Sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

plays a prominent role in Gibraltarian life. The range of sports practiced in the British overseas territory of

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

is wide and varied in comparison to its size of less than . The

Government of Gibraltar His Majesty's Government of Gibraltar is the democratically elected government of the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. The head of state is King Charles III who is represented by the Governor. Elections in Gibraltar are held every four ...

promotes sport within The Rock and supports many local

sports association A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

s financially. Gibraltar also competes in international sporting events, having competed in the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

since 1958, and in the biennial Island Games, which it hosted in 1995 and 2019.

Government's role

The Ministry for Sport, headed by the Minister for

Culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

, Heritage, Sport & Leisure, is responsible for sports policy matters and the provision of support to educational establishments and the governing bodies of sport in Gibraltar.About sport in Gibraltar.
The Gibraltar Sports Advisory Council is set up to advise the Government of Gibraltar, through the Minister for Sport, on all matters relating to sport including: * Capital expenditure priorities * Allocation of grants to sporting societies * Sports development * International competitions * Availability and use of sports facilities

Sport facilities

The Government recognises the benefits derived from the Gibraltarians' participation in sports and other recreational activities. Therefore, particular importance is given to the availability of facilities for the practice of these sports as well as making these available to anyone for booking allocations free of charge. There are a large number of sport facilities in Gibraltar, of varying standards. These provide opportunities for locals and visitors alike to enjoy sport recreationally as well as professionally for the serious sport enthusiasts, where they can improve standards and have the opportunity to participate in local and international events. The main sport facilities in Gibraltar are the multi-purpose Victoria Stadium and the

Tercentenary Sports Centre An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saints. ...

. These include facilities such as artificial turf

football pitch A football pitch (also known as soccer field) is the playing surface for the game of association football. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play". The pitch is typically made of natural t ...

es, water-based

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

fields,

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

and padel tennis courts,

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

fields, archery practice range,

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

fields,

squash court Squash is a racket-and-ball sport played by two or four players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow, rubber ball. The players alternate in striking the ball with their rackets onto the playable surfaces of the four walls of the court. Th ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

practice range,

climbing wall A climbing wall is an artificially constructed wall with grips for hands and feet, usually used for indoor climbing, but sometimes located outdoors. Some are brick or wooden constructions, but on most modern walls, the material most often used i ...

and multi-purpose sports halls for

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

, handball,

five-a-side football Five-a-side football is a version of minifootball, in which each team fields five players (four outfield players and a goalkeeper). Other differences from football include a smaller pitch, smaller goals, and a reduced game duration. Matches are ...

, and martial arts among many others.

Sports

In 2007, there were eighteen sports associations in Gibraltar officially recognised by their respective international governing bodies. Others, such as the Gibraltar National Olympic Committee, have applied for international recognition which are currently being considered.

Football

The

Gibraltar Football Association The Gibraltar Football Association or also Gibraltar FA (GFA) is the governing body for Gibraltarian football and futsal. It was formed as the ''Gibraltar Civilian Football Association'' in 1895, changing to its current name in later years. It i ...

applied for full membership of

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

, but their bid was turned down in 2007 in a contentious decision in defiance of a previous

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its c ...

ruling that held that GFA should be granted membership. UEFA's rejection was due to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

's intense lobbying and vow to boycott any event involving Gibraltar. They were eventually granted membership in 2013.

Cricket

Cricket enjoys massive popularity in Gibraltar as the weather is perfectly suited to cricket games. , Gibraltar's national cricket team had featured in the top flight of the

European Cricket Championship The European Cricket Championship was a group of various tournaments in which national cricket sides throughout Europe competed. The competition was designed to encourage and develop the best players in countries where cricket was not a major sp ...

on four occasions, with its best finish, sixth place (out of eight teams), coming at the inaugural 1996 European Cricket Championship in Denmark. Gibraltar won Division Two at the Championships in 2000 and 2002, at a time when there was no

promotion and relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues ...

between divisions.

Rugby union

Rugby is played in Gibraltar under the auspices of the (English) Rugby Football Union, by both local teams such as Gibraltar Barbarians Rugby Club, and armed forces.

Basketball

Basketball in Gibraltar is managed by the

Gibraltar Amateur Basketball Association ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song = "Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gibra ...

(GABBA). Sponsored by

Grind House A grindhouse or action house is an American term for a theatre that mainly shows low-budget horror, splatter and exploitation films for adults. According to historian David Church, this theater type was named after the "grind policy", a fi ...

, Men and Ladies GABBA teams play the senior basketball league in the neighbour Spanish province of Cádiz. Grind House GABBA won the 2007/08 female championship GABBA is a member of

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...

since 1985,GFA proposal to join UEFA
, pg. 16 and the men's team plays biennially the

FIBA European Championship for Small Countries The FIBA European Championship for Small Countries is the lowest-ranked tier of the biennial FIBA EuroBasket competition, organized by FIBA Europe. History This championship was first introduced in 1988, as the Promotion Cup, the competition org ...

Darts

Darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard. Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the bo ...

enjoys widespread popularity in Gibraltar with regular participation in a league organised by the Gibraltar Darts Association, which is a full member of the

World Darts Federation The World Darts Federation (WDF) is a sport governing body and (along with the PDC) a tournament organiser for the game of darts. It was formed in 1974 by representatives of the original fourteen founding members. Membership is open to the nati ...

and regularly participates in European &

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. The Professional Darts Corporation is a regular visitor to Gibraltar, holding an annual tournament as one of the Players Championships. In May 2010 Gibraltar was host nation for the Darts Mediterranean Cup. Six countries competed in the event; Cyprus, France, Gibraltar, Italy, Malta and Turkey. Gibraltar won the tournament, taking its first ever gold medal.

References

External links

Government of Gibraltar website on sport.

SportGibraltar.com
{{Gibraltar topics