Lacrosse? Flag football? Find out what sports could be in Los Angeles 2028

The Organizing Committee of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles on Monday (9) sent five sports to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to be part of the program of these Olympic Games: baseball/softball, squash, lacrosse, soccer and cricket. But while the IOC has not decided whether these sports will participate in the 2028 Olympics, do you want to know more about them? Check out a little history of each method below:

Football flag

Graciela Gonzaga / Brazilian Football Flag

It is one of the sports that, if selected, would make its Olympic debut in Los Angeles – a sport that has a constant presence at the World Games. A “cousin” of American football, since it is a variation of the sport that is very popular in the United States, the main difference in soccer is that each player must wear a belt with a flag or stripe, which when removed from the player’s belt, the player who has ball, the attacking team ends its downswing and begins a new downswing from that point. This measure aims to reduce physical contact in relation to American football and become a safer and cheaper game, as it does not require the same equipment used in American football.

Flag football has many variations and can be played in teams of 4 to 9 players and has players in several countries, including Brazil. The United States, Mexico, Canada and Austria are strong countries in this sport. At the last World Championships in this sport, held in 2021, Brazil ranked seventeenth in men and fourth in women.

If confirmed, the trend is for players from the NFL — a league that even helped behind the scenes with Flag Football’s entry into the Olympics — to be released to participate and give an extra spotlight to the Olympic competition.

Lacrosse

Syracuse University / Disclosure

A team sport in which the player uses a stick with a net at the end to carry the ball, pass it, catch it, and throw it into the goal. Very popular in the United States and Canada, it is a sport that traces its origins to the Native American population. Men and women can play the sport, but in women’s lacrosse, physical contact is not allowed.

If confirmed in Los Angeles, this would not be lacrosse’s first participation in the Olympic program, as the sport was present at the Games in St. Louis 1904 and London 1908, and as a demonstration sport in Los Angeles 1932 and London 1948.

The United States and Canada dominate the sport, having won all of the men’s world championships (the United States 11 titles and Canada three). In the women’s category, Australia joins North American countries as the dominant team in the sport. In Brazil, this sport is trying to develop in the country with Cristina Velez and Sergio Madrigal. Former players of the Spanish and Colombian national teams, respectively, they are currently international teachers and managers of the sport.

cricket

ICC/Disclosure

Of British origin and played since the 17th century, cricket is a team sport of bat and ball with 11 players on each team. Essentially whoever makes the most runs wins, which is done by batting the ball and running from one side of the field to the other.

It’s a long game, which can last up to ten days, so its T20 version – which lasts around three hours – should be at the Olympics. The game gets its name because it limits cricket to 20 overs – a series of 6 correct shots made by only one player. In traditional cricket there is no over limit.

The sport is very traditional in countries that were part of the British Empire, especially India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia, as well as the United Kingdom. Cricket was only present at the Olympic Games in the 1900 edition in Paris.

Cricket arrived in Brazil in the 19th century, when it was founded in 1872 Rio Cricket Club In Rio de Janeiro. In subsequent years, Sao Paulo Sports Club Sao Paulo and Vitoria Cricket Club (currently Esporte Clube Vitória) in Bahia to practice this sport. But cricket did not become very popular and the old clubs abandoned playing the sport because football (also brought by the English) ended up gaining greater repercussions at the beginning of the 20th century.

Cricket ended up gaining more popularity on the entertainment side, gaining the name “Taco”, “Pete” or “Tacoball”, among other names, depending on the region of Brazil. High-performance cricket has developed slowly in Brazil, and it was only in 2003 that the country began to be recognized by the sport’s International Federation and currently maintains both men’s and women’s teams in the sport, and among women, Brazil ranks 37th in T20 – which should be the Olympic way.

pumpkin

disclosure

If soccer is related to American football, squash is related to tennis, as it uses a racket and a (hollow) ball. The main difference is that it is played in a closed room, with players exchanging shots against the front wall, which has three lines marking where the ball can be hit. The wall behind the players must be made of glass.

The ball can hit the side walls or the glass wall, but it can only bounce once on the floor before the opposing player bounces off the front wall. Games usually consist of 5 sets of 11 points.

The sport has never been part of the Olympic Games, but has a tradition at the World Games and Pan American Games, where it has been around since the 1995 edition in Mar del Plata in Argentina. In Brazil, squash was brought by the English at the beginning of the 20th century and its first court was in the city of Nova Lima (MG) and it flourished in the 1970s and 1980s in the country – and in the world, with many clubs in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo establishing sports grounds.

Egypt is a superpower in the sport, dominating the women’s world rankings. Great Britain, the United States and Belgium are other powers in the sport, with names in the top ten in the men’s and women’s rankings. Diogo Gobbi is the best-ranked Brazilian in men, at No. 128, and in women, Laura Silva is the best-ranked Brazilian, coincidentally in the same position as Diogo, No. 128 in the world.

Baseball/softball

WBSF/Disclosure

The most popular sport on this list for the Brazilian public that probably doesn’t need much explanation is baseball. Baseball is very popular in the United States – where MLB is the most watched league in the country – Mexico, Canada, and Caribbean countries such as Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, as well as Venezuela and Japan. One of his sources of inspiration was cricket, and he was present at the Olympic Games in St. Louis in 1904 and then returned between the 1992 and 2008 editions, returning to Tokyo. From 1996 onward, Atlanta began to stand alongside similar softball, whose main differences were ball size, pitch, and game length.

Interestingly, both baseball and softball are played by men and women, but in the Olympics, only men play baseball while only women play softball.

In Brazil, although the Americans brought the sport in the nineteenth century, it was the Japanese colony that came to the country in the twentieth century that incorporated the sport. Brazil has the majority of players on the national team of Japanese origin, who mainly come from Sao Paulo, Paulo and Parana.

In the world rankings, Brazil ranks twenty-third in men’s baseball and sixteenth in women’s softball.

sources: English Wikipedia, Club Atlético Piñerasolympic outbreak, CNN that it globoesporte.com