What Is Sports?

v      Sport  is all forms of usually competitive physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and skills while providing entertainment to participants, and in some cases, spectators.

Definition According to GAISF

The Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) (previously SportAccord) is the umbrella organization for all international sports federations, and has developed a definition of sport to determine whether an applicant federation qualifies as an international sports federation. The GAISF's definition of sport is as follows:

·         The sport proposed should include an element of competition.

·         The sport should not rely on any element of "luck" specifically integrated into the sport.

·         The sport should not be judged to pose an undue risk to the health and safety of its athletes or participants.

·         The sport proposed should in no way be harmful to any living creature.

·         The sport should not rely on equipment that is provided by a single supplier.

The Encyclopedia of World Sport

When collating all the world sports for the publication 'Encyclopedia of World Sport - from ancient times to the present' (Oxford University Press, 1999), the editors based their inclusion criteria on the following definition:

An activity can be considered a sport if it involves ...

competition between two or more individuals or teams;

rules of play that allow a winner to be determined;

a primary goal of victory;

victory determined by the relative physical ability of the competitors, although strategy and chance may also play a role.

Other Definitions

Here are some other definitions found online:

"An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others" (Google Search)

“a human activity capable of achieving a result requiring physical exertion and/or physical skill, which, by its nature and organization, is competitive and is generally accepted as being a sport.” (Australian Sports Commission, ASC)

"An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively" (Free Dictionary online)

Casper playing minigolf at the Wembley golf course Mini-Golf is a lot of fun, but is it a sport?

Our Sport Criteria

Incorporating many of the common elements of the above definitions, we have simplified them into these three basic criteria that a sport must have, and have used this criteria for inclusion in our complete list of sports.

A sport is ...

a human activity involving physical skill and exertion.

governed by a set of rules or customs.

undertaken competitively and capable of achieving a result.

What makes the list and what does not

There are many activities that are commonly debated whether they are sports, such as fishing, dancing, cheerleading, golf, equestrian, motorsports, pole dancing. Based on the above criteria, are these sports? Let's look a little closer at them.

The examples of golf and cheerleading easily fit the definition of sports when in the competitive form. Fishing and dancing for most people is a pastime and not a sport, but there are structured competitions with these activities which make it a sport in that form. In the case of equestrian and motorsports, there is physical exertion by the riders, but the horse and car are primarily doing the work. On the other hand, there is plenty of skill involved and it ticks all the other boxes.

There will always be activities that are borderline and debatable whether they are sports or not. In that case, maybe the final defining point should be as per the definition by the Australian Sports Commission — it is a sport if it is ... "generally accepted as being a sport".