Sports in South Carolina facts for kids
South Carolina is a state in the United States where many different sports are popular!
College football is the most popular sport here. Two huge stadiums, Memorial Stadium and Williams–Brice Stadium, are among the biggest in the world. Clemson University and the University of South Carolina are top colleges for sports. Their rivalry, called the Palmetto Bowl, is a super important football game each year!
South Carolina doesn't have any major professional sports teams like those in the NFL or MLB. But there are many smaller, minor league teams. Also, big teams like the Carolina Panthers (football) and Charlotte FC (soccer) are based in Charlotte, close to South Carolina. They often represent both North and South Carolina.
Myrtle Beach is known as the "Golf Capital of the World" because it has about ninety golf courses! The Grand Strand and Hilton Head areas also have many golf courses. South Carolina is also a great place for water sports. A survey from 2000 showed that South Carolina had the seventh most surfers in the country.
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Popular Sports Teams in South Carolina
Here are some of the sports teams in South Carolina that get a lot of fans at their home games:
| Team | Sport | Location | Stadium (Capacity) | Average Fans |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clemson Tigers football | College Football | Clemson | Memorial Stadium (81,500) | 80,400 |
| South Carolina Gamecocks football | College Football | Columbia | Williams-Brice Stadium (80,250) | 73,628 |
| South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball | College Basketball | Columbia | Colonial Life Arena (18,000) | 11,472 |
| Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football | College Football | Conway | Brooks Stadium (20,000) | 10,463 |
| South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball | College Basketball | Columbia | Colonial Life Arena (18,000) | 10,406 |
| The Citadel Bulldogs football | College Football | Charleston | Johnson Hagood Stadium (14,500) | 9,343 |
| South Carolina State Bulldogs football | College Football | Orangeburg | Oliver C. Dawson Stadium (22,000) | 9,174 |
College Sports Excitement
College sports are a really big deal in South Carolina, especially college football! The University of South Carolina's Gamecocks and Clemson University's Tigers often have over 80,000 fans at their home football games. This makes them some of the most-watched college teams.
Their rivalry is known as the Battle of the Palmetto State. Clemson's football team has won national championships in 1981, 2016, and 2018. Both South Carolina's and Clemson's baseball teams are also very strong. The Gamecocks won national titles in baseball in 2010 and 2011.
South Carolina's men's and women's basketball teams both reached the Final Four in 2017. The women's team won the national title that year! They won another national title in 2022.
Clemson and South Carolina are the two biggest of the state's 11 NCAA Division I schools. They are part of the "Power Five conferences," which are the most important leagues in college football.
Professional Sports Teams
South Carolina does not have any major professional sports teams like those in the NFL or NBA. However, the Carolina Panthers (NFL), Charlotte Hornets (NBA), Carolina Hurricanes (NHL), and Charlotte FC (MLS) are based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and represent both North and South Carolina. The Panthers even played their first season in Clemson and train at Wofford College in Spartanburg.
The highest level of professional soccer played by a team in South Carolina is the Charleston Battery. They play in the USL Championship, which is the second-highest soccer league in the U.S.
Minor League Teams
South Carolina has many minor league teams. These are professional teams that are not in the top leagues but still play exciting games.
In baseball, five teams play in the state. The Greenville Drive plays in the High-A South Atlantic League. The Augusta GreenJackets (in North Augusta), Charleston RiverDogs, Columbia Fireflies, and Myrtle Beach Pelicans play in the Low-A Carolina League.
Even though South Carolina doesn't get much natural ice, professional ice hockey has been popular since the 1990s. Two teams, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits and the South Carolina Stingrays, play in the ECHL league. The Stingrays play in North Charleston.
The Charleston Battery soccer team is the oldest continuously playing soccer club in the U.S., started in 1993. They play in Mount Pleasant. The Greenville Triumph SC also plays professional soccer in Greenville.
For basketball, there are three semi-pro teams: the South Carolina Warriors in Myrtle Beach, the Greenville Galaxy in Greenville, and the Palmetto State Rizers in Columbia.
NASCAR Racing Action
NASCAR racing is very popular in the Southern U.S., and South Carolina has a famous track called the Darlington Raceway. Darlington Raceway hosts a big NASCAR race every Labor Day weekend called the Southern 500. Different types of NASCAR cars race here, including the Cup Series cars.
Golfing Paradise
South Carolina is a very popular place for golf. The Grand Strand region has almost one hundred public golf courses, more than almost anywhere else! Some of these courses have hosted major professional golf events.
Hilton Head Island and Kiawah Island also have beautiful golf courses and host professional events every year. The RBC Heritage is a PGA Tour event played on Hilton Head Island each April.
The upstate part of South Carolina also has many nice golf courses. The Ocean Course at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort was even ranked as one of America's toughest golf courses!
Fun Water Sports
Water sports are super popular in South Carolina. With its long coastline, there are many beach activities like surfing, boogie boarding, and deep sea fishing. The Pee Dee region is great for fishing, and some of the biggest catfish ever caught were in the Santee Lakes!
The Upstate region offers amazing water activities on Lakes Hartwell, Jocassee, and Keowee. The Midlands region also has fun on Lakes Marion and Murray, and rivers like the Congaree and Saluda. You can go water skiing and swimming there.
Roller Sports Fun
After the movie Whip It came out, roller derby became popular again. South Carolina now has several roller derby leagues. As of 2014, there were four leagues in cities like Columbia, Charleston, and Greenville.
Other Cool Sports
While South Carolina doesn't have horse racing tracks with betting, there's a lot of horse training. Places like Aiken and Camden hold exciting steeplechase races.
Professional bass fishing tournaments are also held in South Carolina. Lakes Hartwell, Lake Wylie, and Lake Murray have all hosted Bassmaster Classic tournaments.
Spartanburg is also home to Upward Sports, a national sports program for kids.
