The roots of Olympic Games lie in the ancient history of Greece. As per the historical records, the first Olympic Games also known as ancient Olympic Games were held in 776 BC. The Ancient Olympics Games were considered as the ritual to honor Zeus. The ancient Olympic Games are always held in the Ancient Greece, and me who spoke Greek were only allowed to participate. The ancient Olympic Games lasted for more than thousand years.
Today, the Olympic Games are considered a major international multi-sport event that features various types of sports. Participants from over 200 nations participate in the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games are held every four years in a different city, which is determined by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOC also determines the list of sports that should be included in the Olympic Games. Some of the major sports included in the Olympics are boxing, badminton, football, shooting, swimming tennis and weightlifting.
Due to the world-wide popularity and recognition of the Olympic Games, many people have shown much interest in sports events that are held in the Olympics. In addition, sports talent also helps in getting admission in the dream college as most of the colleges have sports quota admission for the talented players. However, due to the tough competition and many participants, there are only few lucky people who rise to the glory of being an Olympic medal winner. But, there are few less popular sports that have lesser competition than the other sports included in the Olympic Games. Thus, pursuing a career in less popular sport gives an edge to become a winner in that sport. Following are the less popular sports your kids may love to pursue and build a future.
Archery
Archery made its debut at the Paris Olympics in 1900. At the Olympic Archery event, the participant has to shoot the twelve arrows at the target. In the modern Olympic Games, four archery events are held that includes men and women competing in the team and individually. In each Olympic archery event, the target of diameter 1.22 meters consists of 10 concentric rings is placed 70 meters away. Due to the growing interest of many students in archery, many schools and universities are offering archery programs. Some of the renowned universities that offer archery programs are Yale University, University of Texas Austin, UCLA Los Angeles and Stanford University Stanford.
Bowling
Bowling is one of the most popular sports in the world. Unfortunately, the bowling has never been granted as an Olympic sport. In addition, as per the general discussion, it has been concluded that bowling does not require the actual physical fitness like other sports such as swimming and ice skating. However, some bowling enthusiasts believe that bowling is an anaerobic exercise that involves stretching and flexing of the joints, ligaments and muscles like archery. Recently, there has been a debate of whether ten-pin bowling (a type of bowling variation) should be included in the Olympics. The future of seeing bowling as an Olympic sport is yet unclear, but the Golf has already got the approval from IOC for the 2016 Olympic Games. So, there is a chance that bowling may get a place in the Olympics in the future.
Equestrian
Equestrian made its debut in the Olympic Games in 1900. Equestrian is often referred as horse riding event as it includes Dressage, Show Jumping and Eventing. The dressage involves the performance of various predetermined movements to show the impulsion and obedience of the horse. The show jumping involves measuring the jumping ability of horse and rider over the series of barriers in the predetermined time. The Eventing or combined training is a mixture of dressage and show jumping. But, eventing includes performing dressage and show jumping in lesser time than the other competitors.
Fencing
Fencing has always been the part of the Olympic Games from the very first day of revival of modern Olympic movements. Since, the founder of the modern Olympic Games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, was a fencer himself. He himself wrote the rules for Olympic fencing. Fencing includes sword fighting in a traditional sword fighting style. In the modern Olympic Games, there are three forms of fencing- Foil, Epee, and Sabre. Foil involves hitting the valid target area above the torso with a light thrusting weapon. In Epee, the epee fencer must hit the valid targeted area that covers the entire body with the tip of a heavy thrusting weapon. Sabre involves a light cutting and thrusting weapon. The target area of the Sabre is entire body, including the arms and back of the head.
Racquetball
Racquetball is one of the IOC recognized sports, but never included in the Olympic Games. It closely resembled squash and tennis. However, the rules and equipments to play the racquetball are completely different. Racquetball is a sport played with a racquet of 22 inch long and a hollow rubber ball. It is usually played indoors on a 20 ft wide by 40 ft long by 20 ft high court with the wooden flooring. In racquetball, a player serves by striking the ball towards the front court wall in a way that it should land on the competitors serving area. Points in racquetball are earned by winning a rally or a service ace.
Roller Sports
Roller sports are one of the eight sports in consideration for the 2020 Olympics. Roller sports include Inline Skating, Roller Skating, Roller Hockey, Road Skating, Roller Skiing and Skateboarding. Inline skating is globally practiced by many people. It includes skating on the two to five polyurethane wheels. Roller skating basically includes skating on the smooth surface, but it has various forms such as figures, dance, freestyle, precision team, singles and pairs. Roller hockey is a type of hockey, which is played on a smooth surface by using skates. Road skating is similar to road cycling and inline speed skating. Since, it involves skating in tight packs in speed. Roller skiing has evolved from alternative summer training to a competitive sport. It is much like cross-country skiing, but with skates. Skateboarding is very well-known to the teenagers and adults as it involves various stunts and events.
