Nicaragua Sports – The Most Popular Sports in Nicaragua
Wondering what sports the Nicaraguans like to play?
Discover everything about the most popular sports in Nicaragua in this post. ⚾️
The Most Popular Nicaraguan Sports
Find below Nicaragua national sports, ranked by popularity:
| Rank | Sport |
|---|---|
| 1 | Baseball |
| 2 | Football |
| 3 | Boxing |
| 4 | Volleyball |
| 5 | Basketball |
So there you have them, the top 5 Nicaragua favorite sports! Keep reading below for more information about each sport in Nicaragua.
What is the National Sport of Nicaragua?
The national sport of Nicaragua is baseball. Believe it or not, Nicaraguans really love baseball, and there is a national league. The sport has been around since the 1880s and is still to this day the most popular game in the country.
Learn More About Nicaragua Popular Sports
Nicaragua is the largest of the small countries that make up the Central American isthmus (the narrow piece of land that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean). It is bordered by Honduras and Costa Rica, and its capital city is Managua, which counts more than 1,055,000 inhabitants (but more than 1,401,000 if you include the metropolitan area).
An interesting part of the country that I wanted to tackle is its most popular sports. In light of that, I have listed the top 5 Nicaragua popular sports, and I hope you will love them:
Baseball
The most popular sport in Nicaragua is, by far and away, baseball. As I told you, Nicaraguans are absolute fans of baseball. Sadly, they have to use anything they can if they don’t have the required equipment. Considering how poor the country is, it happens quite often.
The national league is called the Nicaraguan Professional Baseball League, and it is made of 4 teams that compete during winter. There is also an amateur league, El Campeonato German Pomares, which plays in both spring and summer.
Famous Nicaraguan Baseball players: David Green, Cheslor Cuthbert, Wilton Lopez, Dennis Martinez, Vicente Padilla, Jonathan Loaisiga, Dennis Martinez, Vicente Padilla, Devern Hansack
Football
The second most popular sport in Nicaragua is football. While football is on the rise in Nicaragua, like in many other countries, it is still quite far from baseball in terms of popularity.
There is a national league, the Primera División, which is made of 10 clubs, and 2 lower leagues, the second division (Segunda División) and the third division (Tercera División de Nicaragua).
The national football team is overseen by the Nicaraguan Football Federation and qualified for a major international tournament for the first time in 2009.
Famous Nicaraguan Football players: Josue Quijano, Juan Barrera, Denis Espinoza, Marlon Medina, Donald Parrales, Elvis Pinel, Samuel Wilson, Erick Téllez, David Solórzano, Carlos Chavarría
Boxing
The third most popular sport in Nicaragua is boxing. The reason why boxing is so popular in Nicaragua is that it gives the unprivileged a way of proving themselves and getting known.
Historically, it has always created opportunities for the Nicaraguan youth to emerge out of the poor communities they are usually born in. Not only does it give these kids something to spend time on, but it is also a great way to better their self-esteem and discipline skills.
Famous Nicaraguan Boxing players: Alexis Argüello, Román González, Ricardo Mayorga, Rosendo Alvarez, David Obregón, José Alfaro, Julio Gamboa, Félix Alvarado, Cristofer Rosales
Volleyball
The fourth most popular sport in Nicaragua is volleyball. Volleyball is most popular on an amateur scale in Nicaragua, and many secondary school students enjoy playing the game. The sport is on the rise in the country, mainly because of the small space it requires.
There are also national volleyball teams, and the women’s is the most successful one, having placed 7th in the Central American and Caribbean Games of 2010.
The most notable player is Heissell Carcache, who is a beach volleyball player.
Famous Nicaraguan Volleyball players: Heissell Carcache, Rafael Martinez, Ivan Mejia, Francisco Villagra, Zadkiel Lazo, Roman Marin, Larry Muñoz, Freddy Vanegas, Engell Bucardo, Reynaldo Davila, Marvin Bejarano
Basketball
The fifth and last most popular sport in Nicaragua is basketball. Similar to volleyball, basketball is widely appreciated by the local youth.
There is also a national basketball team, but it has yet to appear in either the FIBA World Cup or the FIBA AmeriCup. The governing body of basketball in Nicaragua is the Federación Nicaraguense de Baloncesto (or FENIBALON).
The greatest achievement of the country in basketball is definitely the silver medal at the 2017 Central American Games. They only lost to Panama.
Famous Nicaraguan Basketball players: Serbio Abea, Yassier Cruz Medina, Jensen Campbell, Francisco Garth, Ramon McKenzie, Norchad Omier, Andy Perez, Esmilder Rojas, Jared Ruiz
So there you have them, these were all the most popular sports in Nicaragua. I hope you enjoyed them and that you learned something new today.
In case you want to learn more about sports in other countries, feel free to keep reading, as I still have lots of things to tell you about:
More Sport Facts!
Loved these Nicaragua sports facts? Want to see what sports are the most popular in other countries?
Then check out these posts:
Or click here to see ALL the facts up on the blog! Spoiler alert: there’s A LOT of them.
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