Sport

Sport is incredibly important to people in the UK. From the anguish of watching the England football team crash out in international tournaments every two years to the annual races for national clubs to win league titles and championship cups, it is fair to say that football is perhaps the most popular sport in the UK. And it’s easy to see why. While the game might have international appeal and have been played all over the world for decades, it is one of the many sports codified by the British, and a sense of ownership over the sport seems to permeate over the British public.

Of course, football is not the only sport codified by the British. Cricket, a hugely popular sport in Africa, Indonesia, Australasia and (of course) Britain is another one codified by the British and transported around the world. Rugby, too, played all over the world and rumoured to have begun at a school in Rugby is another British codified sport. And the embodiment of tennis is, arguably, found in the annual Wimbledon tournament.

Fortunately, seeing as the Brits seem to be good at codifying sports and not at playing them, there are a host of other sports from around the world that are rising in popularity at UK schools and universities. From contact sports like American football and lacrosse to the more elegant sports like baseball and basketball, the rising popularity of such sports among young people could hopefully be an indicator of a move away from British pride and appalling performance in British sports, and a general embracing of sport in general. If we can’t win at our national game, perhaps someday we’ll win at somebody else’s?

TAG Heuer Aquaracer
This superb divers' watch is available now.