Any definition of sport can be highly controversial. In practical terms, sport is defined by its strict association with bodily exertion and competitive performance measures, and its social definition as a contest among individuals. Sport can take many forms. It can be the competition of a schoolboy football team to win the national championship or a cyclist’s Tour de France victory. It can also be professional wrestling or ice skating. Still, sport is often understood to be the testing of skills in real-time interaction, usually involving some sort of weapon or physical contact.
The social perspective of sport is the one that describes it as the “craft of living”. It is a set of values and expectations surrounding and influencing an individual’s choices in interpersonal relationships and in their interactions with others. It involves the performance of physical actions to achieve certain goals and the sharing of responsibility for those goals. The concept of sport covers a wide range of activities and events that define who we are as humans and our relation to each other. It can involve intellectual competitions in games such as chess, billiards, baseball, rugby and others, athletic events in athletes in track, field, swimming, boxing, wrestling and others, social events in games such as football and basketball, and military training exercises.
One of the key elements of the sport is its recognition of the value of physical fitness. The discipline and effort it requires to compete in games and events demonstrate how important it is to maintain and develop our physical fitness. Sport enables us to measure our capabilities and the effectiveness of our fitness programs, builds our self-confidence, and inculcates the value of working for a common goal. It encourages the development of mental fitness, since success in sport requires both skill and the will to succeed.
The concept of sport covers a wide variety of definitions that go beyond the obvious. A sport may be competitive or cooperative; it may be a physical activity or a competition; it may involve skill, physical strength or any combination of these aspects. It is also commonly understood to involve interaction between people using a particular set of skills, and even technology has been incorporated into the definition of sport as new ways to play sports have been developed.
Sport, like the person, is judged by performance on the day. It requires the commitment of the players to participate in a regular and orderly fashion, from the coach to the athletes on the field. This dedication requires them to use their minds, bodies and spirits to excel beyond normal limits and their natural abilities. This is one of the most powerful ways to enhance physical and mental well-being.
Playing a sport is like participating in a friendly game of war. Although you might not want to put your life on the line for the rest of your life, you will gain mental satisfaction and physical fitness through the game’s results. Through winning or losing, you will be rewarded with a sense of achievement, a boost of self-esteem and a sense of achievement. You will feel better about yourself and you will have more reasons to stick with your sport.