USA Sports: Top 10 Sports & National Sports

This article is about sports in the USA. You will learn how sports work in the school system there, how to get a scholarship and what sports exist in the USA at all. This article will help you get an overview of the most popular American sports and how they can be practiced in school, college, and in your free time.

USA Sport – Definition and Overview

Sport (also «sport» in English) is defined as different types of movements, competitions or even games in which physical activity is required of people.

So, in very general terms, a sport is an activity in which a person has to move. There are now more than 250 sports worldwide, 33 of which are even Olympic. Sports can be divided into several sub-disciplines. In the sport of athletics (in the US «cross and field») there is e.g. B. the disciplines sprint over 100m, 200m, 400m, high jump, long jump etc.

In the US, of course, there are a lot of sports overall. However, the most popular sports are very different from those in Germany and Europe.

USA Sport – the most popular sports

As previously mentioned, America’s big and popular sports are quite different from ours. Which sport in the USA sets the tone there is shown in the next paragraph.

USA national sport

A national sport is the Sport of a state, which has a very long tradition and great popularity. This sport is mostly called Part of the respective national identity respected and is very typical and characteristic of the respective country.

So every country has its own national sport, which in some cases is unofficial and in some cases even official. That is, the national sport was designated as such by the country’s government.

Canada: Lacrosse, Ice Hockey

Russia: Sambo, Ice Hockey

Colombia: Tagus

Germany: soccer

USA: baseball, football

In the US, there are two sports that are unofficially known as national sports are traded: baseball and American football. Baseball used to be considered the national sport of the country, but now American football is even more popular and is slowly taking over the title of the most popular sport in the USA.

So that you know at least roughly what the two sports are about and how they work, we will give you a brief overview.

baseball

Baseball is a Team sport, which consists of 2 teams with 9 players each. During the game, teams alternate between attacking and defending roles.

A player on the defending team throws the baseball as hard as he can at an attacker on the other team who is holding a baseball bat and tries to to catapult the ball with the bat as far as possible into the field. As the ball flies, the bat must go as fast as it can run to a so-called «base».. There are 4 of them on the field. If he makes it to 4th base, he «home base»the team gets a point.

Meanwhile, the defending team tries either to catch the batted ball or, if it has already fallen to the ground, to throw the ball back to the thrower as quickly as possible. If the ball is back, the runner of the other team is not allowed to go any further. He has to stand at one of the bases and wait for his next teammate to hit the field.

If three of the attackers’ balls are intercepted by the defenders, the attackers’ racket is out. When three players are out, the teams switch positions. When both teams have played each position once, it is one round («Inning») over. A normal game usually consists of 9 innings.

american football

Football is also a Team sport and consists of 2 teams with 11 players each. However, there is much more to a football team than the 11 players who are on the field. The athletes are attacking «Offense» and defense «defense» divided. Depending on the type of game, they are substituted.

The field is divided by several lines in each 5 yard sectionte divided. At each end of the field is an end zone with a tall goal made up of two vertical bars and one horizontal bar.

The object of the game is to win the football of his team to get into the other team’s end zone. This can happen through a running game or through a shot on goal. In the running game, the ball is thrown from person to person. A person with the ball must then try to get past the opposing players without being hit by them «tackled» to be (thrown to the ground).

If the ball carrier is tackled and the ball touches the ground, or if the ball is not caught by a teammate, play is stopped and a new play begins. A team has 4 attempts per attack («down») transport the ball 10 yards towards the other end zone. If these 10 yards are reached, they get 4 downs again. If this distance is not reached in the 4 attempts, the other team gets the ball and it goes in the other direction.

If a player runs into the other team’s end zone with the ball, it becomes a «touchdown» called and the team gets 6 points. If the football is shot through the end zone goal, it will «Field Goal» called and gives only 3 points.

List of top 10 sports

To give you an overview of what the most popular sports are in the USA, here is the top 10 list with the corresponding leagues (if any):

  1. American Football (NFL)
  2. Baseball in the (MLB)
  3. Basketball (NBA)
  4. Ice Hockey (NHL)
  5. Soccer (MLS)
  6. tennis
  7. golf
  8. Wrestling (WWE)
  9. Motor Sports (Formula 1)
  10. badminton

Sport in the US school system

Unlike in Germany, for example, sports are heavily promoted in the USA even during school time. In Germany, «school comes first,» but in the United States, some schools give sport top priority. You can now find out exactly how sport is regulated in the US school system.

Want to know more about the US school system? Then read our article «School system USA».

high school

There is a wide range of sports on offer in schools in the USA. There it is not like in Germany that sport is a leisure activity and therefore separate from school, but rather Sport is part of the school experience. Almost every school has its own sports team that you can join.

possible sports:

  • cheerleading
  • football
  • baseball
  • basketball
  • To swim
  • lacrosse
  • boxes
  • Tennis…

You can join your school’s athletic team or join another high school’s team. It’s not that easy to get into a team, however, since you’re a «tryout» must pass, which tests how good you are.

The school teams create a very strong sense of belonging among the students in the USA and many take school sports as a characteristic of identification. Competitions and games of popular sports on the weekends are mostly attended and supported by the whole school.

The sports will be divided into three levels of difficulty: the best players play in varsity teamsthen they come Junior Varsity Teams and then the Level three teams. Players of the varsity teams usually also have good chances of a sports scholarship.

In many high schools it is regulated that students* must have at least a C (a C/a satisfactory) in all subjects in order to be able to participate in physical education courses (but this is not the case everywhere). Otherwise, many students would neglect school early on in order to pursue competitive sports.

college

College is similar to high school: sport is also an integral part of it. Sport is just as much a part of everyday life as learning at colleges in the USA, and there are at least as many sporting opportunities as there are in high schools.

In college, many students start playing for top clubs and preparing for a career in competitive sports. In college American football, for example, there are already leagues from which many players are immediately transferred to the NFL. College football is also already televised and has many fans.

competitive sport

As in high school sports, there are different levels of difficulty in the sports, whereby the players are divided according to their ability. Of the varsity sport can be broken down into the NCAA, which includes the most well-known athletes (with Divisions 1, 2, and 3) and the NAIA, which includes athletes from smaller colleges.

So the goal of athletes who want to get into the performance area is to get into the first division of the NCAA, where they have a very good chance of being discovered by the big sports clubs.

recreational sport

But you can also do sports in your free time without much pressure at the colleges in the USA. For example, you can join smaller sports groups or sports clubs or do sports on your own. Many universities and colleges in the USA also have fitness studios, sports halls or swimming pools for private use.

The smaller sports clubs at the universities, where competitions play a subordinate role, are called «Intramural Sports» and can be compared to German university sports.

USA Sport – Scholarship

It is generally more difficult to get a sports scholarship in American colleges and universities, since sports play a much larger role there than in Germany – but at the same time many more sports scholarships are offered.

The principle works like this: a college selects certain and good high school players and offers them (depending on the strength of the athletes and the size of the college). Grant of a fixed amount (usually 50% or 100% of college costs). The athletes are paid part or all of the costs of their studies and in return, they must represent the college in competitions. This is how they theoretically advertise their respective universities.

the Requirements, which must be met in order to be eligible for an athletic scholarship, vary from college to college. However, all athletes must have a high school diploma. The scholarships that have been set only run for one year and have to be renegotiated every year. They depend on the strength of the athletes. If the strength of an athlete decreases, the scholarship also decreases.

The number of sports scholarships and expenditures for sports in the USA continues to rise. Over 2000 universities and colleges now offer scholarships for over 20 sports. This means that several billion US dollars have already been spent on university sports in one year.

Sport USA – The most important things at a glance

  • National sports in the USA are baseball and American football.
  • The top 10 sports in the United States are, in descending order: football, baseball, basketball, ice hockey, soccer, tennis, golf, wrestling, motor sports, and badminton.
  • Sport in schools plays a very important role in the USA…