Education and Role of Foreign Languages

American Sports and Games
Americans pay much attention to physical fitness and have traditionally done well in many kinds of sports. There is a large choice of sports in America. People participate in swimming, skating, squash and badminton, tennis, marathons, track-and-field, bowling, archery, skiing, etc. This can be explained by the size and variety of the country. Another reason for the popularity of sports in America is the love of Americans to competition of any kind. One more reason is that Americans use sports activities for teaching social values, such as teamwork and sportsmanship.
The top four sports in America are American in origin: football, baseball (often called 'the National Pastime'), auto-racing (especially NASCAR), and basketball. Soccer is not as popular in the US as in most other countries, but the US did host the World Cup in 1994. Soccer continues to grow in the US, and is currently one of the most played sports amongst youth. Ice hockey is also popular. The United States became the centre of the two most popular Western combat sports— boxing and wrestling. The United States has produced many champion boxers. The United States created the three popular board-based recreational sports — surfboarding, skateboarding and snowboarding. National competitions are held in all three; snowboarding is included in the Olympic Games. Triathlon, which includes swimming, bicycle-racing and long distance running, has been invented in America, too.
There are sports facilities in every school. American college sports are nearly as popular as professional sports, particularly college football and college basketball. American colleges often support sports programs, including track-and-field, water polo, football and baseball. Every high school offers its students many sports, such as wrestling, rowing, tennis and golf. There are no universities for sports in the USA, but students of any higher educational establishment are trained in different kinds of sports. Many universities are famous for their sports clubs.
Indeed, sport is a part of life of an average American.