Sports History

1600s/1700s

1900s

1800s

2000s

The History of Sports in the U.S.

Stool Ball

Ninepins

Football

Slide Groat

1600s/1700s

Stool Ball

• Stool ball resembles cricket.

• A pitcher throws a ball at a target, usually a stool, though a tree or other object could be substituted.

• A second man/woman tries to swat the ball away, either with his hand or a paddle, so that it doesn’t strike the stool.

• Points are scored for each ball successfully swatted away.

Ninepins

• This was a form of outdoor bowling.

• New England’s Puritan leaders frowned on ninepins, but it did exist as the government banned it.

• The participants used stones rolled across the ground to knock down pins.

• While played on the sly in New England, New York created a public bowling green.

• Slide groat was another of the colonial New England games that people had to play on the sly.

• This was a miniature shuffleboard type of game, also called shovelboard.

• Players used a board, often the top of a bar.

• They slid pennies along the length of the board, trying to get them to stop inside a defined target area to score points.

Slide Groat

Football

• Football in this time period was nothing like football today.

• It more resembled soccer or European football mixed with rugby, with boys kicking the ball to each other in a form of keep-away that could turn quite violent.

• The Puritans loathed football.

Golf

Baseball

Boxing

1800s

• Golf originated in Europe!

• The first golf course in America was established in 1888 in Yonkers, New York, and was named the St. Andrew’s Golf Club.

• Many women played this sport!

• Turned professional in the 1900s!

Golf

Baseball

• Originated in Europe!

• Called "Town Ball" originally.

• First club created in Philadelphia, PA.

• Some famous players of this sport: Jackie Robinson and Babe Ruth!

Boxing

• Also known as "knuckle boxing" during this time period.

• It is just like modern boxing, but with less rules/safety measures.

• Teddy Roosevelt enjoyed boxing and believed it was great exercise!

Basketball

Swimming

Yachting

1900s

Basketball

• Originally used peach baskets as hoops.

• Created by James Naismith in 1891, but was popular in the early 1900s.

• Naismith was a Phys. Ed teacher at Springfield College in Massachuesetts.

Swimming

• Started in London in 1836.

• Became popular in the U.S. in the early 1900s.

• Both men and women participated in this sport!

• Eventually was added as a sport in the Olympic Games.

Yachting

• The Dutch created the yachts (boats), before yachting became a sport/hobby.

• Made its first appearance as an Olympic sport at the 1900 Summer Olympics.

• America’s Cup is one of the oldest and best-known trophies in international sailing yacht competition.

• In 1983, after American yachts had successfully defended the cup 24 times without a loss, an Australian yacht won the cup.

Field Hockey

Soft Ball

Lacrosse

Soccer

2000s

Field Hockey

• Similiar to ice hockey, just not on ice and has a few differences!

• Mainly considered a women's sport, but men play it too! (Some call the mens version Lacrosse!)

• This sport is popular in Canada, as well as in the U.S.!

• Considered one of the oldest sports in the world.

Softball

• Created in the late 1880s, spread throughtout the U.S. in the 1930s, but is more popular today!

• A women's sport.

• Similar to baseball, but has a few differences.

• One of those differences is the size of theball!

Lacrosse

• Mens equivalent to field hockey!

• Similar to ice hockey, with some minor differences.

• Not playing on ice and the type of stick are just two of them!

• Lacrosse was started by the Native American Indians and was originally known as stickball.

Soccer

• Modern soccer entered the country in the mid 1800s (1850), but is mostly popular today!

• This is played by both men and women!

• This sport made it to the Olympic games in 2000.

• The game of soccer can be traced back about 2,000 years ago in ancient CHina and Greece!

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