Sports in Canada

Sports in Canada are part of its rich culture. Despite having amateur players, tournament such as Canada games, Canada Winter Games and Canada Summer Games are the training ground for most of the country’s famous athletes.

Some of Canadian athletes who have humble beginnings are Lennox Claudius Lewis, a renowned boxer who once held the title of undisputed world heavyweight champion. He shared his efforts in bringing more fame to Canada when he won gold during the 1988 Olympic Games.

Catriona Ann Le May-Doan is known for her skills in speed skating. She brought home the bacon in Olympic 500 meter title in 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. In the same sport, she won the championship in 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in Utah, and had since been dubbed as the “fastest woman on ice.”

Canadians are fond of sports. In fact, it has been among the things to look forward to when people pursue immigration to Canada since the beginning of time. People maintain good comradeship and create networks of acquaintances by playing sports in Canada.

Basketball, a favorite sport by many has strong roots in Canada; after all, James Naismith, its inventor was a Canadian. In 1946 of November 1^st, at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Garden, the National Basketball Association had its first game between Toronto Huskies and New York Knickerbockers.

Basketball sport became even more popular as Nova Scotia and the Southern Ontario. Just in 1995, Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies were added into the National Basketball Association teams, and in 2005, Steve Nash was given the award of NBA Most Valuable Player and played for Canada’s national team in international competitions.

In 1860s, Canada first played rugby football, which developed and became Canadian football. Its first recorded football match was held at University of Toronto on the 9^th of November 1861. Thereafter, a football club was created.

Today, Canada’s professional league is called Canadian Football league, while its amateur league is called Football Canada, both of which had their roots in the 1884 during the founding of Canadian Rugby Football Union.

Bowling, golf and cycling are three of the most common individual sports in Canada. Bowling includes ten-pin and lawn bowling. Its newest version is the five-pin bowling, an original concept in Toronto, and which is played exclusively within Canada. If you have immigration to Canada plan, you should try this game.

Canada’s pride in golf sport is Mike Weir, who won the 2003 Masters. He is the first Canadian to grab one of the major titles in golf, while Sandra Post who won the Ladies Professional Golf Association in 1968 became the first Canadian to win a recognized major championship.

 When it comes to cycling, Canada is never left behind. In the past years, biking makes its own reputation among sport enthusiasts and came up with competition including four cross, downhill racing, dirt jumping and slopestyle.

Canada boasts of its two official sports, namely Ice hockey and Lacrosse. Ice hockey is the national pastime of Canadians. It started in the late 1800s with good participation by men, women and children. Lacrosse is Canada’s official national sport, after surviving several challenges.