Wait… That’s a Sport?

Cheese Rolling

This sport is a very traditional sport that is played in England. It is where players chase a wheel of cheese down a steep hill. The goal is to be the first person to cross the finish line at the bottom of the hill. The winner gets to keep their 7-9 pounds of Double Gloucester cheese. This sport is considered very dangerous because the hill is very steep, and running down it really fast can cause injuries such as sprains, broken bones, and even concussions. 

Toe Wrestling

You may think that this sport is gross; that’s because it is. To play this sport, two people sit on the floor and lock their big toes to begin the match. During the whole round, hands must be kept behind their back, both feet must be flat on the “toedium”, which is the platform where it takes place, and their socks must be off. When the referee says “toes away”, the competitors try to push their opponents’ toes on the opposite side of the “toedium”. If the feet lose contact during the match, it is called a breakaway, and the round is reset. To win, you need to pin the opponent’s toe on the other side of the wall of the “toedium” for 3 seconds. Once someone wins the round, they switch to their opposite foot for the next round, and if a third round is needed, they continue back on the foot they started with. Three rounds take place, and the first person to win two out of three matches wins.

Camel Wrestling

In Turkey, they have a traditional event called camel wrestling. This sport is very simple but also very strange. During a camel wrestling match, two camels fight each other, and if they don’t go at each other, men slap or use ropes to urge the animals to go at each other. To win, the other camel must run away, fall, or scream.

Sepak Takraw

Sepak Takraw is a Southeast Asian sport similar to volleyball. You can use your knees, feet, head, and chest to get a woven ball over the net. Teams are usually of three people, but some are made up of two or four people. To win in Sepak Takraw, you need to win two sets, with each set being 21 points. You also need to be at least two points ahead of the other team to win. If one team wins one set and the other team wins the other, then you go into a third set where you need to get 15 points to win. You get points when the opposing team doesn’t get the ball over, the ball hits the ground, or when they use their hands or arms to hit the ball.

Quidditch

If you have watched Harry Potter or read the books, then you have heard of Quidditch. There is a game based on Quidditch, but the name was changed to Quadball. The way you play is with two teams, each with three chasers, two beaters, a keeper, a flag runner, and one seeker. The chasers wear white headbands, the beaters wear black headbands, the keeper wears a green headband, the flag runners don’t wear a headband, and the seeker wears a yellow headband. The chasers will try to throw the ball through one of the three of the other teams’ hoops; each goal is worth ten points. The chasers can pass the ball to teammates, kick the ball, or run with the ball. The keeper tries to defend the goals from the chasers. The beaters use dodge balls to try and hit, and can get players knocked out of the game temporarily if hit. The flag runners run around with a flag attached to their waist, trying to avoid seekers from ripping it off. The seekers are put into the game after the first twenty minutes, as well as the flag runner. They have to try and grab the flag from the flag runner. To win, if the flag is caught by the seeker, they gain 35 points, and if that team has the most points, they win. Another way to win is whoever reaches the set score first. The set score is when, at the 20-minute mark, the team with the higher score gets 60 plus points, which is the set score. For example, if the winning team has 100 points, then you would do 100+60=160, so the set score would be 160.