South African Activities: Sports


Figure 1.-- The photo was taken during a rugby match in Cape Town. A boy is kicking the ball. It is known that usually South African boys play rugby in bare feet. Some coaches think that in this way the boys learn a playing style more centred on the run and less on the kick. Indeed, to kick a leather ball with bare feet is very hard and becomes automatically the last option.

South Africa because of the mild climate is a wonderful country for outdoor activities, including sports. Sport is more popular and widely ptacticed in South Africa than any other African country. A factor here is the relatively high income levels compared to many sub-Saharan countries. And there are relatively few Muslims who for cultural reasons in North Africa that are not as involved in sport as most other people. Sport is so popular that it has been called the national religion. And unlike many other activities, it transcending racial and language groups. The country's sports program was curtailed by the sanctions taken against South Africa during the Apartheid era. Sport has proven to be an important unifying factor. As in the rest of Africa, football (soccer) is the single most popular sport. It is not, however as dominant as in most other African countries. There are several other popular sports. South Africa was a Bitish colony and thus the major British team sports are played in the country. The most popular is rugby. Cricket is also popular, but requires more equipment than the other sports which means that many children can not play it. Golf and tennis are also popular. Many schools have active sports programs.







HBC






Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing South African pages:
Return to the Main country sport page]
[Return to the Main South African activities page]
[Return to the Main South African page]
[S.A. children's lierature] [S.A. choirs] [S.A. school uniforms] [S.A. youth groups]



Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]





Created: 8:03 PM 6/11/2013
Last updated: 8:04 PM 6/11/2013