Created by Miss Adri ‘s students Daniel Gutierrez, Rene Farias, Dani Lopez and Pao Teran.
Sports have always been a part of our lives. Some practice them in school, or as a hobby to work out. Others become professional players, swimmers, etc., and compete in events such as the Olympics. And you’re probably familiar with sports such as tennis, soccer, basketball, golf, and so on. But, have you heard about a sport called Quidditch? Or how about Dog Surfing, Sport Hocking or Zorbing? In this blog some of my students will share with you very interesting details about such unusual sports. Are you ready to bounce, kick, catch and throw? Then sit back, relax and get reading!
Quidditch
Hi to everyone who is reading this. I’m Daniel, a 16 year old student that is a fan of Harry Potter so I think that’s the reason why Miss Adri asked me to write this text about a wizarding sport that if you saw the movies or read the books you probably know what I mean, and if you don’t, the wizarding sport is Quiddicth.
- Quidditch is a sport created in the “Harry Potter” books, being a fictional sport that has different adaptations to take place in the non-magical world.
- Book Quidditch takes place in an oval-shaped stadium where there are 3 hoops at different heights on the sides of the stadium.
- It is played flying on broomsticks and 3 types of balls are used: the Quaffle, the Bludger and the Golden Snitch.
- The Quaffle is used to get through the hoops and they score 10 points when it gets through.
- The Bludger is used to attack teams as they are heavy and fly hard.
- The Golden Snitch is a small golden winged ball that is fast and difficult to catch with which when caught, the team will earn 150 points and the game is over. The longest Quidditch match in history has lasted 3 months.
- Quidditch players cannot switch with other players regardless of how injured they are unless the match lasts more than 12 hours.
- The Quidditch team is made up of 1 Keeper, 2 Beaters, 3 Chasers and 1 Seeker.
- The Keeper is like a goalie trying to keep the Quaffles out of his team’s hoops.
- The Batters are in charge of repelling the Bludgers of the opposing team and redirecting them towards them.
- The Hunters are in charge of introducing the Quaffle through the hoops of the opposing team. The Seeker is in charge of looking for and catching the golden snitch.
Dog Surfing
Hello everyone! I’m Dani López from the Conversation Club class. I’m so excited to share an amazing sport in our blog. If you’re one of those crazy dog lovers like me, I bet you will enjoy it.
Humans love sports worldwide competitions, and there’s nothing better than teaching our favorite sport to our best four-legged friends, like “dog surfing”, a fantastic sport that not only shows the bond between a dog and the owner, but also the discipline, patience, and fun.
Believe it or not, this kind of dog sport is common in the USA. A competition is celebrated year after year every summer at Huntington Beach, west coast of California. Dogs surf for 10 minutes, trying to catch as many waves as possible. The main elements to be judged are the length of ride, wave size, and dog’s confidence; of course, every contestant falls into different categories from small to very large dogs, including tandem dog surfing, which is multiple dogs of any size. If you want to train your dog for a competition like this, you’ll need a surfboard, dog’s goggles, and a dog’s lifesaver, don’t forget patience is key for any dog training. Keep in mind that balance and orientation are highly important in this sport, once the dog feels safe, he needs to learn to catch and launch a wave, just make sure that you have a lot of treats to encourage him and reward his progress.
Sport Hocking
Hello there! I am René, and today I’m going to tell you about a very weird sport, called Sporthocking. It was created by Landschutz brothers in Germany in 2007. It consists of using a dumbbell-shaped stool to perform as many hard tricks as you can while you are on your stool; once you are finished performing your movements, you must sit on your stool to show that your maneuver is complete. It is worth mentioning that it can be practiced as a formal sport, and in such a capacity a scoring system is based on the complexity and execution of your movements.
Zorbing
Hi everyone!! I am Paola, I’m 16 years old and I’m from an Advanced group here in EnglishSmart. Today I’ll share with you a sport called Zorbing.
Zorbing (also known as globe-riding, sphereing, orbiting) is the recreation or sport of rolling downhill inside an orb, typically made of transparent plastic. It can also be carried out on water, provided the orb is inflated properly and sealed once the rider is inside. You can get into a zorb through a tunnel-like tube, and then the person enters the interior ball.
There are two types of orbs: harnessed and non-harnessed. Non-harnessed orbs carry up to three riders, while the harnessed orbs are constructed for one to two riders.
Although this sport looks fun, it has its cons. There have been incidents where zorbonauts were suffocated inside zorbs, thanks to rising carbon dioxide levels. Other zorbonauts have drowned when an accident occurs over water.
I would like to try this sport out, it looks fun and you can also exercise a little bit because you’re basically running. Of course carefully and with supervision but I think it’s a really good idea to be shared with friends or with family to have a little fun and also to learn something new.
Ready to enjoy an unusual sport? Go for it! Maybe one day you’ll find yourself trying out for one of them!