Sports are competitive activities that aim to improve physical fitness while providing entertainment to spectators. They may be organized and casual, and can involve hundreds of participants simultaneously, in teams or individually. They also can be used to develop social skills and provide a form of exercise that is not only enjoyable but helps people maintain a healthy weight.
Playing a sport teaches children how to work with others, be responsible and set goals that can be achieved. These qualities help students in school and at work. Sports also teach them to deal with setbacks and failures in a positive way that can later be applied to their other life endeavors.
To be considered a true sport, a competition must involve an opposing team that can stop you from scoring. This rule eliminates many sports such as golf, archery and markmanship events which have great physical feats but are not competitive by definition. Rugby, cricket and tennis however meet this definition as they do have opponents who can stop you from scoring.
The modern concept of a sport underwent a social as well as spatial diffusion in the 20th century. After a long and sometimes bitter struggle, African Americans, Australian Aboriginal people, “Cape Coloureds” (in South Africa) and women won the right to compete in sports that had been considered quintessentially masculine. In addition, the emphasis on performance statistics has shifted from aesthetic judgments to quantitative measurements of achievement. slot88