1. Danilo Spinola, Brazil - Football
University: University of Campinas in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Study program: Economics (PhD student)
For us Brazilians, football is more than a sport, it is a religion. Unfortunately, our faith was somewhat shaken last year when Germany handed us a 7-1 defeat in the World Cup semi-finals. No, seriously, football really is a central element of Brazilian culture: it appears in books, films and music, even entire operas are about it. Football is Brazil's national sport and part of our national identity. Like pretty much all Brazilians, I have been playing football since I was a child. The great thing about this sport is that anyone can play it - all you need is a ball and a few friends. My university organizes a big football tournament once a year in which all year groups compete against each other. This is always a lot of fun and a great way to meet up with old friends and former students.
2. Christina Schmidt, Germany - Handball
University: Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany
Course of study: Russian and Spanish to become a teacher
I've been playing handball since I was 13 years old, and I even won the Middle Rhine Championships twice with my former team. Unfortunately, after graduating from high school, I no longer had any time for sports and had to take a break for a few years. Fortunately, I'm now playing again in a Berlin women's team. We train three times a week and have our games on the weekends. My teammates are very disciplined and ambitious and that naturally inspires me. For me, sporting activity is an important balance to my studies; after every training session I feel like a new person. I regret all the more that in handball, as in many other sports, men's teams are much more popular than women's teams. That's a shame because it suggests that women play worse than their male colleagues.
3. Anni Haukkamaa, Finland - Pesäpallo
University: Lapland University of Applied Sciences in Rovaniemi, Finland
Course of study: Sport to become a teacher
The rules of Pesäpallo are similar to baseball, which is why it is also called “Finnish baseball”. The main difference from baseball is that the pitcher throws the ball vertically into the air. A game consists of a total of eight rounds and usually lasts between two and three hours. Pesäpallo is the national sport in Finland and is extremely popular, especially among young girls. My whole family is crazy about this sport, so I basically grew up with it. With my current team I play in the second best Finnish league. We train five times a week and focus primarily on improving our baseball technique, sprinting and strength training. I also play in an amateur team. The beauty of Pesäpallo is that basically anyone who can either run fast or throw well can play it.
4. Ruslan Bilalov, Russia - Chess
University: Russian State Pedagogical University in Ekaterinburg, Russia
Course of study: Mechanical Engineering
In the Soviet Union it was virtually impossible not to come into contact with chess, so I learned the rules of the game from my uncle as a small child. From then on I played in the children's chess club in our neighborhood and took part in intra-city competitions. Even today, chess is still very popular in Russia: in Ekaterinburg alone, more than 500 chess tournaments take place every year. In addition, many professions hold their own competitions; I have already won the national railway workers' chess tournament several times. Is chess a sport? Sure, of course! You just have to look at the so-called “blitz games”: The players have to think of complicated moves in a very short space of time and outdo each other in terms of speed.
5. Jennifer Vorel, USA - Volleyball
University: Rowan University in Glassboro, USA
Course of study: Psychology
Volleyball is an extremely popular sport in the USA - for both women and men. I started playing on the school team at the age of twelve and am now a member of the women's team at my university. In the summer we always meet two weeks before the start of the semester for the “preseason”, a kind of training camp, and spend six to eight hours a day preparing for the coming season. During the season itself we have three to four games a week and training on the remaining days. But that doesn't bother me because volleyball is a fantastic sport that I really enjoy. Some of our competitions require us to travel far, for example this season we are traveling to San Antonio, Texas, where we will compete against some of the best teams in the country. Together with my team I go through ups and downs, we work hard on ourselves to get the best out of ourselves. More important than success, however, is that my teammates are like sisters to me - people I love and who will always be there for me.
6. Shruti Ailani, India - cricket
University: NMIMS University in Mumbai, India
Course of study: Computer Engineering
A cricket team consists of eleven players, there are bowlers, batsmen and fielders. The team scores points if the batsman manages to hit the ball thrown to him by the opposing bowler. The opposing field players then try to bring the ball back as quickly as possible. Cricket exists in different forms; in extreme cases, a duel can last for several weeks. I have been playing cricket since I was ten years old and have played for various teams in Jaipur and Mumbai. I love this sport because it is so unpredictable: every shot brings new excitement and thrills. India is also one of the few countries that has a women's national cricket team. For us Indians, cricket has the status of a religion and is therefore rightly called the “game of the gods”.
Tell me what sport you do and I'll tell you where you live. Pretty much every country has its (secret) national sport. We introduce you to six students from all over the world and their sports.
