RP147 The World's Oldest Sports

RP147 The World's Oldest Sports

Soccer, baseball, volleyball, and golf—humans love sports. We play old ones. We invent new ones. We cheer for our favorite players and cry over our losses. But how long have humans been playing sports for fun? Which sports are the oldest?

Cricket, the English sport, is among the oldest. There have been international cricket matches since 1844, but the game is much older than that. There are references to a sport called "creckett" as far back as the late 1500s, when it was a children's game. It became popular among adults in the 1600s. The rules were officially recorded in 1744.

Tennis is also quite old. It began in Europe. Experts believe it was played in monasteries for entertainment in the 1300s. It was first played with a wooden ball and with hands instead of racquets, but it evolved over time. It became popular among French kings between the 1500s and the 1800s. That was when it got the name "tennis" and when official rules were established.

But by far the oldest sport comes from the New World. It's called "ulama", and it comes from what is now Mexico. Ulama was played on a long, narrow court, with two teams of four or five people at each end. Teams serve the balls to each other, and then team members try to move the balls along the court until they score by hitting a ball past the other team's line. They can only hit the balls with their hips and thighs. Ulama is not common now, but it is still sometimes played today in parts of Mexico. It began as far back as 1,500 BC, which means ulama has been played for 3,500 years!