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Sport

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Sports

   Women's Australian rules football is a team sport.
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   Women's Australian rules football is a team sport.

   A sport is an activity requiring physical ability, physical fitness or
   physical skill which usually, but not always, involves competition
   between two or more people.

History

   There are artifacts and structures that suggest that the Chinese
   engaged in sporting activities as early as 4000 BC. Gymnastics appears
   to have been a popular sport in China's ancient past. Monuments to the
   Pharaohs indicate that a number of sports, including swimming and
   fishing, were well-developed and regulated several thousands of years
   ago in ancient Egypt. Other Egyptian sports included javelin throwing,
   high jump, and wrestling. Ancient Persian sports such as the
   traditional Iranian martial art of Zourkhaneh had a close connection to
   the warfare skills. Among other sports that originate in Persia are
   polo and jousting.

   In Europe, ancient Irish legends show evidence of the ancestor of
   modern hurling being used as a means of preparing warriors for battle
   as far back as the 13th century BC.

   A wide range of sports were already established by the time of Ancient
   Greece and the military culture and the development of sports in Greece
   influenced one another considerably. Sports became such a prominent
   part of their culture that the Greeks created the Olympic Games, which
   in ancient times were held every four years in a small village in the
   Peloponnesus called Olympia.

   Sports have been increasingly organized and regulated from the time of
   the Ancient Olympics up to the present century. Industrialization has
   brought increased leisure time to the citizens of developed and
   developing countries, leading to more time for citizens to attend and
   follow spectator sports, greater participation in athletic activities,
   and increased accessibility. These trends continued with the advent of
   mass media and global communication. Professionalism became prevalent,
   further adding to the increase in sport's popularity, as sports fans
   began following the exploits of professional athletes through radio,
   television, and the internet--all while enjoying the exercise and
   competition associated with amateur participation in sports.

Sportsmanship

   Sportsmanship is an attitude that strives for fair play, courtesy
   toward teammates and opponents, ethical behaviour and integrity, and
   grace in losing.

   Sportsmanship expresses an aspiration or ethos that the activity will
   be enjoyed for its own sake. The well-known sentiment by sports
   journalist Grantland Rice, that it's “not that you won or lost but how
   you played the game," and the Modern Olympic creed expressed by its
   founder Pierre de Coubertin: "The most important thing . . . is not
   winning but taking part" are typical expressions of this sentiment.

   But often the pressures of competition or an obsession with individual
   achievement—as well as the intrusion of technology—can all work against
   enjoyment and fair play by participants.

   People responsible for leisure activities often seek recognition and
   respectability as sports by joining sports federations such as the IOC,
   or by forming their own regulatory body. In this way sports evolve from
   leisure activity to more formal sports: relatively recent newcomers are
   BMX cycling, snowboarding, and wrestling. Some of these activities have
   been popular but uncodified pursuits in various forms for different
   lengths of time. Indeed, the formal regulation of sport is a relatively
   modern and increasing development.

   Sportsmanship, within any given game, is how each competitor acts
   before, during, and after the competition. Not only is it important to
   have good sportsmanship if one wins, but also if one loses. For
   example, in football it is considered sportsmanlike to kick the ball
   out of play to allow treatment for an injured player on the other side.
   Reciprocally, the other team is expected to return the ball from the
   throw-in.

   Violence in sports involves crossing the line between fair competition
   and intentional aggressive violence. Athletes, coaches, fans, and
   parents sometimes unleash violent behaviour on people or property, in
   misguided shows of loyalty, dominance, anger, or celebration.

Professionalism and regulation

   The entertainment aspect of sports, together with the spread of mass
   media and increased leisure time, has led to professionalism in sports.
   This has resulted in some conflict, where the paycheck can be seen as
   more important than recreational aspects: or where the sports are
   changed simply to make it more profitable and popular therefore losing
   some of the traditions valued by some.

   The entertainment aspect also means that sportsmen and women are often
   elevated to celebrity status.

Politics

   At times, sports and poltics can have a large amount of influence on
   each other.

   When apartheid was the official policy in South Africa, many sports
   people adopted the conscientious approach that they should not appear
   in competitive sports there. Some feel this was an effective
   contribution to the eventual demolition of the policy of apartheid,
   others feel that it may have prolonged and reinforced its worst
   effects.

   The 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin was an illustration, perhaps
   best recognised in retrospect, where an ideology was developing which
   used the event to strengthen its spread through propaganda.

   In the history of Ireland, Gaelic sports were connected with cultural
   nationalism. Until the mid 20th century a person could have been banned
   from playing Gaelic football, hurling, or other sports administered by
   the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) if she/he played or supported
   soccer, or other games seen to be of British origin. Until recently the
   GAA continued to ban the playing of soccer and rugby union at Gaelic
   venues. This ban is still enforced, but has been modified to allow
   football and rugby be played in Croke Park while Lansdowne Road is
   being redeveloped. Until recently, under Rule 21, the GAA also banned
   members of the British security forces and members of the RUC from
   playing Gaelic games, but the advent of the Good Friday Agreement in
   1998 led to the eventual removal of the ban.

   Nationalism in general is often evident in the pursuit of sports, or in
   its reporting: people compete in national teams, or commentators and
   audiences can adopt a partisan view. These trends are seen by some as
   contrary to the fundamental ethos of sports being carried on for its
   own sake, for the enjoyment of its participants.

Art

   Sports have many affinities with art. Ice skating and Tai chi, for
   example, are sports that come close to artistic spectacles in
   themselves: to watch these activities comes close to the experience of
   spectating at a ballet. Similarly, there are other activities that have
   elements of sport and art in their execution, such as performance art,
   artistic gymnastics, Bodybuilding, Parkour, Yoga, Bossaball, dressage,
   etc. Perhaps the best example is Bull-fighting, which in Spain is
   reported in the arts pages of newspapers.

   The fact that art is so close to sports in some situations is probably
   related to the nature of sports. The definition of "sports" above put
   forward the idea of an activity pursued not just for the usual
   purposes, for example, running not simply to get places, but running
   for its own sake, running as well as we can.

   This is similar to a common view of aesthetic value, which is seen as
   something over and above the strictly functional value coming from an
   object's normal use. So an aesthetically pleasing car is one which
   doesn't just get from A to B, but which impresses us with its grace,
   poise, and charisma.

   In the same way, a sporting performance such as jumping doesn't just
   impress us as being an effective way to avoid obstacles or to get
   across streams. It impresses us because of the ability, skill, and
   style which is shown.

   Art and sports were probably more clearly linked at the time of Ancient
   Greece, when gymnastics and calisthenics invoked admiration and
   aesthetic appreciation for the physical build, prowess and 'arete'
   displayed by participants. The modern term 'art' as skill, is related
   to this ancient Greek term 'arete'. The closeness of art and sport in
   these times was revealed by the nature of the Olympic Games which, as
   we have seen, were celebrations of both sporting and artistic
   achievements, poetry, sculpture and architecture.

Technology

   Technology has an important role in sports, whether applied to an
   athlete's health, the athlete's technique, or equipment's
   characteristics.

   Equipment As sports have grown more competitive, the need for better
   equipment has arose. Golf clubs, baseball bats, soccer balls, hockey
   skates, and other equipment have all seen considerable changes when new
   technologies have been applied.

   Health Ranging from nutrition to the treatment of injuries, as the
   knowledge of the human body has deepened over time, an athlete's
   potential has been increased. Athletes are now able to play to an older
   age, recover more quickly from injuries, and train more effectively
   than previous generations of athletes.

   Instruction Advancing technology created new opportunities for research
   into sports. It is now possible to analyse aspects of sports that were
   previously out of the reach of comprehension. Being able to use motion
   capture to capture an athlete's movement, or advanced computer
   simulations to model physical scenarios has greatly increased an
   athlete's ability to understand what they are doing and how they can
   improve themselves.

Terminology

   In Commonwealth English, sporting activities are commonly denoted by
   the collective noun "sport". In American English, "sports" is more
   common for this usage. In all English dialects, "sports" is the term
   used for more than one specific sport. For example, "football and
   swimming are my favourite sports", would sound natural to all English
   speakers, whereas "I enjoy sport" would sound less natural than "I
   enjoy sports" to many North Americans.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
