What is Sport

I had a brief conversation with a young woman yesterday regarding the nature of sport. We were standing around watching several members of our church's youth group playing basketball and she mentioned that she disliked basketball, well I think hate was the term she used. I asked her what sports she did like. Her response, after going through the big 4 (basketball, football, hockey, and baseball), was that she liked gymnastics.

I have decided that a better definition of sport needs to be put forth. It is my contention that sports are a subset of the activites known as athletic competitions. In my mind, to be a sport the activity requires direct competition. One on one or team vs team, direct competition is really about beating the other side, not besting a time or a score. I also contend that physical and mental conditioning are a requirement for a sport.

In this category I'd include Baseball, Basketball, Soccer, Football, Swimming (not diving), Tennis, Racing (both automotive and foot). I have to disqualify gymnastics, downhill skiing, golf, figure skating, the field portion of track-and-field, and diving. I'm not trying to disparage these athletic competitions nor the athletes I'm just trying to get a real difinition of sport.