How to combine sport with sailing to a new destination

Beyond the cheering crowds and celebratory beers, spectator sports can be a fascinating portal to a country’s culture.

From ritualistic wrestling in Mexico and Japan, to a rekindled Mayan ballgame or footie in boot-shaped Italy, we reveal the niche and nationally loved sports that you can experience on a cruise.

Rugby in New Zealand

Rugby is ingrained in the culture of this small island nation.

Before British settlers introduced the modern game in the 19th century, the indigenous Maori had their own version, known as ki-o-rahi, played with a woven flax ball.

The most successful men’s rugby side of all time – New Zealand’s All Blacks – honour Maori culture by doing a pre-match ceremonial war dance known as the haka.

It’s a ferocious prelude to 80 minutes of running, kicking and passing that these players have done more than most to develop into an art form.

Showcasing the best of this beautiful country’s scenery are stadiums such as New Plymouth’s Yarrow – with a backdrop of Mount Taranaki – and Rotorua International, which is a geothermal hotspot.

Go for the crowd singalong, stay for the mini lamb sliders.

Falconry in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Practised for more than 2,000 years, this national pastime is an intrinsic part of Arab culture in the Gulf.

Before it became an Emirati sport, falconry was a means of survival for nomadic Bedouins, who would teach saker and peregrine falcons – distinguished by their black ‘moustaches’ – to hunt prey such as hares and waterfowl.

Elevated to godlike status, these keen-eyed birds now emblazon UAE banknotes and passports.

You can experience the thrills of falconry as part of a half-day excursion in the desert surrounding Dubai or Abu Dhabi, the raptors’ natural hunting ground.

Alternatively, cruisers can join a two-hour guided tour of the capital’s dedicated falcon hospital, which houses a free-flight aviary, a museum and an air-conditioned examination room that you can visit.

Football in Italy

With at least four million active players on the boot-shaped peninsula, Italy’s love for calcio (football) makes it not so much a sport but a way of life.

Footie fan or not, you’ll undoubtedly have heard of the country’s leading clubs: Roma, AC Milan and Turin-based Juventus.

Four-times winner of the FIFA World Cup (second only to Brazil), Italy continues to dominate the beautiful game on the international stage.

The domestic season runs from August to May, with top-flight teams playing in Serie A and lower sides meeting in Serie B and Serie C.

This food-loving nation also serves up terrific terrace grub in the form of panino con la salamella: a traditional Italian sausage sandwich.

Mexican wrestling in Mexico

This 150-year-old lucha libre (‘free fight’) is part-sport, part-spectacle, owing to its soap-opera plotlines and high-flying acrobatic movements.

As in the United States, a win is achieved by pinning your opponent to the mat.

We have Mexico, not the US, to thank for popularising wrestling masks, as much like comic-book superheroes, luchadores never publicly reveal their faces.

The sport’s spiritual home is Mexico City, where its purpose-built Arena Mexico draws 16,000-capacity crowds on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

Not for the faint-hearted, luchas (fights) promise blaring music, a spirited audience and even flame- throwing stage cannons. Watch the choreographed routines play out while snacking on sweet and salty tostilocos chips washed down with michelada,
a spicy beer-based cocktail.

Shinty in Scotland

Sometimes referred to as ‘hockey with no rules’, Scotland’s oldest national sport was introduced by Irish missionaries 2,000 years ago.

Unlike field hockey, shinty’s 12-a-side teams use both sides of their sticks (metre-long curved camans) and tackle shoulder-to-shoulder.

Add a leather ball flying around at 160kph and you have a lively game.

Played predominantly by small communities in the Highlands, the competitive season runs from March till November.

The beachfront pitches of Aberdour Silver Sands in Fife and Oban’s Ganavan Sands make for spectacular settings, as does Strathpeffer’s Caberfeidh Shinty Club, which is nestled in the grounds of a 15th-century castle.

Cricket in Australia

British settlers introduced cricket to the New World in the late 1700s, and Australia could field a formidable team long before it was even a nation.

While modern cricketers look very different from their forebears, the basics of this historic sport remain largely unchanged, with two teams of 11 players competing to score the most runs by striking a hard ball to distant parts of the ground.

The first documented match Down Under took place at Sydney in 1803, and British troops established the first Sydney Cricket Ground, which now hosts a full programme of five-day test matches, one-day internationals and short-form T20 games.

Australia’s famous cricket rivalry with England began in 1877, nearly 1,000km away at Melbourne’s MCG, which is now the world’s largest cricket ground. But all of Australia’s major cities have impressive stadiums, and the historic Adelaide Oval offers behind-the-scenes tours.

Stick fighting in South Africa

Called intonga in South Africa’s Xhosa language, this indigenous combat sport was originally practised by herdboys as a means of protecting their livestock.

A fast and furious martial art, it is now spreading to urban areas, where it’s credited with curbing gang violence.

Competitors wearing rugby scrum caps carry a pair of metre-long sticks – one for offence, the other for blocking – and score points based on which body part is struck.

A strike to the hip earns them five points, while hitting their opponent behind the ears incurs a penalty.

You can see these high-energy 15-minute matches at umgangela (competitions), typically held in public areas in townships around Cape Town.

Sumo in Japan

Japan’s national sport for more than 1,000 years, sumo wrestling is steeped in ritual and tradition.

A 150kg loinclothed rikishi (wrestler) battles to push part of his opponent’s body outside a circular arena known as a dohyo.

The sport began as entertainment for the gods at Shinto ceremonies. Seven centuries later, and bashos – fortnight- long sumo tournaments held six times a year – entertain cheering, chanting and cushion-throwing crowds in the cities of Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka.

The epicentre of sumo is Tokyo’s riverside Ryogoku district, home to the Kokugikan stadium and ‘stables’ where wrestlers eat, sleep and train.

With bouts lasting on average 30 seconds, pre-wrestling rituals such as shiko – which involves lots of leg raising and stomping – and a comedy skit known as shokkiri are as much a part of the occasion as the contest itself.

American football in the USA

Defined by speed and strategy and descended from English rugby and football, this thrilling full-contact spectator sport dates back to the early 1800s.

For the players – 11 each side – the seemingly straightforward mission is to move an oval ball down a rectangular field into the ‘end zone’, by running with it or throwing it to a teammate.

Hour-long games are split into 15-minute quarters but attending a National Football League (NFL) game is a full-day experience. If you can, join locals in the pre-match tradition of ‘tailgating’, which involves grilling food and drinking beer outside the stadium.

The season lasts from September to January, with NFL matches on Sundays and college games on Saturdays.

Ice hockey in Canada

The forerunner of the country’s national winter sport may have been a primitive stick-and-ball game from ancient Greece, but Canada lays claim to the first organised ice hockey match.

The historic event happened in 1875 at Montreal, whose downtown Bell Centre Arena hosts fixtures today.

Then and now, the players attempt to slam the puck into their opponents’ goal – much as in field hockey but at high speed while wearing ice skates.

Do as Canadians do at a National Hockey League game – wrap up warm and tuck into a feast of smoked meat while you watch the action.

Alternatively, if you’re cruising outside the hockey season (October to June), you could visit Toronto’s Hockey Hall of Fame Museum or catch a community match at one of the country’s thousands of indoor and outdoor rinks.

Pok-ta-pok in Belize

One of the earliest known sports, this Mesoamerican ballgame is enjoying a comeback.

Originally played at the base of temples, where two competing teams would use their hips, knees and thighs to manoeuvre a heavy rubber ball through stone hoops, it was literally a matter of life and death, with losers sometimes sacrificed to the gods.

Mayan players are depicted on recently discovered stone tablets dated to around 700CE, while remains of Belize’s ancient ball courts can be found at Cahal Pech and Lamanai archaeological sites.

This proud Central American country hosted the fifth pok-ta-pok world cup in December 2023, also opening a new ball court in Orange Walk district.

Epic Mayan Tours offer a guided visit to the court and a chance to see Belize’s world champion team in action.