Sports are something that many people participate in, whether it be a hobby, something to pass the time or even a profession. However, when you think of sports, what does your mind go to? Is it something like baseball, basketball or football? Sports that utilize a ball in some way tend to be the most popular and well-known; however, there’s a much wider world of sports out there that don’t utilize a ball in the slightest. Some could be argued to be rather niche; however, there’s a fair number that are rather popular.
There are some sports that don’t require balls that tend to be more popular, such as bike riding and skateboarding. Sports like these are typically well known as many people ride their bikes or skateboards from place to place daily, even if they aren’t actively participating in a “game,” with other people. However, if people wish to do so, there are various competitions and races that can be done such as road bike races, BMX races, skateboard racing, freestyle competitions and so on. These could be considered more niche depending on the person you ask. Similar sports like rowing, snowboarding, track and field, surfing and so forth can also be similar in popularity.
There are more combat focused sports such as fencing, mixed martial arts, wrestling and taekwondo. These forms of sports are relatively well known and have a wide array of competitions centered around them, yet it’s not often that people actively participate in them.
However if we are willing to go into the very niche side of sports, there are a wide array of sports that many might not have heard of that are heavily tied to regional culture or are simply not mainstream such as bo-taoshi, a Japanese form of capture the flag, oil wrestling, a Turkish sport that contests wrestlers covered in oil and cheese rolling, where competitors race down hills to chase rolls of cheese.
