Sports in Sacramento, California facts for kids
The City of Sacramento and the Sacramento metropolitan area are home to one major league professional team — the Sacramento Kings of the NBA — and numerous minor league and amateur sports teams. Sacramento also has recreational facilities.
College and high school sports
The Sacramento area is home to two NCAA Division 1 sports programs — Sacramento State, which fields 21 varsity sports, most in the Big Sky Conference; and UC Davis, which fields 23 varsity teams, most in the Big West Conference.
Sacramento has frequently hosted the NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship as well as the 1st and 2nd rounds of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship.
Sacramento is a hotbed for high school rugby. Jesuit High has won national championships, winning six times in total. Their arch-rival school Christian Brothers has come in second nationwide. Granite Bay, Burbank, Del Campo, Sierra Foothills, and Vacaville have also placed well in the national competition over the years. The Sacramento Valley High School Rugby Conference hosts the largest and arguably deepest preseason youth and high school rugby tournament in America.
College and high school sports
The Sacramento area is home to two NCAA Division 1 sports programs — Sacramento State, which fields 21 varsity sports, most in the Big Sky Conference; and UC Davis, which fields 23 varsity teams, most in the Big West Conference.
Sacramento has frequently hosted the NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship as well as the 1st and 2nd rounds of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship.
Sacramento is a hotbed for high school rugby. Jesuit High has won national championships, winning six times in total. Their arch-rival school Christian Brothers has come in second nationwide. Granite Bay, Burbank, Del Campo, Sierra Foothills, and Vacaville have also placed well in the national competition over the years. The Sacramento Valley High School Rugby Conference hosts the largest and arguably deepest preseason youth and high school rugby tournament in America.
Recreation
Sacramento hosts some recreational facilities and events. The Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail that runs between Old Sacramento and Folsom Lake grants access to the American River Parkway, a natural area that includes more than 5,000 acres (20 km2) of undeveloped land. It attracts cyclists and equestrians from across the state. The California State Fair is held in Sacramento each year at the end of the summer, ending on Labor Day. In 2010, the State Fair moved to July. More than one million people attended this fair in 2001.
Among other recreational options in Sacramento is Discovery Park, a 275-acre (1.1 km2) park studded with stands of mature trees and grasslands. This park is situated where the American River flows into the Sacramento River.
In amateur sports, Sacramento claims many prominent Olympians such as Mark Spitz, Debbie Meyer, Mike Burton, Summer Sanders, Jeff Float (all swimming), and Billy Mills (track). Coach Sherm Chavoor founded his world famous Arden Hills Swim Club just east of the city and trained Burton, Myer, Spitz and others.
