>>150776006
- in baseball, everyone on the field team faces downfield, except one player behind the plate that's facing backwards towards the upfield
- in soccer, players sometimes face backwards when defending the goal on a penalty kick (to see where the missed ball goes and to protect their face+groin)
- in basketball, the active player wards the ball from other players using their back
- when swimming races in pools, swimmers race forewards down the lane, then reverse to swim backwards up their lane
- in 2 vs 2 volleyball, all players face towards the net, but in 4 vs 4 volleyball some will face backwards away from the net
I'm sure the author would say "well, yes, but that's not what I meant when I said backwards."