For as long as people have strapped on cleats or ran a race or chased a ball in a gym there has been a  debate over what constitutes a sport.  Cheerleaders will snipe at golfers for standing in a field hitting golf balls with their clubs and golfers will snipe back at them for doing what they say is merely an activity.  And the ever-present members of the chess team will stand by and insist that what they do is competition and therefore should be considered a sport.

My definition of a sport is “an athletic activity that involves a defense.”  Under these criteria, activities such as football, baseball, basketball, soccer, and lacrosse definitely qualify as sports.  What is hard is defining those activities that lie in the in the gray area and those activities that are clearly not sports under my definition.

Wrestling

It could be argued that wrestling is not a sport under my definition because of the absence of a defense.  I disagree with this because in wrestling, both participants are both the offense and defense.  The same holds true for tennis.

Track and Field

While track has traditionally been considered a sport, it is clearly not one under my definition.  There is no defense to speak of.  Instead, runners race against each other but are not keeping each other from running fast, or in other words, being a defense.  Track falls under the umbrella of an “athletic activity,” which I define as “a competitive activity that requires some sort of physical skill and athleticism.”  Cross country, auto racing, and individual cycling also fall into this category.  Team cycling does not due to the fact that teammates defend against members of other teams by cutting them off so that one of their teammates can win the race.

Golf

While golf definitely requires physical skill and athleticism, it qualifies as an “athletic activity” due to its lack of a defense.  Despite this lack of defense, it is competitive and requires a lot of practice, which is what makes it an “athletic activity.”

Cheerleading and Dance

Both of these activities require a lot of athleticism and skill.  They are very competitive and require a lot of practice.  However, neither of these are sports, once again because the lack of the defense.  Instead, they too qualify as “athletic activities.”

Hunting and Fishing

These two activities do not even qualify as “athletic activities.”  While they do require skill, they also require a great deal of luck.  No one knows when the fish will be biting or whether there are deer in the area.  Thus, despite the skill and knowledge required, they simply qualify as activites.

At least that’s how I call it.