Sports

Since the definition of sports is a bit more illusive than some may think, perhaps now is the time to try and define what makes a sport a sport. Is it competition? Is it physical activity?

Here's one definition: Sports consists of physical and mentally competitive activity carried out with a recreational purpose for competition, for self-enjoyment, to attain excellence, for the development of a skill, or some combination of these. And here's another definition: A sport has physical activity, side by side competition, self-motivation and a scoring system. The difference of purpose is what characterises sports, combined with the notion of individual (or team) skill or prowess.

While we can all probably agree that football is a sport, is dwarf throwing a sport? In parts of Europe it is, although thankfully it has been banned in France. Then, if we can agree that tennis is a sport, what about board games or Fantasy Sports? Do you see how murky this can get? So assuming that it's not completely clear as yet, let's see if it gets clearer if, rather than trying to find an all encompassing definition, we find the various categories that an activity would have to fit into to meet the sports definition.

Lets begin with an 'Opponent Classification' of sports that I think we can all agree with such as:

Combat (wrestling, Judo, karate, boxing, fencing, tae kwon do...)
Court (tennis, shuttlecock sport, badminton, volleyball, squash, table tennis...)
Team (baseball, american football, basketball, hockey, football soccer, lacrosse, cricket, netball, rugby, croquet, cheerleading ...)

Now let's try 'Achievement Sports':

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...)

Then we have those sports that fall into multiple categories such as:
Bowling, Curling, Darts, Fishing, Golf, Stock car racing, and those sports classified as 'Extreme Sports' such as Caving, BASE jumping, Parkour, Rock Climbing etc....

Now all that's left is trying to decide if things like dancing, board games, and fictious sports, are sports or just activities. However, do we really need to bother doing that as long as we've reached agreement on the rest of what has been presented here.