Sports

When I’m stressed, one activity I like to participate in is sports. I love sports because it releases endorphins and produces an inner calm feeling in me. I love to play many sports, but I only watch basketball. I believe sports have been an entertaining past time for many individuals and countries. Sports are definitely a big part of the Spanish culture. Generally, soccer is looked as the national popular sport.  Nicaragua has many popular sports that are played such as volleyball, basketball, boxing, and soccer ("Nicaragua sports,”). However, baseball is the national sport of Nicaragua ("Nicaragua sports,”).  Baseball wasn’t created in Nicaragua. Baseball was brought from another country to Nicaragua. Baseball got its start in 1880s (Marlies, 2007). Back then, cricket was the popular sport. An American, Albert Addlesberg, was living in Bluefields convinced two of the most popular cricket Clubs to switch to baseball (Marlies, 2007). The first “official” games in Nicaragua were played July 1891 between Managua and Granada (Marlies, 2007).   The first baseball team founded in Nicaragua was also founded by a non native (Marlies, 2007).  In 1904, United States consul, Cater Daniels, founded team “Boer” (Marlies, 2007). Although, Nicaragua didn’t create baseball, they did incorporate their Spanish culture into this sport. For example, the name Boer like many other teams of Nicaragua teams was named after warring factions at that time. Nicaragua’s professional baseball has been very successful.   From 1956 to 1967 when Nicaragua won 2 international championships: the Pan American series in 1958 won by “Leon” over Mexico and Colombia and the Interamerican series of 1964 which was won by Cino Estrellas over Puerto Rico and Venezuela (Marlies, 2007). However, no team is always successful.  The sport suffered a slump during the 1980s but the national team won a silver medal at the Pan American Games in Venezuelan in 1983 over a U.S. team lead by Mark McGwire, Will Clark, and Barry Larkin. (Marlies, 2007) Many of the old teams are around anymore. The former teams were Cerveza Balboa, Cinco Estrellas, Marlboro, and Oriental ("Liga nicaraguense de," 2011).  The current teams are Indios de Boer, Tigres de Chinandga, Leones de Léon, and Fieras del San Fernando. ("Liga nicaraguense de," 2011)  Baseball is flourishing anew in this decade, and only Cuba is considered to have a better national team than Nicaragua (Marlies, 2007).

Liga nicaraguense de beisbol profesional. (2011, January 30). Retrieved from http://www.baseball- reference.com/bullpen/Liga_Nicaragüense_de_Béisbol_Profesional

Marlies. (2007, June 01). History of nicaraguan baseball [Online forum comment]. Retrieved from http://www.nicaliving.com/node/8289

Nicaragua sports. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.living-history-nicaragua.com/nicaragua-sports.html