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Watching and playing sports is an important part of culture in Belfast, Northern Ireland where almost six out of ten (59%) of the adult population regularly participate in one or more sports. Belfast has several notable sports teams playing a diverse variety of sports including football, rugby, traditional Irish Gaelic games, and North American sports such as American football and ice hockey. The Belfast Marathon is run annually on May Day, and attracted 14,300 participants in 2007.
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Football
The Northern Ireland national football team, currently ranked 88th in the FIFA World Rankings and 1st in the FIFA rankings per capita, play their home matches in Windsor Park. Belfast was the hometown of the renowned Northern Irish footballer, George Best who died in November 2005. On the day he was buried in the city, 100,000 people lined the route from his home on the Cregagh Road to Roselawn cemetery. Since his death the City Airport has been named after him and a trust has been set up to fund a memorial to him in the city centre.
The 2012–13 Irish League football champions Cliftonville are based in Belfast, as are fellow Premiership teams Glentoran, Linfield and Crusaders. Intermediate-level clubs are: Donegal Celtic, Dundela, Harland & Wolff Welders, PSNI, Queen's University and Sport & Leisure Swifts, who compete in the NIFL Championship; Albert Foundry F.C., Bloomfield F.C., Crumlin Star F.C., East Belfast F.C., Grove United F.C., Immaculata F.C., Malachians F.C., Orangefield Old Boys' Association F.C., Rosario Youth Club F.C., St Patrick's Young Men F.C., Shankill United F.C., Short Brothers F.C. and Sirocco Works F.C. of the Northern Amateur Football League and Brantwood and Ballysillan Swifts of the Ballymena & Provincial League.
Gaelic football and hurling
Gaelic football is the most popular spectator sport in the island of Ireland. Casement Park, in West Belfast has a capacity of 32,000 which makes it the second largest Gaelic Athletic Association ground in Ulster. It was named after Sir Roger Casement, one of the revolutionaries of the 1916 Easter Rising.
Queen's University and the University of Ulster, Jordanstown compete in the Sigerson Cup. This is the top division championship of university Gaelic football in Ireland. They also compete in the Fitzgibbon Cup, which is the Hurling university championship equivalent.
Rugby Union
1999 Heineken Cup champions Ulster Rugby play at the Kingspan Stadium in South Belfast. The All-Ireland League is the national league for the 48 senior rugby union clubs in Ireland. There are four Belfast clubs in the league: Belfast Harlequins (Division 1B); and Instonians, Malone and Queen's University (Division 2A). The Ulster Senior League and the Ulster Senior Cup are also competitions entered by senior rugby clubs in Ulster.
Cricket
Belfast boasts Ireland's premier cricket venue at Stormont, Belfast. The Ireland cricket team plays many of its home games at this venue, which, in 2006, also hosted the first ever one-day international (ODI) between Ireland and England. In 2007, Ireland, India and South Africa played a triangular series of one-day internationals at Stormont, and in 2008 the qualifying tournament for the ICC World Twenty20 was held there.
At club level, Belfast has seven senior teams: CIYMS, Instonians and Civil Service North of Ireland are in the Premier League of the NCU Senior League; Woodvale are in Section 1; Cooke Collegians are in Section 2; and Cregagh and PSNI are in Section 3.
Hockey
Hockey is a major participatory sport in Belfast, for both men and women. The top men's teams are Annadale (which now plays its home matches outside the city, at Carryduff), Instonians, who are currently in the Premier Division of the Ulster league. The main women's teams are Pegasus, Belfast Harlequins, Victorians and Knock.
Ice hockey
Belfast is represented in the Elite Ice Hockey League by Ireland's first professional ice hockey team, the Belfast Giants. The game was brought to Belfast by Canadian businessman Bob Zeller in 2000. The team won the British Ice Hockey Superleague Championship in 2002 and were crowned the Elite League Champion in 2006. Ex-NHL star Theo Fleury played for the team and was named the most valuable player in the league during his time there. Home matches are played at the Odyssey Arena and watched by up to 7000 fans.
Roller derby
Belfast Roller Derby was founded in 2010, and was the first roller derby league in Northern Ireland.
Softball In Ulster
Softball was established in Belfast (and consequently in the Ulster region) in 2007 through the Belfast Softball Club. In 2008 Softball Ulster was formed and recognised by Softball Ireland (the national governing body) as the governing body for the sport of softball in Ulster. Softball Ulster was created to develop and expand the sport of softball in Ulster, provide the support and structure for clubs and teams in the counties of Ulster, and to represent its membership in dealings with Softball Ireland. In the Ulster region, slow pitch softball is currently played with co-ed (mixed men and women) teams.
Softball in Belfast (and Ulster) is an inclusive sport. Softball Ulster prides itself on promoting this inclusivity; its membership including individuals of all backgrounds, religions, ages, genders and sexualities. Extreme fitness is not a requirement to play softball either, making it an excellent sport for those individuals who enjoy gentle exercise and lots of fun. Softball Ulster also promotes a social dimension to the sport with frequent tournaments and annual social functions designed to bring the teams and membership together.
As of 2016 Softball Ulster has expanded to include five teams based in Belfast and two teams based in Bangor.
There have also been a number of other softball teams in Belfast since the creation of Softball Ulster.