What do you consider a Sport?

[Pappy13]

It's just tough to figure out where to draw the line. Does Bowling, Curling, Archery or dare I say race car driving require any more athleticism then eSports? You don't have to be "athletic" to be good in these other "sports", what's required from a physical standpoint is precision and you have to be just as precise in eSports to be good as you do in any of those "sports" in my humble opinion.

[Tenshot13]

Guess Vince Wilfork isn't an athlete either.

Wilfork could bench 225lbs 36 times when he was drafted, and was in the weight room a lot.  Daily, not so much.

[masterfins]

If you consider gymnastics a sport then you have to include competitive cheer. Competitive cheer has nothing to do with the rah-rah of the sidelines and everything to do with the tumbling of gymnastics, stunting and also dance. They also are in the top for serious sports injuries. At many high schools they "compete" but it isn't anywhere close to what the competitive teams are doing.

Being a football guy I had no clue but one of my daughter did it all the way through high school so I saw how tough their practices were and intense their competitions were.  It was really eye opening for me.

I'm curious, do they have a schedule of cheerleading matches every week?  Do they publish the weekly standings in the sport of competitive cheer?

I agree that cheer takes a great deal of practice and athleticism, but that doesn't make it a sport IMO.

[Pappy13]

Do they publish the weekly standings in the sport of competitive cheer?

I would be quite shocked if there's not a website that tracks team rankings in competitive cheer.

Edit:  Quick google search found this...right next to the rankings for Baseball, Lacrosse, Soccer,  Softball, Tennis and Track and Field.

https://secondhalf.mhsaa.com/Rankings/Competitive-Cheer

[BigDaddyFin]

by that criteria how do you rate competitive video game playing ?

It's a video game.  It's VR.  I have a lot of respect for those guys because I faded out when XBox came out at the turn of the century.  To me it's like comparing porn to actual sex.  So no it's not a sport.

[CF DolFan]

I'm curious, do they have a schedule of cheerleading matches every week?  Do they publish the weekly standings in the sport of competitive cheer?

I agree that cheer takes a great deal of practice and athleticism, but that doesn't make it a sport IMO.

They do not have scheduled matches as they are not wrestlers but they do have competitions and rankings. They even have National Champions in every league from Pop Warner, collegiate, and then Open. As a matter of fact ... Disney hosts World Championships where only teams that have won the championships get to compete against the rest of the world.

[Dave Gray]

Cheerleading is like weight lifting.  ...definitely athletic competition, but not a sport. 

[BigDaddyFin]

It's just tough to figure out where to draw the line. Does Bowling, Curling, Archery or dare I say race car driving require any more athleticism then eSports? You don't have to be "athletic" to be good in these other "sports", what's required from a physical standpoint is precision and you have to be just as precise in eSports to be good as you do in any of those "sports" in my humble opinion.

Curling and archery, no.  Also fits under competition.  Bowling I would say yes because those guys and women actually go through wrist and hand injuries and believe it or not, throw a couple games and see how sore your legs end up.  Racing is a little different in that the car does most of the work, but keep in mind most race car drivers' heart rates are comparable to that of a marathon runner under green flag conditions and that wheel is a lot harder to turn at that speed.  Fatigue definitely comes into play there.  Plus you're basically sitting in a 120 degree or more seat (See Ricky Rudd).  On a hot day in a fast race like Talladega in May those drivers lose 10 or 15 pounds just from sweat. 

[BuccaneerBrad]

Cheerleading is like weight lifting.  ...definitely athletic competition, but not a sport. 

The question is, what is the difference?  Try telling a cheerleader or weightlifter that they don't do sports and see what kind of reaction you get

[Fau Teixeira]

The question is, what is the difference?  Try telling a cheerleader or weightlifter that they don't do sports and see what kind of reaction you get

that doesn't matter in the least. this conversation is purely semantic in nature and we're talking about a categorization system.

it's like saying, "try telling a tomato it's not actually a vegetable and see what kind of reaction you get" .. who cares about the reaction.

[Dave Gray]

Try telling a cheerleader or weightlifter that they don't do sports and see what kind of reaction you get

What's that have to do with anything?

[CF DolFan]

How is weightlifting not a sport? I'm honestly confused.  You are competing against other athletes to see who can lift the most weight.  Did you mean bodybuilding?

[Dave Gray]

No, I mean weightlifting.  Again, it's not a slight against weightlifting.

There is no defense. 

[BigDaddyFin]

Dave I have to agree to disagree with you on weightlifting because it's a tangible outcome.  I know when the guy before me goes how much I have to Bench/Squat/Deadlift to win.  Bodybuilding on the other hand is an athletic competition.  It's subjective and decided by judges.

[Dave Gray]

^ Fair enough. 

I can't really tell you what you consider sports and not.  But I require simultaneous play and defense.  Weight-lifting has neither, so it doesn't apply for me.