is cheer a sport

Ah, the age-old eternal debate. What is a “sport,” anyway? What differentiates a real sport from any other activity? I’ve devised a near fool-proof formula on how to determine what constitutes as a sport.

First of all, we must distinguish the difference between a sport and a game. This is the most important step and fully objective. Why? Because I said so.

A game is an activity that can be participated in either by an individual or a team. It has a distinct set of rules, as well as a way of determining winners and losers, either through a point system or an alternative elimination method.

A sport is an activity that has some physical component. Sports usually also have some level of professional circuit, although though the levels of skill and visibility do greatly vary.

Many — if not most — sports are games. What pops into your head when you think of sports are most likely also games: football, baseball, basketball, etc. There are teams, clear rules, point systems and a winner and loser every time. Easy, right? However, some games are clearly not sports. No one is trying to argue that Monopoly should be in the Olympics. The Venn diagram of games and sports is not yet migraine-inducing. However, here’s where it gets tricky. What about activities that require physical ability but aren’t competitive such as hiking or pilates? Where do those activities fall?

That’s a great question. I don’t claim to have all the answers; I only claim to have most of them. Here’s my definitive ruling of exactly what is and is not a sport.

Esports

Ruling: Game

People tried really hard to be sneaky by “sports”…