Sport in Jamaica is a significant part of Jamaican culture. The most popular sports are those imported from Britain

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. The most popular sport is 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...

; other popular sports include association football, athletics, and 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 ...

. Other sports such as rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 and rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 are growing.

Cricket

Cricket is a popular sport in Jamaica. The Jamaica national cricket team

Jamaica national cricket team

The Jamaica national cricket team is the representative first-class cricket team of Jamaica.-History:The team's history lasts back to 1895, when they played three matches against a touring side from England led by Slade Lucas, but because of the distance to the other cricketing countries, Jamaica...

 has won ten Regional Four Day Competitions and seven WICB Cups. Jamaicans also play for the West Indies cricket team, which won the 1975

1975 Cricket World Cup

-Group B:-Knockout stage:-Semifinals:In the best World Cup performance to date by a bowler, Gary Gilmour took six wickets as England were bowled all out for 93 , after falling to 37/7...

 and 1979 Cricket World Cup

1979 Cricket World Cup

The 1979 Cricket World Cup was the second edition of the tournament and was won by the West Indies. It was held from June 9 to June 23, 1979 in England. The format had remained unchanged from 1975. Eight countries participated in the event. The preliminary matches were played in 2 groups of 4...

. Jamaica has produced some of the world's most famous cricketers, including George Headley

George Headley

George Alphonso Headley was a West Indian cricketer who played 22 Test matches, mostly before the Second World War. Considered one of the best batsmen to play for West Indies and one of the greatest cricketers of all time, Headley also represented Jamaica and played professional club cricket in...

 and Courtney Walsh

Courtney Walsh

Courtney Andrew Walsh is a former international cricketer who represented the West Indies from 1984 to 2001, captaining the West Indies in 22 Test matches...

.

Association football

Association football is the most popular sport in Jamaica, and is played at the professional and amateur levels as well as informally on the street. The Jamaica national football team

Jamaica national football team

The Jamaica national football team is the national team of Jamaica and is controlled by the Jamaica Football Federation. After decades in CONCACAF obscurity, they gained many fans throughout the world after they qualified for the 1998 FIFA World Cup...

 has won the Caribbean Cup

Caribbean Cup

The Caribbean Cup, formerly known as the Copa Caribe, is the championship tournament for national association football teams that are members of the Caribbean Football Union. The first competition was contested in 1989 in Barbados. The Caribbean Cup also serves as a qualification tournament among...

 five times, in 1991, 1998, 2005, 2008 and 2010. In addition, Jamaica advanced to the 1998 FIFA World Cup 1998, where they earned a 2-1 win against Japan, although failing to advance past the 1st round. The Jamaican National Premier League

Jamaican National Premier League

The National Premier League, also known as the Jamaican National Premier League and, for sponsorship purposes, the Red Stripe Premier League, is the first division football league in the nation of Jamaica. Twelve teams currently compete in the league.The competition is divided in three stages in...

 is the first division football league in the country. The top two teams from Jamaica qualify for the CFU Club Championship

CFU Club Championship

The CFU Club Championship or CFU Club Champions' Cup is the annual international football competition held amongst association football clubs from the Caribbean Islands for clubs that are members of the Caribbean Football Union...

. A top three finish in the CFU Club Championship grants a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League

CONCACAF Champions League

The CONCACAF Champions League is the annual international club football championship for teams from the CONCACAF region ....

.

Athletics

Jamaica is one of the leading countries in sprinting, with the current world record holder for 100m, Usain Bolt

Usain Bolt

The Honourable Usain St. Leo Bolt, OJ, C.D. , is a Jamaican sprinter and a five-time World and three-time Olympic gold medalist. He is the world record and Olympic record holder in the 100 metres, the 200 metres and the 4×100 metres relay...

 and the former world record holder for the same event, Asafa Powell both originated from the island. Also, a team of 4 Jamaicans, Bolt included (Powell being absent because of injury), won the gold and broke the World Record in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the IAAF World Championships 2011, their new personal best being 37.10. In addition, the country has a very strong high school athletics program throughout the schools which sees top high schools compete each year in the Inter-Secondary Schools Boys’ and Girls’ Championships

Inter-Secondary Schools Boys and Girls Championships

Inter-Secondary Schools Boys and Girls Championships -Introduction:The Inter-Secondary Schools Boys’ and Girls’ Championships , is an annual multi-sport athletics meet for Jamaican high schools, featuring events similar to those in the track and field programs of the Summer Olympic Games and the...

. The 2010 winners of the event were Wolmer's Boy's School and Holmwood Technical High School (girls).

The ability of Jamaicans to dominate the sprint is only further enhanced and highlighted by the supremacy of Usain Bolt. Jamaica's Name has long been on the World stage with such successful performers as Angella Taylor-Issajenko of Canada who revolutionize women's track not only with her speed and power but her new sexy style of dressing emphasizing the female physique followed closely by rival Angela Bailey

Angela Bailey

Angela Bailey is a former Canadian track and field athlete.-Career:Angela Bailey is the current Canadian Record Holder in the 100 metres. She holds the record in a time of 10.98 seconds. At the time that record gave her a ranking of fourth in the world...

. Sanya Richards

Sanya Richards

Sanya Richards-Ross is a track and field athlete who competes internationally for the United States. She won an Olympic gold medal in the 4×400 meters relay at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, an individual bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics for the 400 m, and a gold medal in the 2009...

 represented the USA dominating the 400m. In the men's event Ben Johnson a name that has changed all sports and affect all athletes not just by his power and dominance in 80's but by the controversy he evoke. Donovan Bailey

Donovan Bailey

Donovan Bailey is a retired Canadian sprinter, who once held the world record for the 100 metres race following his gold medal performance in the 1996 Olympic Games. He was the first Canadian to legally break the 10-second barrier in the 100 m...

 also represented Canada, former Olympic gold medalist and world champion holding records for both events. Linford Christie

Linford Christie

Linford Cicero Christie OBE is a former sprinter from the United Kingdom. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes: the Olympic Games, the World Championships, the European Championships and the Commonwealth Games...

 of Great Britain, former world and Olympic Gold medalist.

Netball

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 ...

 is a popular sport among Jamaican women, and is the country's most popular women's sport. The Jamaica national netball team, known as the Sunshine Girls, have participated in the Netball World Championships

Netball World Championships

The World Netball Championships is a quadrennial international netball world championship co-ordinated by the International Federation of Netball Associations , inaugurated in 1963. Since its inception the competition has been dominated primarily by the Australian national netball team and the New...

 every year since their inception in 1963.

Rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 is a growing sport in Jamaica.
The Jamaican rugby league team

Jamaica national rugby league team

-See also:* Rugby League in the West Indies* West Indies National Team-External links:*...

 is made up of both Jamaicans playing in local competition and British players of Jamaican descent who play for professional and semi-professional teams in the United Kingdom. Their first international was a 37-22 loss to the USA Tomahawks in November 2009. Rugby league in Jamaica is growing with universities and high schools taking up the sport; The JRLA Championship is the main rugby league competition in the country. The country's first professional team, Hurricanes Rugby League

Hurricanes Rugby League

The Hurricanes Rugby League are a Jamaican rugby league football team. Formed in 2011 with the intention of becoming Jamaica's first professional rugby league team, they hope to play in one of the domestic competitions in the United States by 2013.-History:...

, was established in 2011, and are looking to compete in either the USA Rugby League

USA Rugby League

The USA Rugby League is a semi-professional rugby league football competition based in the United States. The league was founded in 2011 by clubs that had broken with the established American National Rugby League , plus expansion franchises...

 or the American National Rugby League

American National Rugby League

The American National Rugby League is a rugby league football competition for semi-professional clubs in the United States. It is the country's first domestic rugby league competition...

by 2013. During that time they will be training young players aged 14-19 who will be part of the Hurricanes RL Academy in the hope of developing into full time professional players.