The one thing I have always loved about sports is the competitive nature, but also how people love to play sports. And these past two weeks, I have found that statement is true throughout other parts of the world. I just spent two weeks in Scotland, and while they play some different kinds of games than we do in America, the desire to play sports still remains in other places beside the good ole USA.
Our first night in Glasgow, we were taking a walk around a little park and first noticed some grownups playing soccer in a small arena that was adjacent to the park. It had multiple fields, but they were small, almost like arena football here in the states. We made our way out of the park and met a horde of people that were returning from a soccer match between Glasgow and the Ukraine with the winner to face Wales for a spot in the world cup.
The scene reminded me of a Tennessee football game at Knoxville. There was a multitude of people walking back to the downtown area, and they were all wearing the jerseys of Glasgow. I thought of all the orange and white jerseys I would see at Knoxville, and there were dads and sons and family members grouped together and talking about the game as they walked along.
The next day we walked past a school and witnessed a field hockey game in progress. On one field a high school cricket match was taking place, and on another field, several younger children were having batting practice for girls who were cricket players. The school also had a huge soccer field, and I couldn’t help but think about how similar the school was to ours, with the exception that they were just playing some different sports. Everything else was the same.
The one sport I came across was one that included all ages, but the several times I saw it being played, it was mainly older people, a group I am a member of. It was lawn bowling, and, to me, it was similar to Bocce ball. You rolled a white ball out into the court, and then everyone tried to see who could get closer to the white ball. These courts were all over Scotland and were big enough you could have three matches at once being played. If I ever move to Scotland, I am positive that I will join a club.
Next week I am going to tell you about the golf courses I came upon in Scotland. After all, Scotland was the birthplace of golf and the courses were everywhere.
