Sport in Gibraltar - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...

plays a prominent role in Gibraltarian

Gibraltarian people

The Gibraltarians are a cultural group native to Gibraltar, a British overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance to the Mediterranean sea.- Origins :...

life. The range of sports practiced in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar

Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...

is wide and varied in comparison to its size of less than 7km². The Government of Gibraltar is committed to promote sport within The Rock

Rock of Gibraltar

The Rock of Gibraltar is a monolithic limestone promontory located in Gibraltar, off the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. It is high...

and supports many local sports associations financially. Gibraltar also competes in international sporting events such as the biennial Island Games

International Island Games Association

The International Island Games Association is an organisation the sole purpose of which is to organise the Island Games, a friendly biennial athletic competition between teams from several European islands and other small territories. The IGA liaises with the member island associations and with...

, which it hosted in 1995.

Government's role

The Ministry for Sport, headed by the Hon. Edwin J. Reyes, Minister for Culture

Culture of Gibraltar

The culture of Gibraltar reflects Gibraltarians' diverse origins. While there are Spanish and British influences, a result of the territory's status as a British overseas territory and its proximity to Spain, the ethnic origins of most Gibraltarians are a mix of Andalusian Spaniards, Genoese,...

, Heritage, Sport & Leisure, is responsible for sports policy matters and the provision of support to educational establishments and the governing bodies of sport in Gibraltar.

The Gibraltar Sports Advisory Council is set up to advise the Government of Gibraltar, through the Minister for Sport, on all matters relating to sport including:

Capital Expenditure Priorities
Allocation of grants to Sporting Societies
Sports Development
International Competitions
Availability and use of Sports Facilities

Sport facilities

The Government recognises the benefits derived from the Gibraltarians' participation in sports and other recreational activities. Therefore, particular importance is given to the availability of facilities for the practice of these sports as well as making these available to anyone for booking allocations free of charge.

There is a large number of sport facilities in Gibraltar, of varying standards. These provide opportunities for locals and visitors alike to enjoy sport recreationally as well as professionally for the serious sport enthusiasts, where they can improve standards and have the opportunity to participate in local and international events.

The main sport facilities in Gibraltar are the multi-purpose

Multi-purpose stadium

Multi-purpose stadiums are a type of stadium designed in such a way as to be easily used by multiple sports. While any stadium could potentially host more than one sport, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy that stresses multi-functionality over specificity...

Victoria Stadium

Victoria Stadium (Gibraltar)

Victoria Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Gibraltar. It is currently used mostly for football matches and holds about 5,000 people. It is located close to the Gibraltar Airport just off Winston Churchill Avenue.-See also:* Football in Gibraltar...

and the Tercentenary Sports Centre. These include facilities such as artificial turf

Artificial turf

Artificial turf is a surface manufactured from synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commercial applications as well...

football pitch

Association football pitch

An association football pitch is the playing surface for the game of association football made of turf. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play".All line markings on the pitch form part of the area which they define...

es, water-based hockey

Field hockey

Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...

fields, tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

and padel tennis

Padel Tennis

Padel tennis is a racquet sport played extensively in Spain and Latin America.Padel is typically played in doubles on an enclosed court about half the size of a tennis court...

courts, athletics fields, archery

Archery

Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...

practice range, cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

fields, squash courts, golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

practice range, climbing wall

Climbing wall

A climbing wall is an artificially constructed wall with grips for hands and feet, usually used for indoor climbing, but sometimes located outdoors as well. Some are brick or wooden constructions, but on most modern walls, the material most often used is a thick multiplex board with holes drilled...

and multi-purpose sports halls for basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, badminton

Badminton

Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...

, volleyball

Volleyball

Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

, netball

Netball

Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...

, handball

Team handball

Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...

, five-a-side football

Five-a-side football

thumb|240px|alt=Men playing football on artificial grass pitch.|Five-a-side game on astroturf pitch.Five-a-side football is a variation of association football in which each team fields five players , rather than the usual eleven on each team. Other differences from football include a smaller...

, and martial arts

Martial arts

Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....

among many others.

Sports

In 2007, there were eighteen sports associations in Gibraltar officially recognised by their respective international governing bodies. Others, such as the Gibraltar National Olympic Committee, have applied for international recognition which are currently being considered.

Football

The Gibraltar Football Association

Gibraltar Football Association

The Gibraltar Football Association was formed as the Gibraltar Civilian Football Association in 1895, changing to its current name in later years...

applied for full membership of UEFA

UEFA

The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....

, but their bid was turned down in 2007 in a contentious decision in defiance of a previous Court of Arbitration for Sport

Court of Arbitration for Sport

The Court of Arbitration for Sport is an international arbitration body set up to settle disputes related to sport. Its headquarters are in Lausanne and its courts are located in New York, Sydney and Lausanne, Switzerland...

ruling that held that GFA should be granted membership. UEFA's rejection was due to Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

's intense lobbying and vow to boycott

Boycott

A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...

any event involving Gibraltar.

Cricket

Cricket enjoys massive popularity in Gibraltar as the weather is perfectly suited to cricket games. The Gibraltar national cricket team recently won the European Cricket Championship

European Cricket Championship

The European Cricket Championship is a group of various tournaments in which national cricket sides throughout Europe compete. The tournament is designed to encourage and develop the best players in countries where cricket is not a major sport and Europe's only Test cricket playing country,...

Rugby union

Rugby is played in Gibraltar under the auspices of the (English) Rugby Football Union

Rugby Football Union

The Rugby Football Union was founded in 1871 as the governing body for the sport of rugby union, and performed as the international governing body prior to the formation of the International Rugby Board in 1886...

, by both local teams such as Campo Gibraltar RUFC

Campo Gibraltar Rugby Union Football Club

The Gibraltar Barbarians Rugby Union Football Club is a Rugby union club from Gibraltar and the surrounding Campo in Spain, who play in the Andalucian League. They play their home games in the town of Guadiaro near Sotogrande in the Cadiz province of Spain. They currently play in the Primera...

, and armed forces.

Basketball

Basketball in Gibraltar is managed by the Gibraltar Amateur Basketball Association (GABBA). Sponsored by Grind House

Grind House

Grindhouse is a 2007 American action-horror/exploitation double feature co-written, produced, and directed by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. The double feature consists of two feature-length segments, Rodriguez's Planet Terror and Tarantino's Death Proof, and is bookended by fictional...

, Men and Ladies Grind House GABBA teams play the senior basketball league in the neighbour Spanish province of Cádiz. Grind House GABBA won the 2007/08 female championship Unlike its football counterpart, GABBA is a member of FIBA (since 1985).

Darts

Darts is a form of throwing game where darts are thrown at a circular target fixed to a wall. Though various boards and games have been used in the past, the term "darts" usually now refers to a standardised game involving a specific board design and set of rules...

enjoys widespread popularity in Gibraltar with regular participation in a league organised by the Gibraltar Darts Association, which is a full member of the World Darts Federation

World Darts Federation

The World Darts Federation Is a sport governing body and tournament organiser for the game of darts. It was formed in 1976, by representatives of fifteen nations. Membership is open to the official National organizing body for Darts in all nations...

(WDF) and regularly participates in European

European Championship (darts)

The European Championship is a PDC darts tournament which allows the top European players to compete with the highest ranked players from the PDC Order of Merit. The tournament takes place in late July to early August and features a field of 32...

& World Championships

World Professional Darts Championship

The World Professional Darts Championship is one of the most important tournaments in the darts calendar. Originally held as an annual event between 1978 and 1993, players then broke off into two separate organisations after a controversial split in the game...

. The Professional Darts Corporation

Professional Darts Corporation

The Professional Darts Corporation is a professional darts organization, established in the United Kingdom during 1992, when a group of leading professional players split from the British Darts Organisation to form what was initially called the World Darts Council...

(PDC) is a regular visitor to Gibraltar, holding an annual tournament as one of the Players Championship

Players Championship

Players Championship may refer to:* The Players Championship, a PGA Tour golf event since 1974* Players Championship Finals, a PDC darts tournament since 2009* Players' Championships, a Grand Slam curling event since 1993...

s.

In May 2010 Gibraltar was host nation for the Darts Mediterranean Cup. 6 Countries competed in the event; Cyprus, France, Gibraltar, Italy, Malta & Turkey. Gibraltar won the tournament, taking its first ever Gold Medal.

External links

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