# data[].attributes.body
You and your group will become experts in one sport: basketball.
Use the Softschools facts page to answer the questions below about your sport. Then, teach your classmates what you learned.

https://www.softschools.com/facts/sports/basketball_facts/567/

Where and when did this sport begin?

What do players need to play this sport?

Where do players play this sport?

What is one special rule or way to win?

What is one interesting or fun fact about this sport?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In Basketball there are two teams, of five players each. They play on a rectangular court, and try to shoot the highest number of balls through the hoop during the game. The game was created by a physical education teacher in 1891, at Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts in the United States. The creator, Dr. James Naismith was a Canadian who was trying to create a game to keep the students active during the long winters. A peach basket served as the first basketball net until 1906, and the first ball used was a soccer ball. The first official basketball game was played in 1892 with nine players. It changed to five by 1898.

# data[].attributes.body
You and your group will become experts in one sport: golf.
Use the Softschools facts page to answer the questions below about your sport. Then, teach your classmates what you learned.

https://www.softschools.com/facts/sports/golf_facts/568/

Where and when did this sport begin?

What do players need to play this sport?

Where do players play this sport?

What is one special rule or way to win?

What is one interesting or fun fact about this sport?

# data[].attributes.body
You and your group will become experts in one sport: football.
Use the Softschools facts page to answer the questions below about your sport. Then, teach your classmates what you learned.

https://www.softschools.com/facts/sports/football_facts/577/

Where and when did this sport begin?

What do players need to play this sport?

Where do players play this sport?

What is one special rule or way to win?

What is one interesting or fun fact about this sport?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Soccer Facts

In many parts of the world soccer is known as football, or even American football. It is the most popular sport in the world, being played in more than 200 countries. Approximately 250 million people play soccer around the world every year, and it has been an Olympic sport since 1900. It has also been a Paralympic sport since 1984. When playing soccer, two teams of 11 players try to score a goal with a spherical ball on a rectangular field with a goal net at both ends. Players have to score without the use of their hands or their arms. Only the goalies are allowed to touch the ball with their hands.

In the early 1800s soccer was invented in Newgate Prison in London by prisoners who had been punished for stealing. Their punishment had been to have their hands cut off.

A soccer ball has 32 panels; each one represents one of the 32 countries in Europe.

The first soccer nets were actually wicker baskets.

Up until 1908, they made soccer balls from the (inflated) stomach tissue from executed prisoners.

The USSA was the first American professional soccer league. They played from 1919 for two years. They were paid $0.35 every time they scored.

Soccer fields are called pitches. Pitch and slope have the same meaning in soccer. If the field is a regulation field, it slopes 5 degrees up, from one end of the field to the other. Teams switch goal nets during the game so they both have the same uphill slope for half the game.

Originally the World Cup was made of paper mache. The heavy rain in the 1950 competition ruined the cup and it had to be replaced.

A 13-year-old Brazilian soccer player scored every goal of 23 in total, during a game that his team won 23-0.

In 1998 a lightning bolt killed an entire team during a soccer game. The 11 players of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nobody on the opposite team was hurt.

A bad referee call in a game in 1964 in Peru caused a riot that resulted in the deaths of 300 people.

A goal scored after people had begun to leave the stadium during a game in 1982 in Moscow resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people. When the goal was scored and people tried to get back to their seats, the result was stampede and 340 people died.

In one game it is common for a player to run approximately 6 miles. This would be equal to running back and forth on a basketball court 350 times.

Soccer is even popular in third world countries. If villages cannot afford a soccer ball, they will use balls that they've made with diapers or rags.

Until 1991, soccer was an illegal sport in Mississippi.

Professional soccer players were not allowed in the Olympics until 1984. They are permitted to play as long as they are in the Under-23 level.

Women soccer teams have been able to play in the Olympics since 1996.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In many parts of the world soccer is known as football, or even American football. It is the most popular sport in the world, being played in more than 200 countries. Approximately 250 million people play soccer around the world every year, and it has been an Olympic sport since 1900.

# data[].attributes.body
You and your group will become experts in one sport: tennis.
Use the Softschools facts page to answer the questions below about your sport. Then, teach your classmates what you learned.

https://www.softschools.com/facts/sports/tennis_facts/570/

Where and when did this sport begin?

What do players need to play this sport?

Where do players play this sport?

What is one special rule or way to win?

What is one interesting or fun fact about this sport?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Tennis Facts

Prior to the use of rackets in tennis, people used their palms to hit the ball back and forth. The palm method was replaced in the 1500s when rackets were introduced. The word tennis evolved from the French term 'tenez'. The modern game became much more structured in the 1800s, and the first Wimbledon Championships were played in 1877 in London, England. The first U.S. championship was played in 1880 in Tomkinsville, Staten Island in New York. Today, the most famous tennis events are The U.S. Open, the French Open, the Australian Open, and Wimbledon.

The first patented version of tennis, lawn tennis, was given the name Sphairistike. It was created by Major Walter Clopton and patented in 1874.

Rectangular courts were created in 1875 for Wimbledon. Originally, the court was an hour-glass shape.

The first winner at Wimbledon was Spencer Gore. He didn't think the game would catch on.

In 1498, Charles VIII of France hit his head on the door of a primitive tennis court and died.

A tennis match takes approximately 2.5 hours. The ball is only in play for approximately 20 minutes of the 2.5 hours.

The longest match was 11 hours and five minutes long. It took place over a period of three days.

Before 1986, the tennis balls used at Wimbledon were not yellow. The color was added to allow people to see the ball better while in play.

Venus Williams has the fastest recorded serve (for women) at 205km per hour.

Venus Williams and her sister Serena both won Olympic gold medals for tennis. They are the first set of sisters to accomplish this.

The only major tennis tournament still being played on grass is at Wimbledon. At the U.S. Open and the Australian Open they play on hard courts, and at the French Open they play on red clay courts.

Women who played in the first Wimbledon tournaments had to wear full-length dresses.

The first person to wear shorts at Wimbledon did so in 1932. His name was Henry Austin and it is said that he shocked Queen Mary.

Arthur Ashe was the first African American to win the U.S. Open.

Tennis was first played in the Olympics in 1896, and then removed in 1924. In 1988 it was re-added to the Olympics as a real event.

Tennis has been part of the Paralympic Games since 1992.

The person to hold the records for the most Grand Slam single titles is Margaret Smith Court, with 24.

Tiffany & Co. make the U.S. Open Trophy.

Millions of people play tennis recreationally.

For the first one hundred years that modern tennis was played, the strings of the racquets were made from the guts of animals.

Until 1997, the maximum length of a racquet frame was 32 inches. In 1997 it was changed to 29 inches.

For those under the age of 18, who are still under a parent or guardian's supervision, they can play junior tennis. With a parent's signature, they can still play on the adult tours, as well as junior tournaments.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Prior to the use of rackets in tennis, people used their palms to hit the ball back and forth. The palm method was replaced in the 1500s when rackets were introduced. The word tennis evolved from the French term 'tenez'.

# data[].attributes.body
You and your group will become experts in one sport: baseball.
Use the Softschools facts page to answer the questions below about your sport. Then, teach your classmates what you learned.

https://www.softschools.com/facts/sports/baseball_facts/566/

Where and when did this sport begin?

What do players need to play this sport?

Where do players play this sport?

What is one special rule or way to win?

What is one interesting or fun fact about this sport?