8 College Sports That Don’t Get Much Publicity

By Nayra Mendoza on February 26, 2016

We all know Thursdays and Saturdays are college football days. We know where college basketball players played in high school and all of their stats.

But how many players make up a rugby team? How do you keep score in golf? What is the purpose of lacrosse? These games have been around for centuries, yet there isn’t much talk of them today. Here are some college sports that don’t get much publicity in comparison to football or soccer.

Wrestling

less popular college sports

Image via (Flickr)

Considered the oldest sport in the world, wrestling has inspired other forms of physical, one-on-one competition over the years.

The sport dates back to 100 or 200 AD when a document was found with instructions on how to “fight it out.” In recent news, wrestling was taken out of the Olympics in 2013. However, it was reinstated later that same year and will be seen again in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Golf

less popular college sports

Image via (Flickr)

Most of us just see golf as a fun thing to do with friends on the weekends. But mini- and putt-putt golf are not the formal forms of playing this game.

While the game’s origins have been debated for years, its first modern appearance was in Scotland in the 1400s. The goal of the game is to make the ball into the hole in as little strokes as possible. There is free range to play; while there aren’t any concrete guidelines, players understand that etiquette and fairness will improve everyone’s game experience.

The game will be played once more at this year’s Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. It was played in the Olympics once before in 1904.

Tennis

less popular college sports

Image via (Flickr)

It’s okay if Serena Williams is the only tennis player you know, but I bet you can’t name where three of the four Grand Slam tournaments are played.

Tennis originated in the 12th century in France, but the game was modernized in the late 1800s in England. You can play solo or in teams of two, and the goal of the game is to hit the rubber ball with a cord-strung racket in a strategic manner so the opponent cannot return it over the net. There are several variations between rules and scoring.

If you want to know some other major names of the sport, Unmatched is a great tennis documentary about rivals and friends Czech and American tennis player Martina Navratilova and U.S. player Christine Marie “Chris” Evert. The ESPN’s 30 for 30 series episode portrays their relationship within the sport as inspiring one another throughout their careers and improving with each other’s support.

To answer my earlier riddle, the four Majors are played in Wimbledon, Australia, France, and the U.S.

Rowing

less popular college sports

Image via (Flickr)

Rowing, or known better as crew in the U.S., is the oldest intercollegiate sport competition in the U.S. Remember that boat race the Winklevoss brothers competed in, in the film The Social Network? That’s rowing, my friend.

Yale and Harvard, the two oldest ivy league universities in the country, held the first rowing competition in 1852. Rowing races are called regattas after Venetian festivals that included the boat races in the 13th century. There are multiple forms of racing, a different number of people in the boats depending on the race, and positions. Because there are several races, regattas are day-long events.

Rugby

less popular college sports

Image via (Flickr)

Although a recently developed sport, rugby is still very much undermined by the college sports community.

This type of football is the origin of American, or gridiron, football. The ball can only be moved by running or kicking it. A team is made up of 13 or 15 players depending on what form of rugby you’re playing: league or union. Each form has their own set of rules, number of players, and field lengths.

Fun fact: The rugby ball, or quanco, initially got its shape from a pig’s bladder cased in leather.

Lacrosse

less popular college sports

Image via (Flickr)

How do you even play lacrosse? There has to be some serious technique to use that stick as an extended arm.

Although today’s game is nothing as it was before, the concept of lacrosse has been around since the first century. The purpose of the game is to score on the opponent’s goal post by carrying and passing the ball with a lacrosse stick. The game requires a lot of body contact and force so the serious injuries may put some people off while exciting others. The game is much more popular in northern states and even more popular in countries like Australia and Canada.

Women’s Basketball

less popular college sports

Image via (Flickr)

The Women’s College Basketball championship is played … when exactly?

Although many female sports are underrated, women’s basketball is perhaps the most felt since it isn’t much different than the male version of the game. The championship was founded just three decades ago, and the whole tournament is played in one city.

If you were wondering, the ladies’ game is actually played in April, right before the men’s championship game.

Field Hockey

less popular college sports

Image via (Flickr)

Although field hockey is also known as one of the oldest sports in the world, it is only played in 20 states in the U.S.

Different from and less popular than ice hockey — played on ice, obviously — yet keeping the main components of the game the same, such as making an object into a small net, field hockey is played globally. It’s even Pakistan’s national sport.

These are just some of the least televised or less popular college sports. The good thing about that is that you’ll have more sports to choose from than those your high school offered. Basketball and soccer are overrated anyway.

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