Why Does Sport Matter

Sports influence how we dress, we wear t-shirts, jerseys, hats, proudly promoting our favorite sports teams or players.  Sports influence our spending habits.  They can influence our attitudes and ideas about what sports we ourselves want to play, what colleges we want to attend, etc. Sports also influence politics, which is evidenced today by the controversy with football players taking a knee during the national anthem. The evolution of sports has brought about many changes including minorities and women being able to participate in sports, the Olympics, and the correlation between health, physical fitness and athletics.

What exactly determines whether or not an activity is a sport? The term sport is defined by The Free Dictionary as: A physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively, an activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules

Cathy Freeman has received quit an amount of awards and she has achieved many achievements. In 1990 she won a gold medal for the 4x100 meter relay. In 1991 she was awarded Young Australian of the Year. 1992 she was the first Australian Aboriginal to compete in the Olympic Games. In the year 1994 won gold at the commonwealth games in Canada for the 200 and 400 metre. 1996 she won silver medal and her personal best for the 400 metre.1997 at the World Athletic Championships she won gold in the 400 metres. In 1998 she was awarded Australian of the Year. 1999 she won gold again in the 400 metre at the World Athletic Championships. In 2000 her image was beamed into millions of homes around the world when she became the first competing athlete to be invited to light the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games. She then went on the win the gold medal in than 400 metre – her dream had come true. On July 15 2003 Catherine Freeman announced her retirement from competitive running and now she concentrates her time on making a difference to others through the Cathy Freeman Foundation.

Cathy Freemen is an Australian athlete. Her sport that she did was sprint and her medal record are 7 gold, 2 silvers and 1 bronze in the career. She became the Olympic champion for the women's 400 m at the 2000 Summer Olympics, at which she lit the Olympic Flame. She was selected to represent Australia at the 1990 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, she entered the semi-finals of the 100 m and was placed fifth in the finals of the 400 m. Cathy Freeman’s greatest influence on her career are her parents, she influenced Australian sport by becoming the first female Australian Aboriginal to win a gold medal at an international athletics event. She a fearless promoter of her Aboriginal culture,

The official definition of a sport is, “An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes another or others for entertainment.” Technically they are a sport. Esports (electronic sports) have teams or individuals from countries, states, counties or districts that come that compete in tournaments state, country or worldwide.

Cathy Freeman has an Olympic’s dream when she was young. During the 400 meters Olympic games in Sydney, she won the gold medal. She became the first Aboriginal Australian athlete to win the individual game. Cathy is an Aussie Indigenous hero.

Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman was born February the 16th 1973, in Mackay Queensland. In addition, Cathy was the 1st Australian Aboriginal, to win Gold in an individual and single event at the 2000 Olympic Games. Therefore, Cathy

So that begs the question, what is a sport? Is it using a ball or scoring goals or running and kicking? Is it competing against others with the aim of winning a trophy, ribbon, or money? If a so-called sport does not include those things, does that make it not a sport? Here is my criteria for a sport: if it is in the Olympics, it is a sport.

A sport is defined as an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment. There are many different national and international associations and organizations that hold their own standard to what can be considered a sport, but they are all similar: if it involves physical activity and competitions. Cheerleading does, in fact, fit underneath

One of the activities on the list that I thought was the furthest thing from a sport was Pigeon Racing. Even though I believed Pigeon racing to have incorporated many of the key components of a sport such as competition, a governing bodies, benefits, and strategy; it fails to meet the other requirements. One requirement that is not met is maintaining a certain level of physical and mental activity. In this particular sport the performer is completely dependent upon the pigeon to compete. By doing so this completely removes an athlete from the sport and eliminates any human chance in affecting the overall outcome. Instead of a sport I would categorize this as a recreational activity that is fun to watch and be involved in. I believe that an activity that relies solely on an animal performance cannot be considered to be a true sport.

Merriam Webster dictionary defines sport as an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often

A sport is an activity in which physical exertion and skill are used to compete against others individually or as a team. A very good example is cheerleading, since it involves physical activity and the accuracy of the athlete to hit every move. It is not just about jumping around wearing short skirts and huge bows. It is about loving what you do and working hard for it. Cheerleading is considered a sport because it involves you in cheer competitions, you need physical endurance, and skill is also necessary.

Sports are very vital. They offer a lifestyle, an occupation, and even a dream. Sports require physical activity and skill in which a team or an individual compete against others for entertainment. As David G. McComb comments in "Sports in World History", "there is a high degree of training, investment, and coaching, along with spectators, rules, publicity, and institutional control that come along with these activities." While participating in sports, it is required to be able to undertake a difficult situation and perform the best out of it. Sports are definitely more than just a game.

Sport is a competitive physical activity through casual or organised participants, sport is aimed to improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to to the audiencce. Usually sport is a contest between two oppistions, each attempting to exceed the oppsition. Some sports allow a tie game where as others provide tie-breaking methods to ensure there is one winner and one loser.

(Hollander “Is Golf a Sport?”) They think that golf is more of a game than a sport that should be played worldwide. With that said watching two golfers at the top of the sport going head to head in a worldwide televised event give the viewer a great feeling of tension and competition. Even people that do not watch golf can say that if a golf tournament gets close they can sense the competition and get a great deal of excitement. Even while watching an event on television, if a competition comes down to the last final hole one can feel the nervousness and restlessness in the crowd before a golfer takes that drive or sets up the final putt.