Sport (N - Z)


Nacional
Nacional are an Association Football team in Montevideo. They were formed in 1899 by the amalgamation of Defensor FC and Montevideo FC.

National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the premier professional basketball league in the USA, and is generally accepted as the leading basketball competition in the world. The NBA was formed in 1949 with the merger of the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League.

National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is an American professional football organisation. It was founded at Canton, Ohio in 1919 with teams in twelve Midwestern cities.

National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL) of North America is ice hockey's major professional competition contested between the foremost clubs in the USA and Canada. It was inaugurated at Montreal in 1917.

National League
The National League is an American professional baseball league which was founded in 1876.

National Sporting Club
The National Sporting Club was a private club opened in Covent Garden, London, in 1891 and which did much to promote boxing with gloves in Britain. In 1955 the club moved to the Cafe Royal in Regent Street, London.

Neath RFC
Neath RFC is a Rugby Union football club founded in 1871. Neath play at The Gnoll in an all black strip.

Netball
Netball is a particularly fast and highly skilled seven-a-side ball game played mainly by women.
It developed from Basketball after the introduction of basketball into England in 1895, and remains a recognisable variation of the game.
The aim of the game is to get the ball in the opposing goal hoop as many times as possible throughout a 60 minute match. The netball court is 100 ft long by 50 ft wide, approximately the size of a tennis court. The court is split by two lines that divide the court into thirds. At both ends of the court there is a shooting semicircle and a ten foot goal post with no back board. Each team member has a specific
position that is restricted to an area on the court. These restricted areas have an attacking and defending player in them, each from an opposing team. Some of the main rules are:
a) Once the player has caught the ball only two steps may be taken.
b) A player can only hold the ball for three seconds.
c) A defending player must be three feet away from an attacking player with the ball.
d) Only two positions on the court can shoot.
e) Shots can only be taken from within the semicircle.

New York Giants
The New York Giants are an American professional baseball team. The name is also that of an American professional football team formed in 1925.

New York Jets
The New York Jets are an American professional football team. They joined the American Football League in 1960 as the New York Titans. In 1963 the team was bought by Werblin and renamed the Jets.

New York Knickerbockers
The New York Knickerbockers are an American professional basketball team playing in the National Basketball Association at Madison Square Garden.

New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team. They joined the National League in 1962.

New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are an American Ice Hockey club of New York. They were founded in 1926 as a new team in the professional National Hockey League of North America. Home games are played at Madison Square Garden.

New York SC
New York SC is an American Ice Skating club. It was formed in 1860 and in 1862 organised the first skating carnival on the frozen Union Pond in Brooklyn.

New York Titans
New York Titans was the original name of the New York Jets upon their entry into the American Football League in 1960.

New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team.

Newaza
Newaza, or groundwork, consists of moves, feints and counter-moves used in judo in which a competitor seeks to gain a point from either a strangle, armlock or hold-down.

Newcastle East End
see "Newcastle United FC"

Newcastle United FC
Newcastle United FC are an English Association Football club. They were formed as Newcastle East End in 1882 by the amalgamation of the clubs Stanley and Rosewood. Newcastle East End amalgamated with Newcastle West End in 1893 on being elected to the Second Division of the Football League and changed its name to Newcastle United.

Newport RFC
Newport RFC are a Rugby Union football club. They were formed as a soccer team in 1874 and started playing rugby in 1875. The club plays home matches at Rodney Parade and plays in a black strip patterned with amber coloured hoops.

Newton Heath
see "Manchester United FC"

Nine Men's Morris
Nine Men's Morris is an indoor form of quoits, also known as merels. The basic equipment is a flat board marked out with three squares and having 24 holes (called stations) in it. Each player has nine pegs which he aims to get into a row of three whilst trying to prevent the opponents from doing the same by 'taking' them before they formed a row.

Ninepenny
Ninepenny is an Oxfordshire name for Nine Men's Morris.

Nordic Cup
The Nordic Cup (Scandinavian Championship) is an Association Football competition for the national teams of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.

Norrkoping IFK
Norrkoping IFK is a Swedish Association Football club. They were founded in 1897 and came to the forefront of Swedish football after winning the championship in 1943.

Notts County FC
Notts County FC is an Association Football club of Nottingham founded in 1862, making it the oldest league club in the world. The club became professional in 1895 and was one of the 12 original members of the Football League.

O'Brien Trophy
The O'Brien Trophy is a North American Ice Hockey trophy awarded annually to the losing team in the Stanley Cup play-off finals. It was donated in 1909 by Ambrose J. O'Brien.

O-Shomen
O-Shomen is a basic cut to the centre of the head in kendo.

O-soto-gari
O-soto-gari is a major outer reaping throw used in judo.

Oakland Athletics
Oakland Athletics are an American professional baseball team. They joined the American League in 1968.

Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are an American professional football team.

Oakland Seals
The Oakland Seals are an American Ice Hockey Club based at Oakland, California. They were formed in 1967 as one of six teams in the West Division of the National Hockey League of North America.

Oaks Stakes
The Oaks Stakes is an English horse race run over 2400 meters at Epsom by fillies. It was first run in 1779.

Old Belvedere RFC
Old Belvedere RFC is an Irish Rugby Union football club founded in 1930 by former pupils of the Jesuit College at Dublin.

One Thousand Guineas Stakes
The One Thousand Guineas Stakes is an English classic horse race for fillies only. It was founded in 1814 and is run over the straight Rowley Mile at Newmarket in the Spring.

Orienteering
Orienteering is a sport akin to cross-country running, but staged in less open terrain in which runners compete in navigating routes between isolated control points set up at defined positions within the areas of competition.

Ottawa Rough Riders
The Ottawa Rough Riders are a Canadian professional football team.

Padder Tennis
Padder Tennis is a bat-and-ball game played in singles or pairs and is similar to lawn tennis, but developed to meet the need for a variation of tennis playable on a smaller area.

Paddle Tennis
Paddle Tennis is a bat-and-ball game played with a sponge-rubber ball and a laminated wooden bat on a court exactly half the size of a lawn tennis court. The rules are mainly those of lawn tennis.

Paper-Chase
A Paper-Chase is a variation of cross-country running which originated in the eighteenth century. One or two runners carrying a sack of paper pieces lay a trail for other competitors to follow who start off some 15 minutes later, and attempt to overtake the trail layers.

Paris-Brussels Cycle Race
The Paris-Brussels Cycle Race was an international road race first run for amateurs in 1893, but after 1906 run for professionals until it was discontinued in 1966.

Paris-Roubaix Cycle Race
The Paris-Roubaix Cycle Race is an annual French cycling classic race for professionals. It was first held in 1896, and covers 265 km.

Paris-Tours Cycle Race
The Paris-Tours Cycle Race is a professional road race held since 1896 and held annually since 1906 covering 250 km of flattish roads.

Pato
Pato is an Argentinean game for horsemen, a cross between polo and netball played between two teams of four men on a field 210 meters long by 82 meters wide with the object being to throw the ball into the opponents goal. Each goal is a net hanging from a 2.7 meter post. The ball is similar to a leather football, but has six leather handles. When carrying the ball it must be held in an outstretched arm, giving opponents the chance to snatch it away.

Penarol
Penarol is an Association Football club in Montevideo founded in 1891 by British employees of the Central Railways as the Central Uruguayan Railway Cricket Club. The club was a founder member of the Uruguayan league in 1900, and in 1913 changed to their present name.

Pentathlon
The pentathlon is a five sport standard event for women on the programme of all major athletics championships. It is an all-round test of sprinting, hurdling, jumping, and throwing.

Pesapallo
Pesapallo is a Finnish variation of baseball.

Petanque
Petanque (boule) is a French ball-and-target game of the same type as lawn bowls and crown green bowls. Players take turns to bowl their bowls which are about 8 cm in diameter and made of steel, at a target ball (jack) which is a white painted wooden ball about 30 mm in diameter.

Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers are an American professional basketball club. They were formed in 1963 when the Philadelphia Warriors moved to become the San Francisco Warriors.

Philadelphia Athletics
The Philadelphia Athletics are an American professional baseball team. They were a founding member of the American League in 1901.

Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are an American professional football team. They joined the NFL in 1933 winning the league in 1960.

Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are an American ice hockey club of Philadelphia. They were formed in 1967 as one of six teams of the new West Division of the expanded National Hockey League of North America.

Philadelphia Gold Cup
The Philadelphia Gold Cup is a trophy presented for the world amateur sculling championship.

Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team. They joined the National League in 1883 and won the league title in 1915 and again in 1950.

Philadelphia SC
Philadelphia SC, formed in 1849, was the first ice skating club to be formed in America.

Pietermaritzburg to Durban Marathon
The Pietermaritzburg to Durban Marathon is a canoeing event held annually in South Africa. The race covers a distance of 145 km through rugged country and was first run in 1951 when only one of the eight starters finished the race.

Ping Ball
Ping Ball is a form of table tennis akin to lawn tennis. It is played on the ground over a net 70 cm high with a racket similar in shape to a table tennis bat but with a net hitting surface, and sized about 30 cm by 15 cm. The ball is 4 cm in diameter.

Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are an American ice hockey club. They were formed in 1967 as one of six teams in the new West Division of the expanded National Hockey League of North America.

Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team. They joined the National League in 1887 and first won league titles between 1901 and 1903.

Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are an American professional football team. They entered the NFL in 1933 and in 1970 switched to the American Conference within the same league.

Pole Vault
The Pole Vault is a standard field event for men in the programme of all major athletics championships. Pole vaulting is a jumping contest for height, competitors using a pole to lever their bodies over a bar which is raised according to a fixed progression. Vaulters failing to clear each height within three attempts are eliminated and the winner is the athlete who clears the greatest height.

Polo
Polo is a four-a-side game with players mounted on horses who use wooden mallets to strike a wooden ball in an attempt to score goals. The ball is struck with the side of the mallet, and horses of any size may be used. The full sized ground is 300 yards long and 200 yards wide if unboarded and 160 yards wide if boarded. The boards on the side are 9 inches high and designed to keep the ball in play.

Polo Crosse
Polo Crosse is a team game played on horseback, created by combining some elements of Polo with some of lacrosse. It was first played at the National School of Equitation in England in 1939, with a weapon formed by splicing a tennis racket on to the end of a polo mallet and replacing the tight strings of the racket with loose ones.

Pompey
see "Portsmouth FC"

Portsmouth FC
Portsmouth FC (Pompey) are an Association Football club of Portsmouth, England. They were founded in 1898 as a professional club and entered the first division of the Southern League the following year.

Portsmouth Spartans
see "Detroit Lions"

Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is a horse race founded in 1873. It is the second leg of the American triple crown and is run over a distance of 1900 meters at Pimlico in May.

Preis Der Diana
The Preis Der Diana is a horse race, the German Oaks for three year old fillies run over 2000 meters at Mulheim early in June.

Premio Roma
The Premio Roma is an Italian horse race, the last leg of the Italian triple crown for older horses. It is run at Rome in early November over 2800 meters.

Preston North End FC
Preston North End FC is an Association Football club formed in 1880 by members of the North End Cricket Club in Preston, Lancashire, seeking a winter sport. In 1888 the club were among the founder members of the Football League and were the first league champions.

Prince of Wales Trophy
The Prince of Wales Trophy is an ice hockey trophy awarded annually to the team finishing in first place in the National Hockey League of North America.

Princeton Tigers
The Princeton Tigers are an American college football team of Princeton University. They played their first game in 1869.

Prisoners' Base
Prisoners' Base (aux bares) was a French street game played during the Middle Ages.

Prix De Diane
The Prix De Diane is a French horse race, the French oaks. It is run at Chantilly in mid-June over 2100 meters.

Prix Du Cadran
The Prix Du Cadran is a French horse race, the equivalent of the Ascot Gold Cup, but run in May over 4000 meters.

Quadriga
The Quadriga was an ancient Greek and Roman two-wheeled chariot drawn by four horses abreast and used for racing.

Queen's Park FC
Queen's Park FC are an Association Football club of Glasgow formed in 1867.

Queensberry Rules
The Queensberry Rules are a set of boxing rules drafted in 1867 by Chambers under the patronage and name of the Marquis of Queensberry. They form the basis of modern glove-fighting, as distinct from earlier bare-knuckle contests.

Quoits
Quoits is an outdoor game in which a ring is thrown at a peg-target. It originated as a variation of throwing the discus with the emphasis not on distance, but accuracy.

Racing FC
Racing FC is an Argentine Association Football club of Bueonos Aires founded in 1905.

Rackets
Rackets (Racquets) is a racket-and-ball game played between two or four players in a court enclosed by four walls.

Racquets
see "Rackets"

Rahim Jivraj Cup
The Rahim Jivraj Cup is a hockey trophy competed for by East African countries, and sometimes open to other African countries.

Randori
Randori is a form of judo training in which competitors seek to throw each other without the tension of contests. It is done continuously with a variety of partners of different weights and sizes and is extremely tiring.

Ranfurly Shield
The Ranfurly Shield is a trophy presented in 1902 by the Earl of Ranfurly, Governor of New Zealand, for competition between the Rugby Union provincial teams of New Zealand. The competition is run on a challenge basis, the holders retaining the shield until beaten and allowed to choose whom they accept as challengers.

Rangers FC
Rangers FC are a Scottish Association Football club of Glasgow formed in 1873. They were members of the English FA from 1885 to 1887. In 1890 they were founder members of the Scottish League and have been in the top division ever since.

Ranji Trophy
The Ranji Trophy is a trophy awarded to the national champions of Indian cricket. It was instituted in 1934 in memory of Ranjitsinhji and has been contested annually ever since without interruption.

Rapid SK
Rapid SK are an Austrian Association Football club of Vienna. They were formed in 1898 and first won the Austrian championship in 1912.

Real Madrid
Real Madrid is the name of both a basketball yram and an Association Football club in Spain. The Real Madrid football club was formed in 1898 and was a founder member of the Spanish League in 1928, which it won in 1932.

Real Tennis
Real Tennis (Royal Tennis, Court Tennis) is the original form of tennis from which lawn tennis developed. It is a racket-and-ball game played in an indoor court with similarities to rackets.

Red Banner
see "MTK Budapest"

Redbacks
The Redbacks are a Netball team at the University of Canberra.

Regina Roughriders
see "Saskatchewan Roughriders"

Reims FC
Reims FC is a French Association Football club formed in 1931. The club turned professional in 1935 after winning the amateur club championship of France, and was elected to the Second Division of the French League. After the Second World War Reims were promoted to the First Division.

Richmond FC
Richmond FC is a Rugby Union football club formed in 1861. It was one of the teams founding the Rugby Union in 1871.

Ring Tennis
Ring Tennis (Tenikoit) is a combination of tennis and quoits that also closely resembles deck tennis. It can be played by two or four players either singles or doubles in a much smaller area than lawn tennis.

River Plate
River Plate are an Argentine Association Football club of Buenos Aires formed in 1901.

Rodeo
Rodeo is a competitive exhibition of the riding and other skills of individual cowboys. There are six principle events at all rodeos: saddle bronc-riding, bareback bronc-riding, bull-riding, calf-roping, team roping and steer-wrestling.

Rodeo Clown
Rodeo clowns are attendants at a rodeo whose job it is to rescue unseated riders before they are killed by a bucking bull. They work in pairs, one distracting the bull with a barrel while the other helps the unseated cowboy out of the ring.

Roller Hockey
Roller Hockey is a team game similar to ice hockey but played on roller-skates. The stick players use is flat on both sides, and either side may be used to strike the ball. Teams consist of five players, and a game is played of two 15 minute periods each way (20 minutes in international matches).

Roque
Roque is a form of croquet played in the USA and generally considered to be a more scientific version than the original. The object is to strike balls through iron hoops using a mallet, before hitting the two posts at each end of the court. Along the way it is desirable to try and knock your opponent's balls out of the way.

Rounders
Rounders is a game played by two teams, with a semicircular ''home'' and three ''posts'' equidistant from each other and from the home. The object of the striker after hitting the ball is to run round the whole or part of the course. He is out if a fielder catches the ball or if he is struck by the ball when running between the posts. The American game of baseball derived from rounders.

Royal Tennis
see "Real Tennis"

Rugby Fives
Rugby Fives is a hand-ball game played with gloved hands in a court enclosed by four walls between either two or four players playing singles or doubles respectively. The court is 8.5 meters long and 5.5 meters wide and the playing area of the front wall is 4.6 meters and sloping down the side walls to 1.8 meters at the back wall.

Rugby Football
Rugby Football started at Rugby school and was established all over Britain by 1870. Originally there was no limit to the number of players on each side, in 1877 the rule of 15 a side was adopted, and the practice of deliberate hacking was abolished.

Rugby League Football
Rugby League Football is a 13-a-side game of running, passing from hand to hand and kicking an oval ball. It derived from Rugby Union. Points are scored by touching the ball down behind the opponent's goal line for a try (3 points) and by kicking the ball between the uprights of the goal post above the crossbar for a goal (2 points).

Rugby Union Football
Rugby Union Football is a 15-a-side ball game played with an oval leather ball which may be handled as well as kicked. Points are scored by touching the ball down behind the opponent's goal line (a try) and by kicking the ball between the uprights of the goal above the cross bar (a goal).

Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is an international golf tournament played in alternate years between teams of professional male golfers of the USA and Great Britain and Ireland.

Saddle Bronc-Riding
Saddle bronc-riding is the classic rodeo event in which a competing cowboy must retain his seat on a wildly bucking horse for ten seconds and is marked for the style with which he does so. During the ride the rider must keep one hand free and held in the air.

Salchow
The salchow is a jump in figure skating in which the skater takes off from a back inside edge, rotating in mid-air before landing on the back outside edge of the opposite foot.

Salford RLC
Salford RLC are an English Rugby League club. They joined the Northern Union in 1896 and were an outstanding team during the 1930s.

San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team. They entered the National League in 1969 when the league expanded to twelve teams.

San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are an American professional football team. They were a founding member of the All-America Conference in 1946, and upon its dissolution in 1950 they were merged into the NFL.

San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team. They received the transfer of the National League franchise from the New York Giants in 1958.

Sand Yachting
Sand Yachting is a sport involving the mounting of a small sailing dinghy on a simple chassis with three or four car wheels. The boats are then propelled by the wind over sand, tarmac, concrete or other level surfaces. The sail is operated as it would be on water, and the vehicle is steered by a steering wheel or pedals.

Santos
Santos are a Brazilian Association Football club of Sao Paulo. They were formed in 1912, and turned professional in 1933 winning the Sao Paulo League title in 1935 and again in 1955.

Saskatchewan Roughriders
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a Canadian professional football team. They entered the Western Interprovincial Rugby Union in 1936 as the Regina Roughriders and changed their name in 1948 to Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Savate
Savate was an individual folk combat sport, practised largely in France until the early nineteenth century. It allowed striking the opponent with fists or feet, and tripping and in some variations the use of a stick. A refined variation was known as chausson. From around 1826 refinements to the sport led to the development of French boxing.

Scandinavian Championship
see "Nordic Cup"

Scorton Arrow
The Scorton Arrow is an annual competition for archers. The rules were drawn up in 1673 by a society of archers in the North Riding of Yorkshire who agreed to hold a competition shooting at targets for an ancient silver arrow.

Scottish Games Association
The Scottish Games Association was formed in 1948 to organise and co-ordinate professional athletics meetings in Scotland.

Scottish Milk Race
The Scottish Milk Race is an international amateur cycling stage race modelled on the Tour of Britain. It started in 1963 as a one-day race and soon developed into a five-day race covering about 800 km.

Scrambling
see "Moto-Cross"

Seattle Pilots
The Seattle Pilots are an American professional baseball team. They joined the American League in 1969 when the league expanded to twelve teams. In 1970 the franchise was shifted to Milwaukee.

Seio-nage
Seio-nage is a shoulder throw used in judo.

Sella Descent
The Sella Descent is an international long-distance canoeing event held annually at Ribadesella in northern Spain during August. The course is 16.5 km long, rocky and with a number of weirs to shoot.

Sepak Raga
see "Sepak Takraw"

Sepak Takraw
Sepak Takraw is a game played with a rattan ball on a badminton court and popular in south-eastern Asia where it is known under several names: Sipak, Takraw, Sepak raga.

Servette
Servette are a Swiss Association Football club of Geneva founded in 1890.

Sheffield Shield
The Sheffield Shield is an Australian cricket trophy awarded to the premier state team each season. It was first contested in 1892 and won by Victoria.

Shell Shield
The Shell Shield is a West Indian cricket trophy instituted in 1965 by the Shell Oil Company to stimulate West Indies cricket competition.

Shiai
A shiai is a judo contest.

Shinty
Shinty (camanachd) is a native stick-and-ball game of the Scottish Highlands, originally the same as Hurling the two have developed their own separate styles, but the basis remains the same, driving a ball through a goal with a stick.

Shot Put
The Shot Put is a standard field event for men and women on the programme of all major athletics championships. It is a sport of martial origin, soldiers having used cannon balls for throwing contests for hundreds of years.

Shuffle-Board
Shuffle-Board (shovelboard) is a deck game adapted from shove-ha'penny. The game is played with wooden discs about six inches in diameter which are pushed along the deck with a long handled driver fitted with a semi-circular shoe that fits the disc. The discs are pushed from a line on to a marked area of the deck to score points.

Single Lasco Lift
The Single lasco lift is a pairs figure skating movement. From a side-by-side hand-to-hand position the woman is lifted overhead in an outside forward take-off, turning one and a half revolutions with the man's arms stretched (lasso pose) and the woman's legs in split position. The man remains forward to complete a backward landing on the right outside edge.

Sipak
see "Sepak Takraw"

Ski Jumping
Ski jumping is the oldest form of competitive skiing. Competitors (called jumpers) slide down a prepared track and then leaps into the air from a takeoff platform. Jumpers are judged on the distance covered, body control, and style. This event is more akin to flying than to skiing because body control in the air with the skier bent forward almost parallel to his skis is judged more closely than control of skis on the ground. Skis made for jumping are heavier, longer, and wider than alpine skis and are designed for gliding rather than manoeuvrability.

Skibobbing
Skibobbing is a sport practised on any ski slope on a low elongated vehicle resembling a bicycle with skis in place of wheels, one fixed at the rear and the other mobile in the front to allow steering.

Skiing
Skiing is a competitive sport carried out on snow with the competitors feet attached to long thin shaped runners known as skis.

Skittles
Skittles is a game played with pins and balls, discs or cheeses or other similar projectiles, the object being to knock over the pins with the missiles.

Slalom
Slalom is a form of skiing competition in which competitors descend a course made up of a series of 'gates' made from poles that are set singly, in pairs, or in combinations, in the shortest possible time. Olympic slalom events require a course to have a vertical drop of at least 200 meters from the beginning to the finish line.

Slavia Sofia
Slavia Sofia is a Bulgarian women's basketball club. It was formed in 1959 and was the first winner of the women's European Cup for Champion Clubs.

Softball
Softball is a nine-a-side variant of baseball played with a larger ball.

Sooners
The Sooners is the nickname of the University of Oklahoma American College Football team.

Sospan Fach
Sospan Fach (little saucepan) is a nickname of Llanelli RFC.

Soule
Soule was a primitive team ball-and-goal game played in France prior to the nineteenth century. The ball was propelled towards the opponent team's goal by way of feet, hands and sometimes sticks.

South American Championship
The South American Championship is an Association Football championship for international teams initiated in 1917 and first played in Montevideo when it was won by Uruguay.

South American Cup
The South American Cup is an Association Football trophy introduced in 1960 to provide a team which would meet the winners of the European Cup.

Spaceball
Spaceball is a game played with an eight ounce ball on a trampoline.

Spartak Moscow
Spartak Moscow are a Russian Association Football club of Moscow. They were founded in 1926.

Speedway
Speedway or Dirt Track racing involves racing single-cylinder motor cycles up to 500cc around a track of small sifted cinders. The skill involves maintaining a high speed around the corners, which is achieved by skidding by dragging the left foot along the ground.

Split Lutz Lift
The split lutz lift is a movement in pairs figure skating. Both partners start from a side-by-side position, travelling backwards. The woman is lifted from an outside back edge. During the lift she assumes a split lutz position. At the conclusion of the lift she is travelling on a back outside edge and the man on a forward outside edge.

Springboks
The Springboks are the South African representative rugby union team. The nickname Springboks was first used in 1906 when the South Africans toured the British Isles.

Spurs
see "Tottenham Hotspur FC"

Squash
see "Squash Rackets"

Squash Rackets
Squash Rackets (Squash) is a fairly new bat-and-ball game usually played by two players, within an enclosed rectangular court 32 feet long by 21 feet wide. The object is to hit a small rubber ball out of reach of the opponent with a racket similar to, but smaller than, a rackets racket.

Squash Tennis
Squash Tennis is an American development of Squash Rackets played with a ball similar to, but slightly smaller than a tennis ball.

St Domingo Church Sunday School Club
see "Everton FC"

St Helens
St Helens is an English Rugby League Football club founded in 1875. It was a founder of the Northern Union which it won in 1932.

St Leger Stakes
The St Leger Stakes is an English horse race forming the third leg of the English triple crown. It was founded in 1778 and is run in September on the Town Moor at Doncaster over 2900 meters.

St Louis Blues
The St Louis Blues are an American Ice Hockey club of St Louis, Missouri. They were formed in 1967 as one of six teams in the new West Division of the expanded National Hockey League of North America.

St Louis Browns
The St Louis Browns are an American professional baseball team. The team was founded in 1902 and moved to Baltimore in 1954.

St Louis Cardinals
The St Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team, formed during the 1870s.

St Petersburg SC
see "Leningrad SC"

Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is the oldest Ice Hockey trophy competed for by professional athletes in North America. It is awarded annually to the winning team in the Stanley Cup play-off series contested by the highest-placed clubs at the end of the NHL championship. The cup was donated in 1893 by Lord Stanley of Preston, then governor-general of Canada, originally for presentation to the amateur champions of Canada.

Stawell Gift Handicap
The Stawell Gift Handicap is an Australian professional running race. It was inaugurated in 1878 in the mining town of Stawell, in Victoria. The race itself is an uphill sprint of 130 yards.

Steeplechase
Originally a steeplechase was a trial of speed and jumping powers between two or more horses across the country between two church steeples. Today, the course is a regular race course with artificial fences for the horses to jump. In athletics, the 3000 meters steeplechase is a hurdling event for men on the programme of all major athletics championships.

Stoke City FC
Stoke City FC is an Association Football club founded in 1863 by old boys of Charterhouse school and known as simply Stoke. In 1885 the club became professional and in 1924 the name was changed to Stoke City.

Stoolball
Stoolball is an eleven-a-side ball game played with a ball slightly smaller than a rounders ball and a bat with a flat and bevelled side. The game is played on a pitch 16 yards long with a bowling crease 1 yard long at a distance of 10 yards from either wicket. The wickets are boards 1 foot square mounted on stakes, the top of the wicket being 4 feet and 8 inches from the ground. The scoring is similar to, but simpler than cricket with the batting side defending the wicket from balls thrown by the other side and scoring runs after hitting the balls.

Sunderland FC
Sunderland FC are an Association Football club founded in 1879 as Sunderland and District Teachers' AFC, it adopted its present name in 1881 and turned professional in 1886.

Sussex Stakes
The Sussex Stakes is a valuable horse race run at Goodwood over 1600 meters.

Swansea RFC
Swansea RFC was formed as an Association Football club in 1872, but adopted Rugby Union football in 1874. The club plays home matches at St Helen's Ground in white shirts and white shorts.

Swaythling Cup
The swaythling cup is an award for the men's championship of the world at table tennis, equivalent to lawn tennis' Davis Cup.

Swinging the Monkey
Swinging the Monkey is a deck game with its origins in the fifteenth century. One player - the monkey - hangs from a suspended rope holding on with one hand and his feet, while his free hand is used to fend off the other players who try to hit him with knotted cloths.

Sydney Cup
The Sydney Cup is an Australian handicap horse race run over 3200 meters at Randwick in mid-April.

Table Tennis
Table Tennis is an indoor game played by either two players (singles) or four players (doubles) facing each other and hitting a small light ball with a small paddle so that it passes over a low net stretched midway across the surface of a table, striking its surface at each end alternately.

Tag
see "Touch-Chasing"

Takraw
see "Sepak Takraw"

Tambourin
Tambourin is a bat-and-ball game of the tennis type. It is played on a long narrow court with a 6 cm diameter ball and a racket with a prachment hitting-surface.

Tatami
A tatami is a 9 meter square mat of compressed straw with a tight canvas covering on which judo contests are held.

Tennis
Tennis (Lawn Tennis) is a game for two or four players played by striking a ball with a racket over a net stretched across a rectangular court.

Texas Rangers
The Texas Rangers are an American professional baseball team. They joined the American League in 1972.

Textilesek
see "MTK Budapest"

The Longhorns
The Longhorns is the nickname of the University of Texas American College football team.

The Pumas
The Pumas are the Argentinean Rugby Union team.

Thomas Cup
The Thomas Cup is a silver-gilt trophy of the international badminton championship which was donated to the International Badminton Federation in 1939 by Sir George Thomas, then president of the federation.

Ticky Touchwood
see "Touch-Chasing"

Tip
see "Touch-Chasing"

Tobogganing
Tobogganing is the sport of sliding down ice-covered tracks on small sleds.

Toronto Arenas
see "Toronto Maple Leafs"

Toronto Argonauts
The Toronto Argonauts are a Canadian professional football team. They have been a member of the Eastern 'Big Four' since its inception in 1907.

Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a Canadian ice hockey club of Toronto. Under its original name of the Toronto Arenas, the club was one of the original four members of the professional National Hockey League of North America in 1917.

Tossing the Weight
Tossing the Weight is an event of the Highland Games. The weight is a metal sphere with an attached chain and ring, weighing overall 25 kg. This is thrown by competitors in two events, one for height and the other distance.

Tottenham Hotspur FC
Tottenham Hotspur FC (Spurs) are an English Association Football club in London. They were founded in 1882 as the football section of the Hotspur Cricket Club and played on Tottenham Marsh. In 1885 the club adopted its present name and in 1896 turned professional and were admitted to the Southern League which they won in 1900.

Touch Ball
Touch Ball is a ball-and-goal team game, in effect a no-contact form of rugby.

Touch-Chasing
Touch-Chasing is a street and playground game known under various names including: Ticky Touchwood, touch, tag, it, tip and dobby. It consists of one person chasing until he reaches and touches another, saying something like "you're it" as he does so. The touched person then becomes the chaser, until he makes a touch. The game continues until the players get fed up. Traditionally there has always been one chance of escape from the chaser - to touch something that offers safety, such as a door, lamppost or whatever is designated through convenience.

Tour De France
The Tour De France is a major professional cycling race founded in 1903 by Desgranges as a six-stage race of 2410 km.

Tour of Britain
The Tour of Britain is the principle British amateur cycling race. It was created in 1951 by the Daily Express and revived in 1958 by the Milk Marketing Board, hence the alternative name of the "Milk Race".

Tourist Trophy
The Tourist Trophy (TT) are motor-cycling races held in the Isle of Man. The races are held over the public roads (closed at the time) making the races fast, and dangerous requiring excellent handling of the bikes at high speed.

Trampolining
Trampolining is an individual acrobatic sport consisting of various manoeuvres in the air performed with the aid of an apparatus called a trampoline.

Trapball
Trapball was a ball-and-stick team game played around the fourteenth century. A ball was placed in a swiveling trap which was spun, releasing the ball into the air which the batsman would then try to hit with the stick and score runs while the opposing team would try to catch the ball before it hit the ground or bowl it back at the trap before the batsman completed his run.

Travers Stakes
The Travers Stakes is an old-established American horse race for three-year-olds run over 2000 meters at Saratoga Springs in August.

Triple Jump
The Triple Jump (hop step and jump) is a standard field event for men on the programme of all major athletics championships.

Trojans
The Trojans is the nickname of the University of Southern California American College Football team.

Trotting
Trotting (Harness-racing) is a form of horse racing in which the rider is towed along in a small cart.

TSKA Moscow
TSKA Moscow are a Russian basketball club.

TSV Munich 1860
TSV Munich 1860 are a German Association Football club formed as a sports club in 1860. It started playing football in 1899, but it was not until the 1960s that the club achieved success in the national championships.

Tug-of-War
Tug-of-War is a contest of strength and skill between two teams pulling against each other from opposite end of a long thick rope.

Two Thousand Guineas Stakes
The Two Thousand Guineas Stakes is the second classic horse race of the English season. It was founded in 1809 and competed for over the straight Rowley Mile course at Newmarket in the spring.

Uber Cup
The Uber Cup is the team trophy for the women's international badminton championship. It was presented to the International Badminton Federation by Mrs Uber in 1956. Like its counterpart, the Thomas Cup, the Uber Cup is competed for every three years with preliminary rounds taking place geographically and the winners meeting at one location for a play off.

Uchi-mata
Uchi-mata is an inner thigh throw used in judo.

UCLA Bruins
UCLA Bruins are a basketball team of the University of California at Los Angeles.

Underwater Hockey
Underwater Hockey is a variation of hockey played by skin-divers in swimming pools in teams of six using miniature hockey sticks. The game was invented in South Africa in the 1960s.

USFSA
The United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA) is the association which organises and sanctions local, national, world, and Olympic Track competitive figure skating in the United States. The USFSA is a member of the International Skating Union (ISU) which organises competitive skating internationally, and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) which organises US Olympic efforts for all sports.
The USFSA provides the backbone structure which provides consistency in the efforts of its Member Clubs throughout the nation. The Association provides technical and administrative support for those clubs and their skaters. The USFSA defines a rational Test structure for developing competitive figure skaters, and a Competitions system which permits them to display their talents. The USFSA trains and develops the Judges which evaluate skater's performance on a local, national, and international basis. The USFSA is headquartered in Colorado Springs.

Vardon Trophy
The Vardon Trophy is a golf award presented annually by the US Professional Golfers Association to the tournament player with the lowest stroke average in PGA events during the year.

Vasalop Race
The Vasalop Race is a mass-start cross-country ski race of about 85 km from Salen to Mora in Sweden.

Vesper Boat Club
The Vesper Boat Club is an American rowing club in Philadelphia, founded in 1875.

Vezina Trophy
The Vezina Trophy is an ice hockey trophy awarded annually in the National Hockey Leage of North America to the goalminders having played a minimum of 25 games for the team with the fewest goals scored against it.

Victorian Football Association
The Victorian Football Association is the oldest Australian Rules Football body in existence. It was established in 1877.

Victorian Football League
The Victorian Football League is the Australian Rules Football organization.

Vienna SC
Vienna SC is an Austrian ice skating club formed in 1867 and home to early European developments in ice dancing.

Volleyball
Volleyball is a team game played on a rectangular area 18 m by 9 m divided into two square courts by a center line above which spans a taut horizontal net at a height of 2.43 meters. Two teams of six players each attempt to volley the ball over the net and ground it in the opposing court, and prevent the ball from touching the ground in their court.

Walker Cup
The Walker cup is an international golf tournament played in alternate years between teams of amatuer men from the USA and Great Britain and Ireland.

Wallabies
The Wallabies is the nickname of the Australian Rugby Union team.

Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are an American professional football team. They joined the NFL in 1932 as the Boston Redskins, but moved to Washington in 1937.

Washington Senators
The Washington Senators are an American professional baseball team. They were a founding member of the American League in 1901.

Water Polo
Water Polo is a ball game played in water. It is a variation of Association Football but played in a swimming pool with teams of seven players. A match consists of four quarters of five minutes each, with teams changing ends each quarter.

Wazari
A wazari is a 'almost a point' scored in judo.

Wellington Cup
The Wellington Cup is a horse race run over 3200 meters on the Trentham track, Wellington, New Zealand.

Welsh Baseball
Welsh Baseball is an 11-a-side team game played with a wooden bat and a hard ball, mainly in South Wales and parts of north-west England. It differs in several respects, and notably in the matter of equipment, from the more widely-known form of baseball played in the USA. The clothing worn by the players is much simpler and catching gloves and other protective gear is not used. The bat is made of willow and has a flat striking edge which tapers evenly into the handle.

Wembley Lions
The Wembley Lions are an English ice hockey club that was formed in 1934.

West Ham United FC
West Ham United FC is an English Association Football club of London. It was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks and reformed under its present name in 1900.

Wightman Cup
The Wightman Cup is an annual lawn tennis contest between women players of the USA and Britain. It was inaugurated in 1923.

Winchester College Football
Winchester College Football is a 15-a-side and 6-a-side variation of football played only at Winchester College. It is played with a round ball on a pitch 80 yards long by 27 yards wide bounded on the two long sides by netting 8 feet high, with a yard inside the netting a rope 3 feet high running parallel to the netting. At each short end of the pitch is a shallowly trenched goal line.

Winchester Fives
Winchester Fives is a game played between four players, two on each side, in a court enclosed by four walls. The players use both hands (protected by gloves).

Winnipeg Blue Bombers
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a Canadian professional football team. They were the first Western Conference team to win the Grey Cup in 1935.

Wisden Trophy
The Wisden Trophy was created by John Wisden and Company Ltd in 1963 to commemorate the 100th edition of Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack. The trophy is competed for between the West Indies and England, although the actual trophy is permanently housed at Lord's.

Wolverhampton Wanderers FC
Wolverhampton Wanderers FC are an Association Football club founded in 1877 by young men associated with St Luke's Church School in Blakenhall. The club played under the name of St Luke's Church School until 1880 when they merged with Wanderers, another local club and assumed their current name.

Wolverines
The Wolverines is the nickname of the University of Michigan college football team.

Copyright 1997,1998 Servile Software     Enquiries to Matthew Probert

START PAGE

This site is run as a free public information service