×

Sport and Society

sport

Sport and Society

Any definition of sport can be controversial. In practical terms however, sport is defined by its broad social definition and its strong emotional association with physical performance and exertion measures. Sport can only be defined as a set of practices in which the outcome of the game is judged primarily through the completion of a set of specific and specified activities. This definition excludes games such as rugby from the definition of sport because of its loose and non-numeric definition.

A sport can only be defined as a discipline or physical activity that involves competitive skill and exertion. Exertion must involve physical work such as running, jumping, throwing, striking, tackling, and lifting. However, sport is most often defined by skill, which involves the application of skill or tactics to problem solving situations using physical tools.

In sport and other extracurricular activities, skill can be defined in the context of measurable and controlled physical processes such as athletics, swimming, basketball, hockey, soccer, softball, tennis, golf, baseball, soccer, surfing, sailing or any other sport where skill and the application of skill are the focus of participants’ effort. There are sports that define skill as a distinct and separable component from the action of the sport itself, such as badminton, tennis, or sprinting. Conversely, skill can be considered a constituent part of the competitive process in games such as bowling, squash, and badminton. In this case, the activity would be considered sport and the processes of game play would be considered the practice of sport.