| In Zambia, as in many countries, soccer is the
most popular sport. Most towns and cities have their own teams, cheered
on by local fans. Zambians passionately follow the national team, which
played at the 1988 Olympics. Soccer players such as Kalusha Bwalya, the
team's retired captain and former African Footballer of the Year, rank
as some of Zambia's greatest heroes.
Boxing is also very popular. Lottie Mwale
is the former Commonwealth light heavyweight boxing champion and Keith
Mwila is Olympic bronze medallist in light flyweight boxing. Zambia's sports
stars also include Samuel Matete, former world champion in 400-metre hurdles,
and Satwant Singh, racing car driver. Squash champions such as Victoria
Chishimba and Robby Lingashi are also admired. Other competitive sports
in Zambia include rugby, badminton, tennis and golf. |
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| Fishing on the country's large lakes is a popular
pastime. Some Lusaka families go to fishing harbours such as Siavonga on
Lake Kariba for the weekend. Lake Kariba also hosts an annual tiger fish
contest, in which Zambians compete with people from around the world to
catch the largest fish. On Lake Tanganyika, the world's longest lake, another
popular fishing championship takes place each March. |
| One
of Zambia's newest heroes is a young chess player named Amon Simutowe.
At 16, he won first prize at the South African Open Chess Championships. |
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| Both children and adults in Zambia enjoy playing
a traditional African board game called isolo. Using a wooden board
shaped like an egg carton and a few stones or dried seeds, players try
to capture all their opponents' pieces.
In rural areas, boys play soccer, but girls
play netball, a game like basketball. Children often make their own toys.
A bundle of rags tied tightly together (ichimpombwa) can be used
as a soccer ball. Pieces of discarded wire, carefully bent, can be shaped
into elaborate toy cars.
Girls in eastern Zambia play a game called
nchuba. They dig a shallow hole about 25 cm wide and place 10 small
round stones all around the hole, about 10 cm from the rim. Sitting in
a circle around the hole, the girls take turns using their right hand to
toss a larger stone in the air. Before catching it, they use the same hand
to move one of the smaller stones into the hole. The winner is the girl
who finishes the game without making a mistake. |
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| On
April 17.1993, seventeen members of the Zambian World Cup team died when
their airplane crashed into the sea off Gabon. The team was on its way
to a World Cup qualifying game in Dakar, Senegal. Zambia still mourns the
loss of these talented players. |
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