It is said that a hockey midfielder would run 9 km per game in average, defenders would run between 6 to 7 and goalies would reach the 2 km mark on average per game. Football however, seems to be the team sport where players run the most: a central midfielder can easily run 13 kilometers per matchdue to the fact that central midfielders are fully involved in both the attacking and defensive efforts of the team. Attackers run less average distance than central midfielders, averaging closer to 9/10km per game
Hockey seems to be the most closely comparable sport to football, due to the fact that positions on the pitch and the tactics employed are very similar. Additionally we have to take under consideration that the time played in hockey is 20, actually 30, minutes less than in football. Football is the team sport where players run the higher average distance during a match.
In other sports:
A tennis player might play for 5 hours straight but the average distance covered in the sport, is very low compared to hockey. In the longest tennis match ever played, between John Isner and Nicholas Mahut at the 2010 Wimbledon championships, which lasted 11 hours 5 minutes, it is estimated that the two players covered around 9.6km each.
It is a common myth that basketball players run up to 8km in a standard game, but NBA stats from the 2012 season show that the highest average distance run per game was 4.3km by Luol Deng of the Chicago Bulls.
American Football is the most interesting of all the sports regarding the average distance run during a typical game. The stat shown in the image at the top of 1.9km is for a typical wide reciever.
India hockey team captain Manpreet Singh tied the knot with his long-time girlfriend from Malaysia, Illi Najwa Saddique on Wednesday at his native village in Jalandhar, Punjab.
The National Basketball Association’s (NBA) best players will feature at next year’s Tokyo Olympics even though the season could end just days before the Games get under way, Fiba secretary general Andreas Zagklis said on Wednesday.
The new NBA season will start next week, on Dec 22, with the regular season wrapping up on May 16 before the play-offs between May 22 and July 22.
The Tokyo Olympics, which were postponed by a year to 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, kick off on July 23, with the basketball preliminaries starting two days later.Looking at the late finish of the last season’s playoffs and the following season, we had requested an in-depth discussion with the NBA and the NBA players association,” Zagklis, who heads basketball’s world body, said.
We explained what the repercussions are on the Olympic qualifying tournaments and the Olympic Games,” he told a virtual round table . He said the Olympic qualifying tournaments had been delayed by a week to late June following talks with the IOC to accommodate the late NBA season.I think we will have the best players available at the Olympic Games and Fiba is satisfied with that.
“I believe this means we will have at the Olympic qualifiers more than 85 per cent of the NBA players available and all teams will have finished in time for the Games,” he said.
“I think we will have the best players available at the Olympic Games and Fiba is satisfied with that.”
Since professional players were allowed to compete at the Olympics, beginning with the 1992 Games in Barcelona, the United States has won six out of seven gold medals with star-studded squads made up primarily of NBA players.With more than 100 international players in the NBA, other countries also have concerns over their availability for Olympic qualifiers and the Games themselves.
Students who play sports are better able to concentrate and maintain focus, which has a positive impact on their academic life. This can lead to improved attainment in all other academic subjects.
Regular exercise is vital in the fight against child obesity. We all know the many health problems that are associated with obesity and how important it is to lead a healthy, active lifestyle. Positive exercise habits that are implemented in childhood and adolescence will likely continue into adulthood.
Students who exercise regularly have a better quality of sleep. They are therefore more alert at school and have higher levels of concentration.
Physical exercise helps children relieve stress and anxiety. Young people today are arguably under more pressure than ever, so it is vital for them to have an outlet for this stress.
Playing sports in groups help young people to improve their teamwork and leadership skills. It also helps to form stronger bonds between peers and promotes a healthy class dynamic.
Physical activity promotes positive body image in teenagers, especially amongst women and girls. In this age of social media and societal pressure to look a certain way, this is of utmost importance.
Sports teaches children to have improved self discipline. They can implement this self control in all aspects of their life, from better controlling their emotions to being more self motivated with their studies.
PE helps children to develop their confidence. This can have a positive aspect on all areas of their life, such as their personal relationships and ability to integrate quickly and make friends, to thinking about their future goals.
Sport helps children develop their motor skills and strengthen their muscles. When fine motor skills are developed, children will be more adept at handwriting or playing a musical instrument.
Children who play regular sports have improved behaviour in school.
James Harden scored 12 points on 3-of-12 shooting in his preseason debut against the San Antonio Spurs.”He’s obviously a great player and can do so many things on the floor, on and off the ball. Defensively, he has great hands and makes plays and is smart. So to have him out there was great,” said Stephen Silas after the game.
Harden, who has yet to speak to the media since returning to the Rockets, declined to make himself available to reporters.
John Wall, who finished the game with 15 points and 3 assists, discussed the importance of focusing the attention back on the court.
“At the end of the day, he’s going to do what’s best for him and the organization is going to do what’s best for them also. The most important thing is when we step on that floor, we step into practice, we’re focusing ourselves on basketball,” said Wall.
Vishesh bhriguvanshi, captain of the Indian national basketball team, became the first Indian male basketball player in two decades to be honoured with the Arjuna award. He spoke to Mohammad Anab on the state of play in India:
Basketball is popular in schools and colleges. Why hasn’t it caught on like cricket?
Basketball courts are found in many schools, colleges and residential societies. They are easy to maintain and unlike a cricket pitch, you don’t have to tend to it every other day. Apart from that, the game has many other positives. It is a short duration game and few people are required to play it at the amateur level. But this popularity doesn’t replicate at the national level because the game hasn’t been promoted much. That said, I have hope for the future as in the past few years, basketball has started gaining prominence in people’s minds – one can find basketball videos being shared on social media and other online platforms. Interest in the game has also been kindled by basketball-centric Hollywood movies. Plus, NBA is growing its base in India which gives further hope that the game is gradually going to become extremely popular in the country.
What can be done to promote the sport in India?
The constitution of a league is an extremely important component in the development of a region’s basketball scenario. There are some basketball leagues in India but we need a corporate-funded IPL-style league for the game. In such leagues, domestic players get to play alongside foreign players which adds to their exposure and helps their performance in the long run. Also, participation in such leagues creates a hunger in the belly and players are motivated to perform well and prove their worth. They continuously strive to improve their game in order to make more money which creates a professional atmosphere for the game. Needless to say, it also gives a secure income generating source to domestic basketballers who generally don’t make much money.
Are there any plans afoot for the constitution of such a league?
The Basketball Federation of India has been working hard for a while to organise such a league and had the Covid-19 pandemic not happened, I believe they might have probably announced it as well.
How important is corporate support? Has such support been forthcoming for basketball players in India?
Corporates play a huge role in the development of a sport and with their support, it is possible to have more and more tournaments across the country. In my case, for instance, ONGC played a huge role as it gave me a job where I just had to focus on my sport and not worry about office related work. Getting a job secured my future financially. Another thing that has affected sportspersons in the country is that the ‘Group D’ level Railways jobs are not available anymore. Earlier, there used to be many players getting a job in the Group D level in the Railways, which was one of the biggest employers of sportspersons. With this recruitment getting stopped, it has affected many players.
There is a perception that India doesn’t do well as we don’t have six or seven feet tall players, unlike in the NBA.
There is no point comparing ourselves with the NBA. The average height of our players is 6 feet 2 inches or 6 feet 3 inches which is on a par with other Asian players. Also, there are many countries who do well in basketball despite having not-so-tall players. Height does matter but anything above 6 feet is good enough. In fact, players of short height are also required in basketball. For example, we have a point-guard position, for which we need a player who is not very tall, is quick on his feet and moves swiftly.
Of late, quite a few basketball players have shifted to countries like Canada to pursue professional opportunities there. How will this exodus impact Indian basketball?
Why just basketball, even in cricket, before IPL came along, most of our players used to go to England to play county cricket in order to earn money and hone their skills. So I see nothing wrong in our basketball players going abroad to play professionally in other countries because ultimately, the player comes back enriched with a better knowledge of the game. Also, it should be considered a matter of pride for us that foreign countries are interested in Indian players. I am quite hopeful that if an IPL style league comes up in India for basketball, then not only will our talented players prefer to stay back in India but also we will get to see a lot of NBA stars participating in our league.
RUN BY STUDENTS OF DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION 