Britain: An official handbook > 1993

SPORT AND ACTIVE RECREATION
play netball regularly in England and a
further 1 million participants come from
schools. The sport is played almost
exclusively by women and girls both indoors
and outdoors.
The All England Netball Association,
formed in 1926, is the governing body in
England. The English Schools’ Netball
Association is responsible for the sport in
schools. Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland have their own governing bodies.
Rowing
Rowing is taught in many schools, colleges
and rowing clubs throughout Britain. The
governing body of the sport in England is the
Amateur Rowing Association; similar bodies
regulate the sport in Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland. There are about 500
rowing clubs, and each year over 300 regattas
and head races are held in England, Wales,
Scotland and Northern Ireland under
Association rules.
The University Boat Race, between eight-
oared crews from Oxford and Cambridge, has
been rowed on the Thames almost every
spring since 1836. The Head of the River
Race, also on the Thames, is the largest
assembly of racing craft in the world, with
more than 420 eights racing in procession. At
the Henley Regatta in Oxfordshire, founded
in 1839, crews from all over the world
compete each July in various kinds of race
over a straight course of 1 mile 550 yards
(about 21 km).
At the 1992 Olympics Steven Redgrave
and Matthew Pinsent won the coxless
pairs, and Gregory Searle, Jonathan
Searle and Garry Herbert (cox) the
coxed pairs.
The National Water Sports Centre at
Holme Pierrepont, near Nottingham (see
p 440), has a rowing course of Olympic
2,000-metre standard, as does Strathclyde
Park in west-central Scotland.
Rugby Football
Rugby football takes its name from Rugby
School, in Warwickshire, where it is believed
to have originated in 1823. Since 1895 the
game has been played according to two
different codes: rugby union (a 15-a-side
game) is played by amateurs and rugby
league (a 13-a-side game) by professionals as
well as amateurs.
Rugby union is played under the auspices
of the Rugby Football Union in England and
parallel bodies in Wales, Scotland and
Ireland. Important domestic competitions
include the divisional and county
championships in England; the league and
national club knock-out competitions in
England and Wales; and the National League
and Inter-District Championships in
Scotland. The Five Nations Tournament
between England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland
and France is contested each year, and
overseas tours are undertaken by the
national sides and by the British Lions,
a team representing Great Britain and
Ireland.
Teams from 16 countries competed for the
first world cup competition in 1987. In the
second world cup staged in Britain, Ireland
and France in October and November 1991
England finished runners-up to Australia.
Seven-a-side rugby union has a strong
following. Tournaments include the
Middlesex Sevens, which is held every year
at Twickenham.
Rugby league is played mainly in the
north of England. The governing body of the
professional game is the Rugby Football
League, which sends touring teams
representing Great Britain to Australia, New
Zealand and Papua New Guinea; annual
matches are also played against France. A
team comprising Welsh-born players who
have turned professional also plays regular
international fixtures. The Challenge Cup
Final, the major club match of the season, is
played at Wembley Stadium in London.
The amateur game is governed by the
British Amateur Rugby League Association.
Matches between England and France are
held each year and tours are arranged to
Australia and New Zealand. A national league
consisting of ten leading clubs was formed in
1986, and a second division came into
existence in 1989.
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