8/12/2019 What Counts as a Sport2

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What Counts as a Sport?

By Christine KimStaff Writer

What qualifies as a sport? There are some obvious examples of sports, such as football and basketball, but hat about activities like !olf

and dance? The "lympic #ames accepts sports on the definition that a sport is an activity that demonstrates physical athleticism ordexterity, but not everyone a!rees$ Some people assert that, in order for somethin! to be counted as a le!itimate sport, there needs to becompetition that does not necessarily need a %ud!e or a referee$ This interpretation ould imply that activities such as sim, !olf, andtrack do not technically qualify for the title of sport, but rather should be counted as somethin! different$ The &"'S cross country team

captain (r$ "ravets specifies in his three criteria for a sport) *+f youre not tired at the end, its not a sport$ +f you-re not reasonably fit tocompete at the hi!hest level, its not a sport$ +f someone has to tell you youve on, and there-s not a definitive inner, its not a sport,$.

(r$ "ravets uses this criteria to ar!ue that baseball isnt a sport, so hat he holds as standards as to hat constitutes a sport mi!ht not rubthe ri!ht ay ith everyone$

"ther people, for instance, assistant coach of the &"'S !olf team, (r$ Walker, only claim that, *a sport is anythin! that requires physicalability and skill that you have to demonstrate throu!h a set of activities$.$ 'e !oes on to say that people ho dont consider !olf a sport

i!nore the amount of effort and practice competitive !olf requires$ /eople ho share a similar vie on his definition of a sport emphasi0ethe need for ability, dedication, and talent rather than the element of competition ithout a %ud!e$ 1udy 2amora, a &"'S senior ho usedto play defensive end on the %unior varsity football team, says that more hotly3debated sports such as !olf and dance, *take a lot of hardork, a lot of time and practice to learn and excel at$ They are very competitive$.

"ne !ood example ould be marchin! band$ Should marchin! band be considered a sport? +t involves ri!orous physical activity in theform of marchin! steps hile playin! music on an instrument$ +t requires skill, dexterity, and talent$ +t has le!itimate competitionsthrou!hout the country$ 'oever, it also requires %ud!es to decide on a inner in these competitions$4lthou!h these viepoints seem polari0ed, theyre simply a fe points on a ide spectrum of opinion re!ardin! the matter on sports$

5ifferences in viepoints can clash %ust as badly as friction beteen opposin! sports teams$ With such sub%ectivity surroundin! the topic,in the end, the anser is up to each individual to educate themselves and make that decision$