Sport

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Children playing soccer.

The purpose of sport is to produce joy in the heart of the participant. This joy is experienced when the mind and body of the participant unite together to accomplish one of the goals, techniques, or skills associated with that particular sport. Examples would include crossing the finish line in a race, sinking a putt in golf, catching a fish, or making a goal in soccer (football)

A sport is a physical and mental endeavor where the participant engages in a recreational activity for competition, self-enjoyment, to attain excellence, for the development of skill or strength, or some combination of these. Competition, the challenge of nature and a scoring system are some of the components that make sport interesting for the participant. Each sport has a unique goal which defines its characteristics. Sports often include some element of competition. This competition may be team vs. team, individual vs. individual, or individual vs. nature.

History of sport

Main article: History of sport

Sports have developed in many different cultures through out the world. The history of sport can be connected to the development of military training, entertainment, and art.

There are artifacts which suggest Chinese people engaged in activities which meet our definition of sport as early as 4000 B.C.E. Gymnastics appears to have been a popular sport in China's past. Monuments to the Pharaohs indicate that a range of sports were well-developed and regulated several thousands of years ago, including swimming, fishing, javelin throwing, high jump, and wrestling. Ancient Persian sports, such as the traditional Iranian martial art of Zourkhaneh had a close connection to warfare skills. Other sports originating in Persia are polo and jousting.

A wide range of sports were established in Ancient Greece. Wrestling, running, boxing, javelin, discus throwing, and chariot racing were prevalent at that time. The skills learned in these sports were also valuable for military training. This suggests that the military culture of Greece and the development of its sports were mutually inter-connected. Ancient Greece began the tradition of the Olympic Games, held every four years in at a small village in Peloponnesus, called Olympia.

Sport has become increasingly organized and regulated from the time of the Ancient Olympics. Sports such as hunting and fishing began as activities to procure food and survival during the period of hunting and gathering, then later became regulated activities done for pleasure or competition. The Industrial Revolution and development of mass production brought increased leisure time; allowing an increase in spectator sports, less elitism in sports, and greater accessibility for all people. These trends accelerated with the advent of mass media and global communication. Professionalism in sports helped increase their popularity. Additionally, the general public increasingly found the need to have fun, take a break from the hectic workday, and relieve unwanted stress through participating in sports.

A classification of sports

The following classification of sports is based more on the sport's aim, rather than the actual mechanics. These examples are illustrative, rather than comprehensive.

Opponent

Achievement

  • Target (archery, shooting, dart...)
  • Display (gymnastics, bodybuilding, equestrianism, diving...)
  • Strength (weight-lifting, triple jump, shot put...)
  • Endurance (running, cycling, swimming, triathlon, orienteering, cross-country skiing...)

Sports that fall into multiple categories

Sportsmanship

Sportsmanship may be defined as the "conduct and attitude considered as befitting participants, including a sense of fair play, courtesy toward teammates and opponents, a striving spirit, and grace in losing."

Sportsmanship expresses an aspiration or ethos that the activity is to be enjoyed for its own sake. Typical expressions of the philosophy of sportsmanship include the well-known statement by sports journalist Grantland Rice that it's “not that you won or lost but how you played the game." Likewise, the Modern Olympic creed of its founder, Pierre de Coubertin, states that "The most important thing . . . is not winning but taking part.”

Still, the pressures of competition or an obsession with individual achievement — as well as the intrusion of technology — all often work against enjoyment and fair play by participants.

Sportsmanship, within any given game, is how each competitor acts before, during, and after the competition. Not only is it important to have good sportsmanship if one wins, but also if one loses. For example, in football it is considered sportsmanlike to kick the ball out of play to allow treatment for an injured player on the other side. Reciprocally, the other team is expected to return the ball from the throw-in.

People responsible for sporting activities often seek recognition and respectability by joining sports federations such as the IOC, or by forming their own regulatory body. In this way sports evolve from leisure activity to more formal sports. Some of these activities have been popular but uncodified pursuits in various forms for various lengths of time. Indeed, the formal regulation of sport is a relatively modern development, which is increasing over time.

Violence in sports, the opposite of sportsmanship involves crossing the line between fair competition and intentional aggressive behavior. Athletes, coaches, fans, and parents sometimes unleash violent behavior on people or property, in misguided shows of loyalty, dominance, anger, or celebration.

Professionalism and the regulation of sport

The entertainment aspect of sport, the spread of mass media, and increased leisure time have contributed to professionalism in sport. This sometimes conflicts the original meaning of sport, as the paycheck may seem to be more important than recreational aspects, or the sport is changed simply to make it more profitable and popular, losing some of its valued traditions.

The entertainment aspect also means that sportsmen and women are often elevated to celebrity status.

The successful execution of a sport requires the consensus agreement of the participants on a set of rules for fair competition. This has led to the control of each sport through a regulatory body to define what methods of competition are acceptable and what are considered cheating.

Sport and politics

Politics have at times created dilemmas for sport and sporting events.

When apartheid was the official policy in South Africa, many sportspeople adopted the conscientious approach that they should not appear in competitive sports there. Some feel this was an effective contribution to the eventual demolition of the policy of apartheid, others feel that it may have prolonged and reinforced its worst effects.

The 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin was an illustration, perhaps best recognized in retrospect, in which a sporting event was used to promote an ideology through the use of propaganda, both during the games and in Leni Riefenstahl's subsequent film of the event, Olympia, commissioned by Adolf Hitler.

In the history of Ireland, Gaelic sports were connected with cultural nationalism. Until the mid twentieth century a person could have been banned from playing Gaelic football, hurling, or other sports administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association if they played or supported football, or other games of British origin, but the advent of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 led to the eventual removal of the ban.

Nationalism is often evident in the pursuit of sport, or in its reporting. Competition in global events such as the Olympics or World Cup tends to become highly nationalistic, both in the competitors and the media that reports the events. These trends are seen by some as contrary to the fundamental ethos of sport.

Art and sport

Sport has many affinities with art. Ice skating and Tai chi, for example, are sports that contain artistic elements. These activities have much in common with ballet. Similarly, other activities have elements of sport and art in their execution, such as performance art, artistic gymnastics, bodybuilding, fly tying, Yoga, and dressage, among others. Perhaps the best example is bull-fighting, which in Spain is reported in the arts pages of newspapers.

The very concept of sport includes performance. The athlete displays great skill, based on special ability, striving for the best performance possible. This performance has an aesthetic value for participant and viewer alike, expressing traits like grace, poise, and charisma.


Art and sport were probably more clearly linked at the time of Ancient Greece, when gymnastics and calisthenics invoked admiration and aesthetic appreciation for the physical build, prowess and 'arete' displayed by participants. The modern term 'art' as skill, is related to this ancient Greek term 'arete'. The closeness of art and sport in these times was revealed in the nature of the Olympic Games which were celebrations of both sporting and artistic achievements, poetry, sculpture and architecture.


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