In European countries, this type of dispute is called football, and in America, which already has its own football, different from the one played by the whole world, it was given a different name – soccer. If in all other countries it is soccer that enjoys enormous popularity, and American football is little known, then in the United States everything is different. It is significantly inferior in popularity to baseball and basketball, the same American football.
But, nevertheless, in recent years, more and more fans have appeared in soccer in America.
European Football in America
But, meanwhile, Americans have been playing soccer for almost as long as the British, who are called the founders of football. When few people heard about football in Russia, football matches were already held between the teams of Canada and America. The Americans took part in football during the 1904 Olympics. True, they did not achieve success then, taking 2nd and 3rd places among the three participating teams. At the world championships, the American team also failed to prove themselves. The biggest success was the semi-final in 1930. True, the US team was able to become the champion of the Koncacafe tournament several times.
Interest in football among Americans intensified in the 70s. The 20th century, when the most famous football player in the world at that time, the Brazilian Pele, began to play in the USA. He played for the New York Cosmos.
Since 1996, there has been MLS in the USA, an analogue of our Premier League, which includes 15 football teams from America and 3 teams from Canada. Unlike other sports leagues, MLS is the owner of all football clubs that are part of it. Clubs are partly managed by investors. In accordance with the success that the club had in the season, the league pays compensation to investors.
The US men’s football team has had very modest success in the international arena, but the women’s team is considered one of the strongest in the world. Twice she was the world champion in football, and two more times she took 3rd place.
Snowboarding. How it all began
Today, snowboarding is quite famous all over the world, but the history of this sport is still very short. Snowboarding originated in America. He gained fame when the world’s first half-pipe was built in the Lake Tahoe area. There, athletes began to hold competitions that attracted the attention of journalists. Even then, skateboarding was divided into types. Some athletes preferred downhill skiing, while others were more interested in performing virtuoso tricks on the board.
Sports attracted more and more attention of Americans, mostly young people, but due to the imperfection of the equipment, first of all, snurfers (prototypes of snowboards) were very traumatic. And then in the US, competing companies Burton and Winterstick begin to produce new, more advanced boards – snowboards. It happened not so long ago, only in 1980. In Michigan, even earlier, in 1979, they held the first world championship in this sport (then still snorfing).
Snowboarding in the USA
Every year snowboarding has become more and more popular in the States. In 1988, USASA, the American Snowboarding Association, was established in the country. Her ancestor is Chuck Ellen. This association has the right to organize snowboard competitions, but only amateur ones. And in the early 90s. the International Snowboard Federation appeared, and, of course, it included professional snowboarders from America. Athletes from Europe and Asia will also join them.
Now in the United States about 7.5 million people are involved in snowboarding. In many ways, such a massive passion for this sport is due to a decrease in its injury risk due to the improvement of equipment.
Snowboarding instructors work at most ski resorts in the country, slopes are specially equipped for fans of this sport, parks for jibbing are created. True, in some resorts, snowboarders are still trying not to be allowed on the slopes. But such centers are becoming less and less.