the American way of life. Many Americans

glorified their country with achievements in sports. Popularization of a healthy
lifestyle by the US government, which calculated that maintaining health is much
cheaper than recovering it, led to the fact that an increasing number of Americans
are trying to give up bad habits and pay attention to sports. Considering the high
task overlearning of a modern person, this is not so easy to achieve, according to
studies.

Many famous people also have their own sports passions. At the matches of
«The Lakers» (a basketball team from Los Angeles), you can see such famous fans
as Matt Damon, Eddie Murphy, Denzel Washington, Steven Spielberg and of
course Jack Nicholson. Sylvester Stallone is an aficionado of the club «Everton»
and Brad Pitt roots for «Manchester United».

The American Olympic team is traditionally one of the strongest at the

games. Millions of Americans regularly watch television broadcasts of the
Olympic Games, and thousands of fans come to the stadiums to cheer for their
compatriots, especially if the next Games are held in America (since 1904 the
United States has hosted the Summer and Winter Olympic Games for eight times).

We have accomplish the general aim of the research and solved all the posed
the questions, that helped us to expand our knowledge of one of the most important
aspects of life in another country.

15
 REFERENCES

1. Gorn, Elliott J. A «Brief History of American Sports», 2004 //

https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofam0000gorn_l7o9 ;

2. Harris, Othello, George Kirsch, et al. eds. «Encyclopedia of Ethnicity and

Sports in the United States», 2000 //
https://ua1lib.org/book/2634077/3673a5?id=2634077&secret=3673a5 ;

3. Stewart, M. Baseball: a history of the national pastime/ M. Stewart – New-

York [a. o.]: Franklin Watts, 1998 -198 p //
https://spblib.ru/en/catalog/-/books/12470832-baseball-a-history-of-the-
national-pastime .

4. S.W. Pope, ed. «The new American sport history: recent approaches and
perspectives» // U of Illinois Press, 1997 //
https://archive.org/details/newamericansport0000unse ;

5. https://www.topendsports.com/world/countries/usa.htm

6. https://teachershelp.ru/sports-in-the-usa/

7. www.dsusa.org/about-overview.html

8. www.usinfo.pl/aboutusa/sports/events.htm

9. www.usa.usembassy.de/sports-youth.htm

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