What is sport?

What are sports? What is the value of sport? Why should we define it? How would you define sports?  Is cheer leading a sport?  Chess?  Motor car racing?  Basketball? What does it take to classify something as a “sport”? How do you determine if something is a sport or not? What model of sport do you subscribe to?Who is effected by sports?  What effected the development of sport in the past? What contributes to the development of sport today?

In my mind, sports are competitive activities that bring people together based on a common vision of success and shared talents. I believe that sports have evolved with the changing development of human kind. With the development of technologies and the cultivation of an increasingly connected world, best practices, tools, and routines can be shared with people everywhere. When I think of the value of sport, I first think of the world of collegiate athletics. What would the University of Cincinnati be without football and basketball? Would students still come together and unite in a community the way that we are able to currently? Would we have a particular connection to our alma mater upon graduation? Would be give of our time and talents as alumni? I don't know that a value can be assigned to collegiate athletics. There are some very profitable programs out there, and some that aren't so profitable, but the intrinsic value that athletics bring to a campus is undeniable. Looking at the NCAA Core Values, the second value is "The supporting role that intercollegiate athletics plays in the higher education mission and enhancing the sense of community and strengthening the identity of member institutions." If research was done, and I am sure it has been, 

Looking back to my earlier definition of sports, I believe that any activity that fosters a competitive nature while bringing like-talented people together, is a sport. Do most people in today's world call chess a sport? Probably not. But I believe that chess is a sport. It brings like-talented people together while building a sense of competition and success. I think it is important to recognize that sport is different from athletics. If we look at the origin of the word athlete, according to the "Philosophy of Sport" PowerPoint, (athlein--to contend; to suffer) then I think that we see that our current view of athletes is different from the original view. Do chess players contend and suffer, especially in the agony of defeat? Absolutely. 

In the past, the development of sport was fostered by necessity. One of the first examples of sport was hunting. People hunted to eat, and ultimately, to survive. In today's world, sport is not always driven by necessity, but rather by a sense of accomplishment and well being. Does LeBron play basketball in order to survive? I would answer that by saying "No. He doesn't play basketball in order to survive." Do his skills put food on the table for he and his family? They most certainly do, but there are other career paths he could have taken that would have the same net effect. It is my belief that LeBron plays basketball because he genuinely loves the game and because he wants to be the best he can be. His decision to sign with Miami was driven by his perceived notion of accomplishment. He wanted to put himself in position to accomplish the ultimate goal of every NBA player: winning an NBA Title.

Lastly, if we look at the world around us, we will see that everyone, regardless of participation, is affected by sport. Everyone from the owners of franchises that work to build a successful team, to the owners of hotels that benefit from the travel of fans and teams. And then you have people that live in developing nations. For many of them, sport is what they can rally around. Take the Iraqi National Soccer team for example. In 2004 they qualified for the first ever Olympic Games. While this is a great accomplishment for many countries out there, it was especially meaningful for the Iraqi people as they were stuck in a country full of turmoil. Sport bring hope, admiration, and happiness to lives across the world every day in ways that we probably cannot even imagine. I cannot picture a world without sport; can you?