Name Vick T. Orryan(Sample Outline)Date December 12, 2015

Topic: Victorian Age Sports

Purpose: To provide my fellow classmates with information about four major sports most-associated with the Victorian Period.

I. Introduction

A. Attention Getter – It is difficult to appreciate how much of an influence Victorian virtues had on competitive sports during the period named for Queen Victoria. Can you imagine the game of rugby any less violent, but in those early years of this period, rules and gamesmanship were almost nonexistent. Sporting contests were brutal.

B. Summary of main points – Manysports were enjoyed by Victorians, but there were those contests that were most-recognized with the Victorian Period, and those are the ones I hope to cover today. They include: rugby, football, tennis, and croquet.

C. Transition – Let me share with you some of the historical information associated with these four sports.

II. Body

A. Rugby/ Football(photo - )

1. Prior to the Victorian Period, the various contests that were early forms of football and rugby were rough with no rules and a lot of tackling. With the rise of the Industrial Age, employers were searching for sports that were less-destructive on their workers. A need for rules and order became the focus of the period.

2. Rugby began at the public school known as Rugby. Its headmaster, Thomas Arnold, wanted to have a competition for the students that could be considered as a means of healthy exercise and education, so he decided to place some rules on the game.

3. Around 1845 rules were developed for the game. Handling the ball was permitted.

4. A rival school, Eton, created a different version in which handling the ball was restricted and became a forerunner for football (soccer).

5. At the university level, having the two competing games created problems. Around 1863, Cambridge University created their set of rules outlawing the use of hands and thus creating modern day football (soccer) and its Football Association.

6. The first Football Association Cup (FA) was played in 1871.

6. Not to be outdone, the Blackheath Club withdrew from the association to maintain their game of rugby; eventually the Rugby Union was formed in 1871.

B. Lawn Tennis / Tennis

1. The game's birth can be traced back to 1858 when Major Henry Gem marked out the first court on a lawn in Edgbaston. But it was Major Walter Wingfield who developed the modern game of tennis with the invention of a rubber ball which would bounce on grass.

2. The dimensions the men used to design the court are still used for tennis courts today, though the net height is different.

3. In 1875 The All England Croquet Club at Wimbledon chose to adopt tennis, and a tournament for all-comers was organized.

4. Two years later to raise funds, the first Wimbledon championship was held in 1877.

C. Croquet

1. This was a sport for women to play and was one of few mixed-sex competitions.

2. Its origin is somewhat a mystery and may be an early version of a French game known as PailleMaille. But the game of croquet arrived in England around 1851.

3. This was said to be a sport for women because it was less strenuous. Women could easily cheat with their long dresses. It was used as a means of courting.

4. Over the next 30 years croquet became the sports craze of Victorian England. Uniform rules were established and national competitions commenced.

5. The first national headquarters was the Wimbledon All England Croquet Club (later to become the Wimbledon All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club); the first national championships were held there in Victorian times.

III. Conclusion

A. Restate Main Point – In an effort to promote healthy, physical entertainment, the Victorians, helped to set rules and etiquette in the various sporting competitions of the day. In doing so they created sports that are still very popular today such as rugby, football, tennis, and croquet.

Working Bibliography

While conducting my research, I kept a file of the material I had copied and pasted along with a copy of the URL or so I could always go back to the site. Below are those URLs.

As I was composing my outline, I could go back and refer to the data as it originally appeared on any of the websites that I had kept (such as above). Should I change my mind, and not use one of the websites, I would remove it from my list.

Works Cited

"History of Croquet."History of Croquet - Ealing Croquet Club.N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2015. <

Perry, Alex. "Victorian Sport: Playing by the Rules." BBC - History - British History in Depth: Victorian Sport: Playing by the Rules. BBC, n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2015. <

"Victorian Lawn Tennis."Victorian Indoor and Outdoor Pastimes and Sports.AVictorian.com, n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2015. <

"Victorian-Era.org."Victorian Games & Sports,Tennis, Cricket, Football, Croquet, Cycling. Victorian-Era.org, n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2015. <

When I created my final bibliography (see above), I entered the data in the Cite.com website. I always had to add something that was not posted in the Cite.com search. Be sure to always check!
When you have all of your citations completed, you should see a listing in the column to the right. If you decided to delete one, you must first choose the edit icon and then delete the citation.
When you have your list complete, click on the download button (top, left side). It will download it to your designated download folder as artf.file. You can open your file and print as it is formatted. DO NOT COPY AND PASTE FROM THE CITE.COM PAGE—YOU WILL LOSE YOUR FORMATTING!!!