A Connection Between Sport and Health
Sport (often spelt as “sport” or “social sport”) is any type of typically competitive physical activity that, through organised or casual competition, attempt to employ, develop or maintain specific physical skill and/or capability while providing participants, and sometimes, spectators, with entertainment. It can encompass a wide range of activities, including but not limited to; athletics, motor sport, sailing, swimming, basketball, tennis, golf, hockey, soccer, rugby and track and field. Different types of sport have varying requirements for equipment, rules and other aspects of play. For example, ice skating requires special skates with a variety of treads and cleats, water polo a flat, buoyant swimsuit, speedboat a boat, wakeboard a board, surfing a wave and other water-based activities.
The word “darts” in the UK connotes both an event and a game of sport involving two (or more) competing teams or individuals, whereas “athletics” connotes an athletic activity carried out for competitive advantage using the body as a part of the composition, with little or no reliance on any sort of equipment or protective gear. This latter usage can sometimes be confusing, especially where terminology such as “darting” and “athletics” are used to describe totally different games. Where this confusion is caused by popular usage of the term “athlon” to portray both a competitive and athletic activity, it would seem advisable for those involved to clarify their use of the term when discussing the events in question, lest the potential for confusion is significantly increased.
Sport involves the application of one or more of the acquired physical skill set into the development of another skill, and sometimes the combination of two or more acquired skill sets. It is generally acknowledged that sport involves an application of skill, and that skill must be well complemented by an appropriate use of equipment, practice, and attitude, in order to produce a competitive performance. Accordingly, it would seem that there is a strong correspondence between sport and physical fitness, in that sports participation promotes a suitable fitness state, which in turn contributes to the achievement of a skilled performance.