Sports

by Mazzocchi, Jay, Williams, Wiley J. Auto racing in North Carolina has grown from occasional competitions among speed-hungry moonshiners during the 1930s to a billion-dollar industry operating under the sponsorship of major corporations [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Freeman, Margery. Balinese school children play soccer before classesNine Balinese school children in yellow T-shirts and green shorts play soccer before classes. Indonesian children begin school early, by 7 am. [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Sumner, Jim L. Bandy was a popular sport on North Carolina's college and school campuses prior to the Civil War. The sport, which closely resembled modern field hockey, featured two teams of varying numbers using a [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Sumner, Jim L. Baseball has been popular in North Carolina since the late nineteenth century. Baseball's antecedent, rounders, was widely played in antebellum North Carolina. Modern baseball was apparently [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Simpson-Vos, Mark. Basketball by Mark Simpson-Vos, 2006 Part i: Overview; Part ii: The Southern Conference; Part iii: Atlantic Coast Conference; Part iv: Basketball and Civil Rights; Part v: NCAA Champions; [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Simpson-Vos, Mark. While the game spread quickly at all levels throughout North Carolina, it was the remarkable popularity of college basketball that came to define the history of the sport in the state. In the early [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Simpson-Vos, Mark. In 1953 North Carolina's Big Four left the unwieldy Southern Conference to become charter members of the new Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) with three other teams; an eighth team was added later [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Simpson-Vos, Mark. Men's college basketball in the state underwent another dramatic transformation beginning in the late 1960s, when previously all-white college teams began recruiting black players. Prior to and after [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Simpson-Vos, Mark. The men's 1974 NCAA Final Four was held in Greensboro, where N.C. State, coached by Norm Sloan, upended seven-time defending champion UCLA in a dramatic semifinal game and captured the championship [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Simpson-Vos, Mark. Basketball by Mark Simpson-Vos, 2006 Part i: Overview; Part ii: The Southern Conference; Part iii: Atlantic Coast Conference; Part iv: Basketball and Civil Rights; Part v: NCAA Champions; Part [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Roberson, Elizabeth Whitley. North Carolina was the site of the first powered airplane flight in 1903. In 1913, only ten years later, a native North Carolinian became the first woman to make a parachute jump from an [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by . A man throws a caber at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in 1956. The caber toss involves tossing an approximately 17-foot and 90 pound wooden pole with points scored depending on how the pole [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Sumner, Jim L. Cockfighting in North Carolina dates from the colonial period. A cockfight involves two specially bred gamecocks equipped with steel gaffs attached to each leg fighting until one is disabled. The [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Menius, Arthur C., III. Country Clubs by Arthur Menius, 2006 See also: Golf; Tennis Country clubs became a part of American life during the last quarter of the nineteenth century with the rise in popularity of [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Rutherford, Rocky. EVENT. A rodeo has various types of events: roping, barrel racing, bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, bull riding, etc. Each was referred to as an "event" until the PBR and other bucking bull [...] (from NCpedia.)

by Stick, David. Dog racing and the pari-mutuel betting that came along with it had a short life in North Carolina, extending only from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s. In the period of rapid growth after World War [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Case, Steven. Dale Earnhardt was born on April 29, 1951, in Kannapolis (Cabarrus County). His father Ralph, a competitive and innovative driver on the NASCAR Modified, Sportsman and Grand National circuits, [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Williford, Jo Ann. The Monday after Easter, rather than Good Friday as in every other state, was a legal holiday in North Carolina for 52 years. The bill establishing the holiday was introduced by Senator Paul Davis [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Bumgarner, Sheila, Hegyi, Laura. With a primary season stretching from spring through fall and practically no age, gender, or economic barriers to its enjoyment, fishing is one of the most popular outdoor sports in North Carolina. [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Sumner, Jim L. Football is an exceptionally popular sport in North Carolina at the high school, college, and professional level. The first colleges to field football teams in the state were Trinity College (later [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Case, Steven. A Wilmington native, Roman Gabriel attracted national interest during his quarterback days at N. C. State University, where he was twice recognized as an All-American. In 1962 Gabriel's [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Sumner, Jim L. North Carolina's mild climate and varied landscape have helped make golf an extremely popular and profitable sport in North Carolina. Early forms of golf were played in colonial North Carolina, but [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Sumner, Jim L. Gouging, also known as "no-holds-barred" or "rough-and-tumble" fighting, was an especially violent form of fighting popular in the antebellum southern backcountry. A mixture of boxing, wrestling, and [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Case, Steven. A native of Alabama, Mia Hamm made her mark in North Carolina during her years with the UNC women's soccer team (1989-94). She helped them to win four of their record twenty NCAA championships. [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Stick, David. Hang gliding has been associated with the North Carolina coast from the sport’s earliest incarnation. Francis Rogallo and his wife and coinventor Gertrude set out in the early 1940s to see if they [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Caudill, William S. The staging of Highland Games in a number of sites throughout North Carolina-home to the largest settlement of Highland Scots outside of Scotland until well into the nineteenth century-has succeeded [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Williams, Wiley J., Hegyi, Laura. Hunting in North Carolina is a popular and economically significant recreational activity as well as an important focus of the state's governmental agencies in charge of wildlife preservation and [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Mellage, Susan Jelinek. Ice hockey, popular in northern states for decades, took many years to take hold in the sports landscape of North Carolina. Hockey first skated into the state in 1957 with the expansion of the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Agan, Kelly. Christian Adolph Jurgensen was born on August 23, 1934 in Wilmington, North Carolina.   Known as Sonny, the colorful character and once redheaded Jurgensen is considered one of the [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Case, Steven. A native of Asheville, Justice acquired his nickname in the Navy, into which he was drafted in 1943. Seeing him dodge tacklers for the Bainbridge Naval Training Center team, an officer remarked, "He [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Boughman, H. Lee, Jr. Frank Hoyt Mahan, YMCA official who gave the name basketball to that game, was born in Griggsville, Ill., the son of George and Sarah Hoyt Mahan who very soon after his birth moved to Memphis, Tenn. [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Freeman, Margery. Middle school students doing morning exercises in fieldAbout twenty-five middle school students face their teacher with their arms held straight out as they do their morning gymnastic exercises in a [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Sumner, Jim L. Murray, William David by Jim L. Sumner, 1991 9 Sept. 1908–29 Mar. 1986 William David Murray, [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by McKim, Buz. NASCAR's North Carolina Roots National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing by Buz McKim NASCAR HAll of Fame, 2010. https://www.nascarhall.com/ See also: Auto Racing; Moonshine; [...] (from NCpedia.)

by Agan, Kelly. On July 13, 1974 John Harris became the first person to hang glide from the 1,600 foot high rock pinnacle of Grandfather Mountain. Harris had managed to convince Hugh Morton, the mountain’s owner, to [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Williams, Wiley J. The North Carolina High School Athletic Association, which traces its origin to 1913, is a voluntary nonprofit corporation that administers the state's interscholastic athletic program. Any public or [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Agan, Kelly.   North Carolina Miniature Golf Milestone: Ladies Tournament at Pinehurst, January 26, 1918 By Kelly Agan, Government & Heritage Library, 2014 See also:The Origin of Miniature Golf [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Coffin, Alex. The North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame (NCSHF), which honors coaches, administrators, journalists, and other sports-related professionals in addition to athletes, was established in 1963 through the [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Agan, Kelly. North Carolina universities have won the NCAA Basketball Tournament championship thirteen times during the event's history, with victories by Duke University's Blue Devils, UNC-Chapel Hill's Tar [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Towles, Louis P. Ring tournaments were relics of the medieval sport of jousting, dating from the eleventh until the fifteenth century. Rather than trying to knock another rider down, as in jousting, a ring tournament [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Freeman, Margery. [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by . [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Wegner, Ansley Herring. Sir Archie by Ansley Wegner Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History, 2006.www.ncmarkers.com See also: Additional NCpedia articles related to Sir [...] (from NCpedia.)

by Hairr, John. From its modest beginnings, snow skiing has grown into an important part of the economy and culture of western North Carolina. Skiing on snow has been practiced in northern Europe for over 4,000 [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Kemp, Amy. Dean Edwards Smith was the head Men’s Basketball Coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1961 until 1997. At the time of his retirement, he had more wins than any basketball [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)

by Sumner, Jim L. Soccer by Jim L. Sumner, 2006 Soccer, known as football outside of the United States, is the most popular team sport in the world, although it was slow to gain popularity in North Carolina. [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Southern, Ed. North Carolina and North Carolinians, however, have also played significant roles in the growth and development of many major spectator sports, notably college football, professional baseball, [...] (from NCpedia.)

by Sumner, Jim L. The 1920s has been called the Golden Age of American Sports. It also has been called the Age of the Spectator. The United States had a strong economy for most of that decade. Many workers had more [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Anderson, William L., Battle, Charles. Stickball by William L. Anderson, 2006 Additional research provided by Charles Battle. See also: Cherokee Indians Stickball, a Native American game similar to lacrosse and called [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Stick, David. Surfing by David Stick, 2006 See also: Windsurfing. One of the first instances of a Hawaiian-type surfboard being constructed and used on the North Carolina coast was in the late [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Riley, Jack. James Moore Tatum, star athlete, football coach, and university athletic director, was born at McColl, S.C., the youngest of five sons of Walter Robert and Jessie Carmichael Tatum. His father was a [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Sumner, Jim L. Tennis in its modern form developed in England in the late nineteenth century. In the United States, it was one of the first sports in which women participated in competitive situations. The sport [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Boznos, Chris. North Carolina is not only "First in Flight," but also first in the flight of fancy that is miniature golf. The tiny courses now covering not only the United States but the world were born in the [...] (from NCpedia.)

by Reising, R. W. Thorpe, James Francis by R. W. Reising, 1996 28 May 1888–28 Mar. 1953 See also: Jim Thorpe and Babe Ruth James Francis Thorpe, perhaps the greatest performer in the history of sport, spent [...] (from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Sumner, Jim L. Jim Thorpe and Babe Ruth are still considered among the greatest athletes of all time. When the sports television network ESPN compiled its list of top athletes of the twentieth century, it listed [...] (from Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History.)

by Sumner, Jim L. Track and field in North Carolina is associated largely with colleges and high schools, most of which have track-and-field and cross-country teams for both genders. Track-and-field activities in [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Hoffman, Joseph Paul. White-water rafting is a large and economically significant tourist industry in the North Carolina mountains, with hundreds of thousands of visitors flocking to experience the challenge of running [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Rutledge, John B. Windsurfing, or boardsailing, is a water sport enjoyed by many North Carolinians and others traveling to the state's Atlantic Coast. In windsurfing, which is closely related to traditional sailing, [...] (from Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.)

by Case, Steven. In 1975, Yow was hired as the first full-time women's basketball coach by North Carolina State University. During her tenure at NC State, her teams won five regular season championships and four ACC [...] (from Government & Heritage Library, State Library of North Carolina.)