Sport in Croatia to some extent table tennis and chess. Various amateur sport games are popular in Croatia, notably picigin. Franjo Bučar (1866–1946) is widely considered to be the father of modern Croatian sport. He founded the Croatian Sports Federation in 1909 within what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Bučar introduced a multitude of mainstream sports in Croatia, such as football, alpine skiing, ice skating and ice hockey, as well as gymnastics and fencing. The Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport, the Republic of Croatia's highest award in the development of sport, is named in his honor. With the exception of the years
Sport in Belize Sport in Belize Sports have always played a major part of Belizean culture. While Belize has never been an international sporting power, the nation's athletes have taken their discipline seriously. Sports in the country is plagued by a lack of finance and sporting facilities, and little emphasis on sports as an integral part of national culture and pride. Nevertheless, sports continue to unify Belizeans on and off the field. Belize's National Sports Council oversees sports Belize, while the Olympic Committee oversees the country's Olympic Games delegations. Athletes from Belize first participated in the Olympic Games in 1968 while representing British