Sports: achievements and joys

The national game in Turkey is soccer. If you have been around a stadium when there is going to be a game, you’ll see how fanatic Turks are during the games. It’s a chance to see achievements and spread some joy!

Turkish men don’t just love their soccer -- they are crazy about it. Every game is like a festival, with firecrackers and drums. You probably have noticed that every street is a soccer field in the summer.

If you would like to support one of the well-known teams, Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Trabzonspor are the most popular. Turkey has been successful in Europe and the World Cup.

Don’t be surprised if you are asked whom you support. Turks will be impressed if you are knowledgeable about their teams. Turkish males, young and old, are certainly well informed about European teams.

In most European countries, soccer reigns. Most Europeans, like Turks, enjoy watching the sport and playing the game. Some Spanish friends of mine were telling me about how they love sports and that every town has its own amateur soccer field.

You can find some other sports in Europe not common to where I come from -- America or Turkey.

The Spanish have a game called balonmano, which has goals like in soccer, but the ball is thrown, not kicked. In the Basque Country, some games exist that have their origins in Scotland. One of these is similar to a Scottish game called “tossing the caber”-- throwing a large heavy wooden pole as far as you can. It involves great physical strength.

Soccer has become so popular that it surpassed bullfighting in the mid-1950s, so my friend tells me.

Probably basketball is the next favorite sport for Turks. The history of basketball goes something like this, according to Wikipedia: The first basketball game played in Turkey was at Robert College in İstanbul in 1904. Galatasaray High School formed the first basketball team in 1911. The next basketball team founded was Fenerbahçe in 1913. An unofficial league was founded in 1927 in İstanbul, which lasted until the establishment of a regional official league in 1933. From 1946 on, basketball championships were organized between the leading clubs of major cities.

It seems that around the 1980s, southern European basketball became as popular as soccer. Certainly this was true in Spain when the nation won the silver medal in the sport at the 1984 Olympics. Usually teams in Europe and Turkey have international players.

Are you wondering what sport facilities are available in Turkey?

Basketball is popular and gyms are everywhere in major cities.

Indoor swimming pools are becoming more common but are generally found only in major hotels, some private sport centers and in luxury housing communities. Only more recently a few public pools have been built in some neighborhoods.

Some tennis courts are available for a rental fee in parks; private sports clubs have courts members can use. A few courts are available for free use, but it is not common.

Jogging paths can be found in certain places along the seaside or in forests. Serious outdoor jogging is still not so usual, particularly for women, except among the middle and upper class.

Skiing is possible in the winter months. Resorts at Uludağ near Bursa, Kartalkaya near Bolu, Palandöken near Ezurum and Salıkent in Antalya are popular. It is expensive and crowded on weekends.

Golf lovers can play golf at the country clubs in major cities or at golf resorts near Antalya. This, too, is very expensive, probably due to the cost of upkeep of the greens in a hot country.

I have almost forgotten a sport that occurs daily in İstanbul, and that is fishing in the Bosporus. Many local fishermen (and a few women) make their living or pass their time by fishing from Galata Bridge or along the Bosporus shore.

“I always turn to the sports page first, which records people’s accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man’s failures.” -- Chief Justice Earl Warren