Squash. You can eat it, do it to a mosquito, or soon, even play it at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
On Oct. 9, the Olympic organizing committee had requested that six new sports be added as a part of the 2028 Olympic games that would be hosted in Los Angeles. One week later on Oct.16, their call was answered as baseball, softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse and squash were now to be played as well. While the others have been played at past Olympic games, squash and flag football will make their first appearance at the games in 2028.
Introduced about 50 years after the creation of tackle football, flag football is said to have been created in the 1940s and has long been played in gym classes and among family and friends in the United States. Although being a large part of American culture, football has started to spread worldwide with the NFL playing games in the United Kingdom and Germany, giving hope for the growth in popularity of the sport. “I think it’s definitely good. Football in general hasn’t been in the Olympics and this is a start,” varsity football senior Mathew Cortes said. “It’s a great new form of competition and it’s exciting to see the competition from other countries since football is usually in the U.S.”
Lacrosse, also being added to the Olympics, brings additional viewership from North America as it has become popular within the U.S. and is Canada’s national sport. “I hope to see lacrosse become more popular and it’ll be much more fun to be able to talk to more people about it,” sophomore varsity lacrosse player Maya Bellamy said.
Although not as popular in the United States, cricket wins over the hearts of those in countries once ruled by the British Empire. Countries such as England, Australia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand are most notable for battling it out during the ICC Cricket World Cup seasons and now have a similar opportunity to do so at the Olympics. “It won’t be as big as the cricket world cup because not many countries will send out their best players. They will mostly send out their B teams and C teams,” cricket enthusiast and sophomore Zorawar Sodhi said. “I don’t think it will get much viewership [in the U.S.].”
Softball and baseball have already had the experience of being in the Olympics five times and six times respectively. The world has also seen its share of the ball game at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics; Japan beat the United States in the gold medal game for both sports. “I think it will bring softball and baseball to greater international attention and encourage more kids to get involved in those sports. Especially for softball, I think more girls will start playing at younger ages,” senior varsity softball player Malia Schmelzer said. “I am definitely looking forward to being able to watch baseball and softball as part of the Olympics.”
