Admirers of the Spartans typically praise their valor and success in war. The Battle of Thermopylae, mythologized as 300 Spartans blocking the pass of Thermopylae for three days against a force of 1 Million Persians, represents bravery against all odds. Laconophilia is love or admiration of Sparta and of the Spartan culture or constitution. The selection of Spartans as the name of a sports team is an example of this continued admiration in popular culture.
Non-scholastic teams
Blyth Spartans A.F.C. (Northern Premier League), Blyth, Northumberland, England
Hamrun Spartans F.C. (Maltese Premier League), Ħamrun, Malta
La Crosse Spartans (Indoor Football League), La Crosse, Wisconsin
Manchester Village Spartans RUFC (North West Intermediate Rugby Union League), Manchester, England Salem Spartans – ( One of the eight franchise based on Salem city in Tamil Nadu Premier League, India) Southern Oregon Spartans (Western States Hockey League), Medford, Oregon Spartan Cricket Club, Barbados Leeming Spartan Cricket Club, Leeming, Western Australia Spartans F.C. (Lowland Football League), Edinburgh, Scotland AC Sparta Prague (Czech First League), Prague, Czechia Sparta Rotterdam (Eredivisie), Rotterdam, the Netherlands