The Miscellaneous Sports and Recreation ClipArt gallery offers 29 illustrations of general objects used in sports and recreation as well as awards and trophies for sporting events.

The America's Cup is the most prestigious race in the sport of sailing and the oldest active trophy in international sport.

America's Cup

The America's Cup is the most prestigious race in the sport of sailing and the oldest active trophy…

Any round body, or one nearly so.

Ball

Any round body, or one nearly so.

"Some of the Egyptian female sports were rather of a hoydenish character, as the game of ball, in one picture of which we are instructed that the loser was obliged to suffer another to ride on her back." — Goodrich, 1844

Egyptian Ball Game

"Some of the Egyptian female sports were rather of a hoydenish character, as the game of ball, in one…

"Some of the Egyptian female sports were rather of a hoydenish character, as the game of ball, in one picture of which we are instructed that the loser was obliged to suffer another to ride on her back." — Goodrich, 1844

Egyptian Female Ball Game

"Some of the Egyptian female sports were rather of a hoydenish character, as the game of ball, in one…

"Some of the Egyptian female sports were rather of a hoydenish character, as the game of ball, in one picture of which we are instructed that the loser was obliged to suffer another to ride on her back. Some of these identical balls have been found in the tombs at Thebes." — Goodrich, 1844

Egyptian Ball

"Some of the Egyptian female sports were rather of a hoydenish character, as the game of ball, in one…

A boy playing with his toy ship.

Boy and Ship

A boy playing with his toy ship.

An illustration of three children playing a game where they take turns blowing bubbles down a table towards a small goal.

Bubble Blowing

An illustration of three children playing a game where they take turns blowing bubbles down a table…

A sport that involves, most of the time, professional performers who execute various formal moves with the goal of appearing graceful and confident, while masterful over the bull itself.

Bull Fighter

A sport that involves, most of the time, professional performers who execute various formal moves with…

"Two players are made to sit on the ground draw their legs up, and clasp their hands together over their shins. A stout stick is then passed through under their knees, and over their arms at the bend of the elbows, as in the cut, and there they sit trussed like a couple of fowls. Thus prepared, the two cobatants are placed face to face, their toes touching, and are left to fight it out. This they do by striving to knock each other down, each to overbalance the other without loosing his own equilibrium. Two falls out of three decide the game; if both fall it is no 'round,' and does not count. As the player may not unclasp his hands even when down, he is quite helpless, and must be assisted by his friends." — Thomas Sheppard Meek

Cock-Fighting

"Two players are made to sit on the ground draw their legs up, and clasp their hands together over their…

A diagram of the arrangement and measurements of a croquet ground.

Croquet Ground

A diagram of the arrangement and measurements of a croquet ground.

A game with a cup and ball

Cup and Ball

A game with a cup and ball

A man is sitting at a table with a falcon resting on his left arm. He raises his right hand toward the falcon's beak. A figure in the background is placing a basket on the table.

Man Sitting with a Falcon

A man is sitting at a table with a falcon resting on his left arm. He raises his right hand toward the…

"This may be done in two ways: first and most difficult, by one boy standing on another's shoulders, and then putting over both a long loose garment, long enough to reach to the knees of the lower one. This method, however, may be made much more easy by the upper player putting his feet in a kind of stirrup fastened to straps passing over the under one's shoulder's, and hanging just down to the hips. Height, of course, is sacrificed, but greater safety is secured; the giant, too, can exhibit thus for a longer time, as the attitude is not so fatiguing. The other and simpler method is to place a huge mask, which should represent a head and neck, on the top of a pole about five feet long, with a cross-piece to represent arms, and then tying a long cloak- it should be made for the purpose: any common material will do- round the neck of the mask and get bodily inside. Now, by raising or depressing the pole, the giant may be made to attain an extra ordinary stature or to shrink down again to ordinary dimensions as well. The lower end of the cloak, about two feet from the bottom, must be fastened to the performer's waist, so that when the head is depressed the cloak may fall in folds, and not sweep the ground as it otherwise would. There is a very entertaining illusion of this sort exhibited under the name of 'The Nondescripts.' Two figures with enormous heads, alternately giants and dwarfs, run about the circus and indulge in the most surprising vagaries, being able apparently to contort themselves in every imaginable direction. Their final coup is to put their heads deliberately through their legs, and make their exit with their eyes thus looking over their own shoulders."— Thomas Sheppard Meek

The Giant

"This may be done in two ways: first and most difficult, by one boy standing on another's shoulders,…

This illustration shows various types of gladiators, each type with with his specific weapons attributed to him.
Gladiators were swordsmen whose profession was to fight for the public amusement. Gladiators are said to have been borrowed by Rome from the Etruscans. They were first exhibited in Rome in 246 BC, primarily at funerals, but afterwards at festivals, particularly those celebrated by the aediles and other magistrates. More than ten thousand were shown at Trajan's triumph over the Dacians. They were either free-born citizens, usually of a low class, who fought for hire, or captives, slaves, or malefactors, and were kept in schools, where they were carefully trained. Chief varieties were Andabatae, who wore helmets with no openings for the eyes, so that their blindfold movements provoked the spectators' mirth; Mirmillones, who used Gallic weapons, sword and shield; Retiarii, who carried a net and a three-pronged lance -- the net to entangle their opponents; and Thraces, who, like the Thracians, used a short sword and a round buckler. 
When a gladiator was severely wounded and defeated, the people cried out 'Habet' (He has it), and he lowered his arms; then, if the spectators wished his life to be spared, they turned their thumbs down; but it they desired his death, they turned them up. These combats were often attended by great cruelty and callousness on the part of the spectators; sometimes they were fights à outrance, none being spared alive. Discharged gladiators were presented with a rudis, or wooden sword, and hence were called rudiarii. Gladiatorial combats were disliked by the Greeks, and practically never took place in Greek cities.

Gladiators

This illustration shows various types of gladiators, each type with with his specific weapons attributed…

A billiard cue, a baseball bat, a tennis racket, all the instruments used in golf, are hammers.

A Hammer for Play

A billiard cue, a baseball bat, a tennis racket, all the instruments used in golf, are hammers.

Man tosses bits of paper as he runs.

Hare and Hounds

Man tosses bits of paper as he runs.

A glove used in the sport hawking, employed to protect ones hand and wrist from the talons and beak of the hawk rest on it.

Hawking Glove

A glove used in the sport hawking, employed to protect ones hand and wrist from the talons and beak…

A man jumping over a hurdle.

Hurdling

A man jumping over a hurdle.

Jockey running toward right.

Jockey

Jockey running toward right.

This pedestal is a support for trophies.

Trophy Type Pedestal

This pedestal is a support for trophies.

Boys playing post-ball.

Post-Ball

Boys playing post-ball.

"This game is played something like lawn billiards, except that there are six revolving rings instead of one, and that the ball is thrown and not pushed with a cue. The rings and balls are painted of corresponding colors. The object of the game is to throw the six balls through the rings, each successful throw counting as three; but when a ball passes through a ring of its own color the player scores six. The game is best played by having a pool, as mentioned in the royal star."— Thomas Sheppard Meek

Revolving Ring

"This game is played something like lawn billiards, except that there are six revolving rings instead…

"A contrivance for enabling a person to glide  swiftly on ice, consisting of a steel runner fixed either to a wooden sole provided with straps and buckles, or to a light iron or steel framework having adjustable clamps or other means of attachment to a shoe or boot. C is a roller skate in which a plate with rollers replaces the runner." —
Whitney, 1889

Roller Skate - Side View

"A contrivance for enabling a person to glide swiftly on ice, consisting of a steel runner fixed either…

A group of people rollerskating indoors. The man in front is about to fall. All of the people are wearing hats.

Roller Skating

A group of people rollerskating indoors. The man in front is about to fall. All of the people are wearing…

Position to throw an attacker.

Self-defense

Position to throw an attacker.

Two young women on a swing together. They are wearing long dresses and are surrounded by trees.

Girls on Swing

Two young women on a swing together. They are wearing long dresses and are surrounded by trees.

The America's Cup, a yachting trophy.

Trophy

The America's Cup, a yachting trophy.

"Soldiers aparticipating in a wheelbarrow race. Thanksgiving festivities at Fort Pulaski, Ga., Thursday, November 27th, 1862. While the loyal citizens of the North were eating their turkeys the Federal soldiers in the South were also celebrating their Thanksgiving. We illustrate the amusement indulged in at Fort Pulaski, Ga. The grand attraction of the day, however, was th <em>fete</em> given by the officers of the Forty-eighth Regiment, New York Volunteers, Colonel Barton, and Company G, Third Rhode Island Regiment."— Frank Leslie, 1896

Wheelbarrow Race

"Soldiers aparticipating in a wheelbarrow race. Thanksgiving festivities at Fort Pulaski, Ga., Thursday,…

"Get a circular piece of tin, three inches or more in diameter, and cut it round the edges in the form of a star. Bore two holes through it about an inch and a half apart; pass the two ends of a string through the holes; tie them, and the toy is complete. When the tin star cannot be procured, a big button will serve the purpose admirably. Hold an end of the double string in each hand, as seen in the illustration, and spin the tin star, or 'whizzer' as we shall call it, until the string is twisted as far as it will bear. Now separate the hands, and the whizzer will revolve rapidly, and, when the hands are stretched wide, will come to rest as shown in the illustration. But if, instead of allowing the hands to reach their fullest extent and to remain there, they are brought gradually together again, the cutter will revolve in the opposite direction, and wind itself up again. Thus it may be made to wind and unwind itself as long as the player likes."&mdash; Thomas Sheppard Meek

Whizzer

"Get a circular piece of tin, three inches or more in diameter, and cut it round the edges in the form…