Sports and recreation in Bermuda

Some sports and events have greater historical and cultural significance whilst others are played for entertainment or competition.

Many sports popular today were formalised by British public schools and universities in the Nineteenth Century.

Former public schoolboys continued to pursue these activities, and founded organisations such as The Football Association (FA).

Today's association of football with the working classes began when the FA changed its rules to allow professional players in 1885.

The armed forces encouraged competitive and team sports for all ranks for the same reasons public schools did.

Bermuda's role as the primary Royal Navy base in the Western Hemisphere, with an army garrison to match, ensured that the naval and military personnel quickly introduced the newly formalised sports to Bermuda, including cricket, football, Rugby football, golf, and even tennis and rowing (rowing did not adapt well from British rivers to the stormy Atlantic, and the officers soon switched to sail racing, founding the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club).

This tournament continues a tradition that began in 1872 when Captain Moresby of the Royal Navy introduced the game to Bermuda, holding a match at Somerset to mark "forty years since the unjust thraldom of slavery".

[2][3] The whole of Bermuda ground to a complete halt for two days every summer to turn its attention to this cricket game.

Football did not become popular with Bermudians 'til after the Second World War, though teams from the various Royal Navy, British Army Bermuda Garrison, and Royal Air Force units of Bermuda had competed annually for the Governor's Cup introduced by Major-General Sir George Mackworth Bullock in 1913 (there were also Governor's Cups for other sports, including cricket and golf).

The wind is also higher as unblocked gusts from the sea-facing side of a course can sometimes affect the accuracy of a golf swing.

Bermuda is often represented in the Olympic Games, and it has won two medals; a Bronze in boxing and Gold in the Women's triathlon.

Australian rules football is also gaining popularity[citation needed] and the island will host the Australian Rules Football Championships in April 2007, an international tournament featuring sides from Canada, the United States, Europe and the Bermuda Lions national team.