The major sports in Venezuela are baseball, and football. Baseball in Venezuela originates with the early twentieth century cultural influence of United States oil companies. The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League was established in 1945. Football in Venezuela lags behind baseball, but its popularity in recent years has grown. Basketball and rugby union are also popular sports; there has been a national basketball league since 1974. The Vuelta a Venezuela is one of six cycling events in the UCI America Tour. The polo club Lechuza Caracas has had some success in North American polo competitions.
In international competitions, Venezuela has participated in the Olympics since 1948, and the Winter Olympic Games since 1998. It won its first Olympic medal in 1952 when Arnoldo Devonish won bronze in the Men's Triple Jump, and its first Olympic gold in 1968 (Francisco Rodríguez, light flyweight boxing). Venezuela first competed in the Paralympics in 1984, and won its first Paralympic gold in 2008 (Naomi Soazo, judo).
Venezuela participates in the Pan American Games and the Central American and Caribbean Games, with Caracas hosting these games in 1983 and in 1959 respectively. Venezuela has had a Davis Cup team since 1957.
Though golf is a minor sport under pressure in Venezuela, the emergence of Jhonattan (Johnny) Vegas on the PGA Tour in 2011 and his strong showing as a rookie there has raised its profile.
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Baseball is the most popular sport in Venezuela.
The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League was established in 1945, with Leones del Caracas the leading team; another leading club is Valencia's Navegantes del Magallanes, established in 1917. There is a Venezuelan Summer League (established in 1997) and winter league (Liga Paralela). Venezuelan teams have won the Caribbean Series a number of times.
The Venezuela national baseball team won the Baseball World Cup several times in the 1940s, and the Baseball tournament at the Pan American Games in 1959.
Venezuelan players in US-Canadian Major League Baseball number over 200 since 1939. The Luis Aparicio Award was established in 2004, in honor of Luis Aparicio, the only Venezuelan ballplayer to have been introducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. The award is given annually to honor the Venezuelan player who recorded the best individual performance in Major League Baseball, as voted on by Sports journalists in Venezuela.
Football is a widely practiced and popular sport in Venezuela, although the sport has lagged behind baseball in terms of popularity.
The Federación Venezolana de Fútbol was established in 1926 following the creation of the Liga Venezolana in 1921. Professionalism was not established until 1957 with the Copa de Venezuela arriving two years later. Caracas Fútbol Club is the country's most successful club side. A second division was added in 1979, with a third added in 1999, and a 4th in 2006.
The Venezuela national football team played their first game in 1938. Following Ecuador's qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Venezuela are now the only CONMEBOL member to have never appeared at a FIFA World Cup. However the team are no longer seen as pushovers and are now recognised as stern opposition. Their growing status was further demonstrated by their hosting of the Copa América 2011 during which they reached the Quarterfinals.
An under-20 team, an under-17 team, and a women's team also compete.
The Liga Professional de Baloncesto is a main Venezuelan Basketball League, which features 14 teams.
The Venezuela Basketball Association controls the men's and women's basketball teams.
Rugby union is a popular team sport in Venezuela. Rugby union is considered the fourth most popular sport in Venezuela, after baseball, football, and basketball.
Jhonattan Vegas is Venezuela's most famous golfer, he was born in Maturin, Venezuela. He played college golf at the University of Texas.
Vegas turned professional in 2008 and started playing the Nationwide tour in 2009.
Vegas represented Venezuela in the 2009 Omega Mission Hills World Cup with Alfredo Adrian. They finished tied for twelfth place. Vegas won his first Nationwide Tour event in 2010 at the Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open. He finished the season seventh on the money list and earned his 2011 PGA Tour card, the first Venezuelan to do so.
In 2011, Vegas, competing as Johnny Vegas, won the Bob Hope Classic in La Quinta, California, and a week later finished tied for third in the Farmers Insurance Open at the Torrey Pines Golf Course, a municipal public golf course in San Diego.[1]
The sport has come under criticism from, and courses have been closed by, President Hugo Chavez. "Several years ago, Chávez closed three courses in the Vegas family’s home state, Monagas. All were essentially clubs for workers in the nation’s wealthy oil industry. Vegas’s father, Carlos, who at one time worked as a caddie and later became a food concessionaire to two of the clubs, decided his son would have to leave Venezuela if he were to pursue golf seriously. ... [Chávez] has called it a 'bourgeois sport' played primarily by lazy, rich people in carts. He has closed six of the country’s courses and said the government should appropriate private urban land for public housing. 'Do you mean to tell me this is a people’s sport?' he said in 2009. 'It is not.' ... After Vegas won the Hope Classic, Chávez, who has not, it is believed, put buildings on any of the courses, proclaimed that he was not 'an enemy of golf, or any other sport.' He said he would call to congratulate Vegas. 'He beat all of the gringos,' he said. ... Vegas talked about having spoken with Chávez, and what he [Vegas] hopes will come about as a result of the chat: perhaps a friendlier attitude toward the sport."[1]
The Caracas Country Club, associated with the United States and the oil industry and designed in the 1920s by the Olmsted Brothers, along with another club in the capital city, were under pressure to close in late 2010. Heavy rains had accentuated a severe housing shortage, and the president saw both political and land-use reasons for change.[2]
Swimming is a growing sport in Venezuela, but there are lots of Venezuelan swimmers who compete internationally.
El Juego del Garrote (The Garrote Game) or Garrote Larense, is a Venezuelan martial art that involves machete, garrote, and knife fencing.
A traditional Venezuelan sport is coleo. Very similar to a rodeo, it involves a small group of llaneros (cowboys) on horseback pursuing cattle at high speeds through a narrow pathway (called a manga de coleo) in order to drop or tumble them. Coleos are usually presented as a side attraction to a larger event, such as a religious festival. They are very popular in Venezuela in the plains region (llanos).
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