What Is A Sport?

  A 2003 study by the World’s Sports Encyclopedia found that there are over 8,000 sports or sports-related activities in the world. In the United States, a 2013 ESPN article found that roughly 21.5 million children between the ages of 6 and 17 play sports. Despite these remarkable statistics, how many of these children actually play “sports”? Most likely, those who participate in things such as golf, track, or other “questionable” sports have been told the same thing. A peer or classmate has approached them and said “Well, (insert activity) isn’t really a sport.” These children all had the same frustrated reaction (myself included), all eager to defend their sacred and beloved sport. After hearing a detailed defense, the perpetrator walks away, and the victim is dumbfounded at the ignorance of his or her questioner. However, how many of these children were right? Did he or she actually participate in sport? Personally, I believe a sport is defined as having two distinct parts: the goal to win and at the same time requires exercise.

  Now, say the defendant participated in things such as karate or golf. If this was the case, he or she would absolutely have the right to be upset. Both would qualify as sports, since they are competitive and require exercise. There is an aged-old argument about golf not being considered a sport. People neglect to acknowledge that golfers walk for over 5 hours (without the luxury of a cart in the PGA), and swing a club roughly 81 times in a typical round of golf. However, say the child simply ran or lifted weights independently. Here, the questioner would be correct on the matter of if he or she competes in a sport. While these two are a great source of exercise, they are not competitive in any way. Despite this, these activities could be modified into sports by means of a race or a weight lifting completion. If this were to happen, then the athlete would be competing against someone.

  Another argument that exists in the eligible sports world revolves around the Olympics. Some offer that sports like curling and Ping-Pong are only considered sports because they are Olympic events. This argument is not true. Even though it may not seem like much of an exercise, both events require the competitor to be in good shape. Ping-Pong makes players make rapid movements in a short amount of time, not to mention they must have incredible hand-eye coordination. Curling also requires well-trained and conditioned arms. Also, the Hurler must also have great hand-eye coordination, similar to Ping-Pong. In order to be in the Olympics, all athletes must be in great shape, not to mention each event has 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place medals, making them competitive.

  Many people also argue that a sport is not a sport if a ball is not involved. Again, this argument is invalid. Numerous sports do not require a ball. Some of which include track and field events and marathons. No races require a ball (some relays use a baton), but no one would deny that all runners have great stamina and are in peak-condition. Of course, every race requires at least one person to run against. This also qualifies marathons as a sporting event. Also, track events such as the high jump and javelin are sports. Neither requires a ball, and both call for an intense exercise and muscle strength. Not to mention both are competitive. Therefore, a ball does not determine whether something is a sport or not.

  In the final analysis, if something requires exercise and is competitive, then it is most certainly a sport. In terms of the younger child who participates in a “questionable sport”, nine times out of ten he or she will be correct when defending the sport. The questioner is most likely uniformed or has a mindset that his sport is superior. He assumes that since he plays with a ball, he plays a sport. As for the 8,000 “sports” about 25% of them are actually considered sports. Activities such as video games and chess are merely activities, since they need no exercise. Whether your hobby falls into the category of a sport or activity, both require mental or athletic ability, and most of the time both skills. However, only an activity that involves exercise and has a competitive nature can be called a sport.