The Impact Of Sport On Society
Sports (or sports) is any forms of generally competitive physical activity that, through organised or casual competition, attempt to employ, enhance or improve sporting ability and skills, usually for the purpose of giving participants, spectators and/or participants, enjoyment and sometimes, competitive advantage. This can take the form of physical competition such as athletic, motorball/volleyball, cricket/football, hockey, rugby or motorbike racing. It can also take the form of activities that involve the use of a body part, such as swimming, surfing, skiing, horseback riding, skating and surfing. Sports can also encompass team or coach competitions, competitive dancing, gymnastics, fencing and aerobics.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) defines a sport as “a common activity in which the sporting skill and physical strength are tested to the extreme”. According to this definition, in sports competition, “the competition of a series of physical contests or a contest of agility, speed, power or endurance” and “an attempt made by an individual to win” are considered as sports. Additionally, when you take into consideration that sports can be competitive, non-competitive and social, it is clear that the term is very broad and covers a great array of sporting activities. Some sports may involve competition, but the participant does not compete against his or her competitors or opponents, but rather tries to achieve some goal, such as improving personal fitness or heightening personal athletic performance.
As opposed to the IOC definition, the dictionary definition includes several additional stipulations, for example, that the competition takes place “at a specified setting and under the supervision of a recognized authority”. Although there are many other stipulations in the definition of a sport, it is clear that many of them pertain to the definition of sport as we know it, and not to the definition of any given sport at a single time. For example, while swimming and surfing are both considered to be sports, they differ because the participants do not participate in competitions with each other. The fact that the activities involved can be categorized as sports is supported by the fact that the United States Olympic committee has sanctioned both sports as national events.
The IOC and the dictionary definition of sport are not mutually exclusive definitions; they are, however, highly dependent upon each other. One could say that the definition of sport as we know it was devised by the Olympic committee, as it was the committee who defined what the games we know as sports actually are. As such, it follows that the dictionary definition supports the concept of sport, although it also provides a rather limited view of what sports actually are. In addition, it has been argued that, for a definition of sport to be meaningful, it must take into consideration the definition of “sport” used by the Olympic committee, which states that it is “a competition of physical skill” or “a test of individual and team competencies”. The dictionary definition provides no support for the idea that skill or competency is required in sports, as it also says that “the practice of exercising in usual surroundings”.
The modern interpretation of sport, according to many sports writers, is that it is a competition between human beings in which the objective is to arrive at a common destination, usually winning, through the application of a specific strategy. Therefore, football is not really a sport because it does not involve competition among competing teams or individuals. Furthermore, football can be considered a popular sport because it is one of the most popular sports in the world.
Many people consider sports to be bodily exertion, whereby a team or an individual player carries out an activity using physical strength. The contrast is that the physical exertion in ESL is not merely the performance of actions that necessarily require muscular power. The aim in ESL is to score points and become the first team to achieve a set number of points. In this way, the players are able to boost their morale, as they know that they will only score when they perform to the best of their ability. Therefore, traditional views of sport and sports are no longer relevant, as the activities involved in ESL provide people with a unique chance to enhance their social and mental health.