Canada, the land of a friendly and peace-loving nation. The property with magnificent scenery, vast lakes and cold weather. But Canada is so much more. Canadians have brought the world their fair share of inventions even in the sporting world. These four famous sports were brought to the world by natives of this country. If you love and admire these sports and can’t imagine a world without it, thank a Canadian.
Hockey, a Treasure from Montreal
Often disputed by many other nationalities claiming the invention of this thrilling sport, yet the reports reveal clearly that this is a Canadian invention. First played in 1875 in Montreal at the Victoria Skating Rink. From there hockey gradually grew in interest and gained more momentum until it was finally part of the Summer Olympics in 1920 in Antwerp. It was then defined as a competitive sport which can be completed in a tournament format. Today hockey is played as National League and offers plenty of sports betting opportunities.
Lacrosse
Lacrosse first featured in the Olympic Games in 1904 held in St. Louis but had a much earlier start. It is reported that Lacrosse was first better known as “tewaarathon” or “baggatawa”, a game played by the Algonquin First Nations in 1630. The popularity of the game quickly took off and made it a widespread phenomenon across many countries. During 1834 the sport received a significant boost in popularity when the Caughnawaga First Nations demonstrated it in Montreal.
Five Pin Bowling
Ten Pin Bowling is no stranger to the world but wait, what about five-pin bowling? In 1905 businessman and sports fanatic, Thomas F. Ryan gave in to requests from his clients in his Canadian ten pin bowling alley in Toronto. They complained that ten pin bowling took too long for their liking and that the 16-pound ball which they had to use was too heavy.
After some thought, Ryan decided to change the ten pins to five pins and also changed the 16-pound ball to a much lighter 2.5-pound ball. The dynamics of the game took quite a shuffle with these changes, and the biggest of them all is the gain in popularity which it suddenly had. Five pin bowling became a massive hit which spread all over Canada and is now a game commonly played globally.
Basketball
This probably came as a surprise that one of the top leagues in the world, creating massive amounts of revenue, came from Canadian inspiration. Although the birthplace of basketball was Massachusetts, it was the brainchild of Dr James Naismith. In 1891, this Canadian physical education teacher formerly from McGill University had to be creative in creating an indoor gym class at the YMCA International Training School.
The harsh winters meant that outside activities were not possible, and he decided to nail two peach baskets up on each end of the gym. The instructions were to see who can put the ball into the basket the most times, and when he blew his whistle, the first game of basketball was played.