My Speech
Title: 3 weirdest sports in England
Think about it, what does shin kicking, toe wrestling and cheese rolling all have in common? You might think there is nothing at all but have you ever heard of them? Well, you probably have not but they are all sports! Sports that I would not think to be popular but they are. Hi my name is Zoe and today I’m going to tell you about the 3 weirdest sports in England and I think they are the 3 weirdest sports in the WORLD!.
England is known for a sport called shin kicking. Shin kicking, also known as hacking or purring is an ancient sport part of the annual Cotswold Olimpick games.These games probably began in 1612 and straightway skin kicking was very popular.
How to play this weird game is easy, all you have to do is kick your opponents shins until they fall to the ground in pain, then you win. TIP: stuff your pants and socks with straw the pain does not go to your shins as much.
England is known for another sport called toe wrestling. It was invented by four drinkers in Ye Olde Royal Oak Inn, in Wellington, Staffordshire in 1974. They were moaning about the fact that the United Kingdom struggled to have any world champions in any sport. Having already tried ear wrestling and push of war with a scaffolding pole, (sounds dangerous), they thought of toe wrestling. A rule board was made by the sign writers at the Yorkshire Evening Post and even a small trophy was made.
Toe wrestling is quite a simple game, all you have to do is get two pieces of wood and put them not too far apart to make a space for each person foot, like an open ended box. Then you put your foot in the middle of them and get someone to do the same on the other side. Next put your feet together and try to push the other person's foot onto one of the sides of the box, the wood. But at the same time the other person is going to try and push your foot to the opposite piece of wood so its not as easy as it sounds.
The last weird sport England is known for, wait for it, cheese rolling! Competitors take part in the annual Cheese rolling event at Cooper's Hill. This ceremony originally took place each Whit Monday before it moved to the spring bank holiday. Two possible reasons why it started have been suggested for the ceremony. The first said that it evolved from a way for keeping grazing rights on the common, an area of shared land in the middle of the town. The second idea is that it is from a pagan custom of rolling objects down the hill.
How it works is, you have a round wheel of Double Gloucester cheese and you roll it down a steep hill. As soon as the cheese is let go, you run down the hill after it and the first person to get to the bottom of the hill wins the cheese.
Cheese rolling can be quite a dangerous sport because of the steepness of the hill. There have been several injuries including broken legs and arms. Once, when a sudden thunderstorm interrupted the race in 1982, four adults and children who were zapped by lightning. Ouch!
Wow, now you know 3 of the craziest sports in England and I think in the world! Which one would you like to try? I think when I’m older I might try toe wrestling.
