Short answers, pulled from the story.
Hoop rolling, also called hoop trundling, is a sport and child's game in which a large hoop is rolled along the ground using a stick or metal hook. The aim is to keep the hoop upright for as long as possible, or to perform tricks and navigate obstacle courses with it.
Hoop rolling has been documented since antiquity in Africa, Asia, and Europe. In China the game may date back to 1000 BC or further, and in the Americas the spear-throwing version is believed to predate the introduction of the bow and arrow around 500 AD.
Ancient Greeks called the hoop the "trochus" and the driving stick the "elater". Romans kept the same word "trochus" and sometimes referred to it as the "Greek hoop"; their driving stick was called a "clavis" or "radius" and was shaped like a key.
Throughout the 1840s, London newspapers ran repeated complaints under the heading "The Hoop Nuisance", blaming iron hoops for injuring pedestrians' shins. London police confiscated the hoops of boys and girls found trundling them through streets and parks, though the campaign appears to have failed.
The World Gird 'N Cleek championship is an annual hoop rolling competition held in New Galloway, Scotland. "Gird" is the Scottish word for the hoop and "cleek" for the stick; past winners include Alexander McKenna, who won in both 2009 and 2018.
Bryn Mawr College, Wellesley College, and Wheaton College each hold an annual Hoop Rolling Contest as part of their May Day celebration. The tradition dates back to 1895 and is open only to graduating seniors.