Sport

Sport includes all forms of competitive physical activity or games which, through casual or organised
participation, improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants, and in some
cases, entertainment for spectators. Usually the contest or game is between two sides, each attempting
to win against the other. A number of such two-sided contests may be arranged in
a tournament producing a champion. Many sports leagues make an annual champion by arranging
games in a regular sports season, followed in some cases by playoffs. Hundreds of sports exist, from
those between single contestants, through to those with hundreds of simultaneous participants, either
in teams or competing as individuals. In certain sports such as racing, many contestants may compete,
each against each other, with one winner.
Sport is generally recognised as system of activities which are based in physical athleticism with the
largest major competitions such as the Olympic Games admitting only sports meeting this definition.
However, a number of competitive, but non-physical, activities claim recognition as mind sports. The
International Olympic Committee recognises both chess and bridge as bona fide sports. Sports are
usually governed by a set of rules or customs, which serve to ensure fair competition, and allow
consistent adjudication of the winner. Winning can be determined by physical events such as
scoring goals or crossing a line first. It can also be determined by judges who are scoring elements of the
sporting performance, including objective or subjective measures such as technical performance or
artistic impression.
Records of performance are often kept, and for popular sports, this information may be widely announced
or reported in sport news. Sport is also a major source of entertainment for non-participants,
with spectator sport drawing large crowds to sport venues, and reaching wider audiences
through broadcasting. Sports betting is in some cases severely regulated, and in some cases is central to
the sport.
Definition
The precise definition of what separates a sport from other leisure activities varies between sources. The closest to
an international agreement on a definition is provided by , SportAccord which is the association for all the largest
international sports federations (including association football, athletics, cycling, tennis, equestrian sports, and more),
and is therefore the de facto representative of international sport.
SportAccord uses the following criteria, determining that a sport should:

 have an element of competition

 be in no way harmful to any living creature
 not rely on equipment provided by a single supplier (excluding proprietary games such as arena football)
 not rely on any "luck" element specifically designed into the sport.
They also recognise that sport can be primarily physical (such as rugby or athletics), primarily mind (such
as chess or go), predominantly motorised (such as Formula 1 or powerboating), primarily co-ordination (such
as billiard sports), or primarily animal-supported (such as equestrian sport).
The inclusion of mind sports within sport definitions has not been universally accepted, leading to legal challenges
from governing bodies in regards to being denied funding available to sports. [12] Whilst SportAccord recognises a
small number of mind sports, it is not open to admitting any further mind sports.
There has been an increase in the application of the term "sport" to a wider set of non-physical challenges such
as video games, also called esports, especially due to the large scale of participation and organised competition, but
these are not widely recognised by mainstream sports organisations. According to Council of Europe, European
Sports Charter, article 2.i, " "Sport" means all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised
participation, aim at expressing or improving physical fitness and mental well-being, forming social relationships or
obtaining results in competition at all levels."

Competition
There are opposing views on the necessity of competition as a defining element of a sport, with almost
all professional sport involving competition, and governing bodies requiring competition as a prerequisite of
recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) or SportAccord.[1]
Other bodies advocate widening the definition of sport to include all physical activity. For instance, the Council of
Europe include all forms of physical exercise, including those competed just for fun.
In order to widen participation, and reduce the impact of losing on less able participants, there has been an
introduction of non-competitive physical activity to traditionally competitive events such as school sports days,
although moves like this are often controversial.
In competitive events, participants are graded or classified based on their "result" and often divided into groups of
comparable performance, (e.g. gender, weight and age). The measurement of the result may be objective or
subjective, and corrected with "handicaps" or penalties. In a race, for example, the time to complete the course is an
objective measurement. In gymnastics or diving the result is decided by a panel of judges, and therefore subjective.
There are many shades of judging between boxing and mixed martial arts, where victory is assigned by judges if
neither competitor has lost at the end of the match time.

Etymology
The word "Sport" comes from the Old French desport meaning "leisure", with the oldest definition in
English from around 1300 being "anything humans find amusing or entertaining".Other meanings include
gambling and events staged for the purpose of gambling; hunting; and games and diversions, including
ones that require exercise.

Histori
Artifacts and structures suggest sport in China as early as 2000 BC . Gymnastics appears to have been
popular in China's ancient past. Monuments to the Pharaohs indicate that a number of sports, including
swimming and fishing, were well-developed and regulated several thousands of years ago in ancient
Egypt..Other Egyptian sports included javelin throwing, high jump, and wrestling. Ancient Persian sports
such as the traditional Iranian martial art of Zourkhaneh had a close connection to warfare skills.. Among
other sports that originate in ancient Persia are polo and jousting.
A wide range of sports were already established by the time of Ancient Greece and the military culture
and the development of sports in Greece influenced one another considerably. Sports became such a
prominent part of their culture that the Greeks created the Olympic Games, which in ancient times were
held every four years in a small village in the Peloponnesus called Olympia.
Sports have been increasingly organised and regulated from the time of the ancient Olympics up to the
present century. Industrialisation has brought increased leisure time, letting people attend and follow
spectator sports and participate in athletic activities. These trends continued with the advent of mass
media and global communication. Professionalism became prevalent, further adding to the increase in
sport's popularity, as sports fans followed the exploits of professional athletes — all while enjoying the
exercise and competition associated with amateur participation in sports.

Fair Play
Sportsmanship
Sportsmanship is an attitude that strives for fair play, courtesy toward teammates and opponents, ethical behaviour
and integrity, and grace in victory or defeat. Sportsmanship expresses an aspiration or ethos that the activity will be
enjoyed for its own sake. The well-known sentiment by sports journalist Grantland Rice, that it's "not that you won or
lost but how you played the game", and the modern Olympic creed expressed by its founder Pierre de Coubertin:
"The most important thing... is not winning but taking part" are typical expressions of this sentiment.

Cheating
Key principles of sport include that the result should not be predetermined, and that both sides should have equal
opportunity to win. Rules are in place to ensure that fair play to occur, but participants can break these rules in order
to gain advantage.Participants may choose to cheat in order to satisfy their desire to win, or in order to achieve an
ulterior motive. The widespread existence of gambling on the results of sports fixtures creates the motivation
for match fixing, where a participant or participants deliberately work to ensure a given outcome.

Doping and drugs

The competitive nature of sport encourages some participants to attempt to enhance their performance through the
use of medicines, or through other means such as increasing the volume of blood in their bodies through artificial
means.All sports recognised by the IOC or SportAccord are required to implement a testing programme, looking for a
list of banned drugs, with suspensions or bans being placed on participants who test positive for banned substances.

Violence
Violence in sports involves crossing the line between fair competition and intentional aggressive violence. Athletes,
coaches, fans, and parents sometimes unleash violent behaviour on people or property, in misguided shows of
loyalty, dominance, anger, or celebration. Rioting or hooliganism by fans in particular is a problem at some national
and international sporting contests.

Participations

Gender participation
Female participation in sports continues to rise alongside the opportunity for involvement and the value of sports
for child development and physical fitness. Despite gains during the last three decades, a gap persists in the
enrollment figures between male and female players. Female players account for 39% of the total participation in US
interscholastic athletics. Gender balance has been accelerating from a 32% increase in 1973–74 to a 63% increase
in 1994–95.
Youth participation
Youth sports present children with opportunities for fun, socialization, forming peer relationships, physical fitness,
and athletic scholarships. Activists for education and the war on drugs encourage youth sports as a means to
increase educational participation and to fight the illegal drug trade. According to the Center for Injury Research and
Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital, the biggest risk for youth sports is death or serious injury
including concussion. These risks come from running, basketball, association football, volleyball, gridiron,
gymnastics, and ice hockey.[ Youth sports in the US is a $15 billion industry including equipment up to private
coaching.

Disabled participation
Disabled sports also adaptive sports or parasports, are sports played by persons with a disability,
including physical and intellectual disabilities. As many of these based on existing sports modified to meet the needs
of persons with a disability, they are sometimes referred to as adapted sports. However, not all disabled sports are
adapted; several sports that have been specifically created for persons with a disability have no equivalent in able-
bodied sports.

Spectator involvement
The competition element of sport, along with the aesthetic appeal of some sports, result in the popularity of people
attending to watch sport being played. This has led to the specific phenomenon of spectator sport.
Both amateur and professional sports attract spectators, both in person at the sport venue, and through broadcast
mediums including radio, television and internet broadcast. Both attendance in person and viewing remotely can incur
a sometimes substantial charge, such as an entrance ticket, or pay-per-view television broadcast.
It is common for popular sports to attract large broadcast audiences, leading to rival broadcasters bidding large
amounts of money for the rights to show certain fixtures. The football World Cup attracts a global television audience
of hundreds of millions; the 2006 final alone attracted an estimated worldwide audience of well over 700 million and
the 2011 Cricket World Cup Final attracted an estimated audience of 135 million in India alone .
In the United States, the championship game of the NFL, the Super Bowl, has become one of the most watched
television broadcasts of the year. Super Bowl Sunday is a de facto national holiday in America; the viewership being
so great that in 2015, advertising space was reported as being sold at $4.5m for a 30-second slot.

Football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball with the foot to score a goal.
Unqualified, the word football is understood to refer to whichever form of football is the most popular in the regional
context in which the word appears. Sports commonly called 'football' in certain places include: association
football (known as soccer in some countries); gridiron football (specifically American football or Canadian
football); Australian rules football; rugby football (either rugby league or rugby union); and Gaelic football. These
different variations of football are known as football codes.
Various forms of football can be identified in history, often as popular peasant games. Contemporary codes of football
can be traced back to the codification of these games at English public schools during the nineteenth century. The
expanse of the British Empire allowed these rules of football to spread to areas of British influence outside of the
directly controlled Empire. By the end of the nineteenth century, distinct regional codes were already developing:
Gaelic football, for example, deliberately incorporated the rules of local traditional football games in order to maintain
their heritage. In 1888, The Football League was founded in England, becoming the first of
many professional football competitions. During the twentieth century, several of the various kinds of football grew to
become some of the most popular team sports in the world.

Common elements
The various codes of football share certain common elements: Players in American football, Canadian football, rugby
union and rugby league take up positions in a limited area of the field at the start of the game. They tend to use
throwing and running as the main ways of moving the ball, and only kick on certain limited occasions. Body tackling is
a major skill, and games typically involve short passages of play of 5–90 seconds.
Association football and Gaelic football tend to use kicking to move the ball around the pitch, with handling more
limited. Body tackles are less central to the game, and players are freer to move around the field (offside laws are
typically less strict).
Common rules among the sports include:

 Two teams of usually between 11 and 18 players; some variations that have fewer players (five or more per
team) are also popular.
 A clearly defined area in which to play the game.
 Scoring goals or points by moving the ball to an opposing team's end of the field and either into a goal area, or
over a line.
 Goals or points resulting from players putting the ball between two goalposts.
 The goal or line being defended by the opposing team.
 Players being required to move the ball—depending on the code—by kicking, carrying, or hand-passing the ball.
 Players using only their body to move the ball.

In all codes, common skills include passing, tackling, evasion of tackles, catching and kicking.[8] In most
codes, there are rules restricting the movement of players offside, and players scoring a goal must put the
ball either under or over a crossbar between the goalposts.
Etymology
There are conflicting explanations of the origin of the word "football". It is widely assumed that the word
"football" (or the phrase "foot ball") refers to the action of the foot kicking a ball.[10]There is an alternative
explanation, which is that football originally referred to a variety of games in medieval Europe, which were
played on foot. There is no conclusive evidence for either explanation.
Early history
A Chinese game called Cuju Tsu' Chu, or Zuqiu has been recognised by FIFA as the first version of the game with
regular rules. It existed during the Han dynasty, the second and third centuries BC.[ The Japanese version
of cuju is kemari , and was developed during the Asuka period. This is known to have been played within the
Japanese imperial court in Kyoto from about 600 AD. In kemari several people stand in a circle and kick a ball to
each other, trying not to let the ball drop to the ground (much like keepie uppie).
The Ancient Greeks and Romans are known to have played many ball games, some of which involved the use of the
feet. The Roman game harpastum is believed to have been adapted from a Greek team game known as "ἐπίσκυρος"
(Episkyros)[13][14] or "φαινίνδα" (phaininda),[15] which is mentioned by a Greek playwright, Antiphanes (388–311 BC) and
later referred to by the Christian theologian Clement of Alexandria (c. 150 – c. 215 AD). These games appear to have
resembled rugby football. The Roman politician Cicero (106–43 BC) describes the case of a man who was killed
whilst having a shave when a ball was kicked into a barber's shop. Roman ball games already knew the air-filled ball,
the follis. Episkyros is recognised as an early form of football by FIFA.
There are a number of references to traditional, ancient, or prehistoric ball games, played by indigenous peoples in
many different parts of the world. For example, in 1586, men from a ship commanded by an English explorer
named John Davis, went ashore to play a form of football with Inuit (Eskimo) people in Greenland.[24] There are later
accounts of an Inuit game played on ice, called Aqsaqtuk. Each match began with two teams facing each other in
parallel lines, before attempting to kick the ball through each other team's line and then at a goal. In 1610, William
Strachey, a colonist at Jamestown, Virginia recorded a game played by Native Americans, called Pahsaheman.[ On
the Australian continent several tribes of indigenous people played kicking and catching games with stuffed balls
which have been generalised by historians as Marn Grook (Djab Wurrung for "game ball"). The earliest historical
account is an anecdote from the 1878 book by Robert Brough-Smyth, The Aborigines of Victoria, in which a man
called Richard Thomas is quoted as saying, in about 1841 in Victoria, Australia, that he had witnessed Aboriginal
people playing the game: "Mr Thomas describes how the foremost player will drop kick a ball made from the skin of
a possum and how other players leap into the air in order to catch it." Some historians have theorised that Marn
Grook was one of the origins of Australian rules football.
The Māori in New Zealand played a game called Ki-o-rahi consisting of teams of seven players play on a circular field
divided into zones, and score points by touching the 'pou' (boundary markers) and hitting a central 'tupu' or target. [
Games played in Mesoamerica with rubber balls by indigenous peoples are also well-documented as existing
since before this time, but these had more similarities to basketball or volleyball, and no links have been
found between such games and modern football sports. Northeastern American Indians, especially
the Iroquois Confederation, played a game which made use of net racquets to throw and catch a small ball;
however, although it is a ball-goal foot game, lacrosse (as its modern descendant is called) is likewise not
usually classed as a form of "football.
Globalisation of association football
The need for a single body to oversee association football had become apparent by the beginning of the 20th
century, with the increasing popularity of international fixtures. The English Football Association had chaired many
discussions on setting up an international body, but was perceived as making no progress. It fell to associations from
seven other European countries: France, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland, to form
an international association. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was founded in Paris on
May 21, 1904. Its first president was Robert Guérin. The French name and acronym has remained, even outside
French-speaking countries.

Basketball
Basketball is a limited contact sport played on a rectangular court. While most often played as a team sport with five
players on each side, three-on-three, two-on-two, and one-on-one competitions are also common. The objective is
to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches (46 cm) in diameter and 10 feet (3.048 m) high that is mounted to
a backboard at each end of the court. The game was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith.
A team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the basket being defended by the opposition team during
regular play. A field goal scores three points for the shooting team if the player shoots from behind the three-point
line, and two points if shot from in front of the line. A team can also score via free throws, which are worth one point,
after the other team is assessed with certain fouls. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but
additional time (overtime) is mandated when the score is tied at the end of regulation. The ball can be advanced on
the court by passing it to a teammate, or by bouncing it while walking or running (dribbling). It is a violation to lift, or
drag, one's pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling.
The game has many individual techniques for displaying skill—ball-handling, shooting, passing, dribbling, dunking,
shot-blocking, and rebounding. Basketball teams generally have player positions, the tallest and strongest members
of a team are called a center or power forward, while slightly shorter and more agile players are called small forward,
and the shortest players or those who possess the best ball handling skills are called a point guard or shooting guard.
The point guard directs the on court action of the team, implementing the coach's game plan, and managing the
execution of offensive and defensive plays (player positioning).
Basketball is one of the world's most popular and widely viewed sports. The National Basketball Association (NBA) is
the most popular and widely considered to be the highest level of professional basketball in the world and NBA
players are the world's best paid athletes by average annual salary per player . Outside North America, the top clubs
from national leagues qualify to continental championships such as the Euroleague and FIBA Americas League.
The FIBA Basketball World Cup is the major international competition of the sport and attracts the top national teams
from around the world. Each continent hosts regional competitions for national teams, like EuroBasket and FIBA
Americas Championship.

The FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup features the top national women's basketball teams from
continental championships. The main North American league is the WNBA, whereas the EuroLeague
Women has been dominated by teams from the Russian Women's Basketball Premier League.
History
In early December 1891, Canadian Dr. James Naismith, a physical education professor and instructor at the
International Young Men's Christian Association Training School (YMCA) (today, Springfield College)
in Springfield, Massachusetts, was trying to keep his gym class active on a rainy day. He sought a vigorous indoor
game to keep his students occupied and at proper levels of fitness during the long New England winters. After
rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and nailed
a peach basket onto a 10-foot (3.0 m) elevated track. In contrast with modern basketball nets, this peach basket
retained its bottom, and balls had to be retrieved manually after each "basket" or point scored; this proved inefficient,
however, so the bottom of the basket was removed,[6] allowing the balls to be poked out with a long dowel each time.
Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball. These round balls from "association football" were made, at the
time, with a set of laces to close off the hole needed for inserting the inflatable bladder after the other sewn-together
segments of the ball's cover had been flipped outside-in.[7][8] These laces could cause bounce passes and dribbling to
be unpredictable.[9] Eventually a lace-free ball construction method was invented, and this change to the game was
endorsed by Naismith. (Whereas in American football, the lace construction proved to be advantageous for gripping
and remains to this day.) The first balls made specifically for basketball were brown, and it was only in the late 1950s
that Tony Hinkle, searching for a ball that would be more visible to players and spectators alike, introduced the
orange ball that is now in common use. Dribbling was not part of the original game except for the "bounce pass" to
teammates. Passing the ball was the primary means of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but
limited by the asymmetric shape of early balls. Dribbling only became a major part of the game around the 1950s [as
manufacturing improved the ball shape.
The peach baskets were used until 1906 when they were finally replaced by metal hoops with backboards. A further
change was soon made, so the ball merely passed through. Whenever a person got the ball in the basket, his team
would gain a point. Whichever team got the most points won the game.[10] The baskets were originally nailed to the
mezzanine balcony of the playing court, but this proved impractical when spectators in the balcony began to interfere
with shots. The backboard was introduced to prevent this interference; it had the additional effect of allowing rebound
shots.[11] Naismith's handwritten diaries, discovered by his granddaughter in early 2006, indicate that he was nervous
about the new game he had invented, which incorporated rules from a children's game called duck on a rock, as
many had failed before it.
Frank Mahan, one of the players from the original first game, approached Naismith after the Christmas break, in early
1892, asking him what he intended to call his new game. Naismith replied that he hadn't thought of it because he had
been focused on just getting the game started. Mahan suggested that it be called "Naismith ball", at which he
laughed, saying that a name like that would kill any game. Mahan then said, "Why not call it basketball?" Naismith
replied, "We have a basket and a ball, and it seems to me that would be a good name for it. The first official game
was played in the YMCA gymnasium in Albany, New York, on January 20, 1892, with nine players. The game ended
at 1–0; the shot was made from 25 feet (7.6 m), on a court just half the size of a present-day Streetball or National
Basketball Association (NBA) court.
At the time, football was being played with 10 to a team (which was increased to 11). When winter weather got too icy
to play football, teams were taken indoors, and it was convenient to have them split in half and play basketball with
five on each side. By 1897–1898 teams of five became standard.

Social Forms of Basketball

 Recreational basketball, where fun, entertainment and camaraderie rule rather than winning a game;
 Basketball Schools and Academies, where students are trained in developing basketball fundamentals,
undergo fitness and endurance exercises and learn various basketball skills. Basketball students learn proper
ways of passing, ball handling, dribbling, shooting from various distances, rebounding, offensive moves,
defense, layups, screens, basketball rules and basketball ethics. Also popular are the basketball
camps organized for various occasions, often to get prepared for basketball events, and basketball clinics for
improving skills.
 College and University basketball played in educational institutions of higher learning.

American Football

American football, referred to as football in the United States and Canada, and also known as "gridiron football" or
simply "gridiron", is a sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end.
The offense, the team with control of the oval-shaped football, attempts to advance down the field by running with
or passing the ball, while the team without control of the ball, the defense, aims to stop their advance and take control
of the ball for themselves. The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs, or plays, or else they turn
over the football to the opposing team; if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs. Points are primarily
scored by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the
opponent's goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins.
American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports of association football and rugby football.
The first game of American football was played on November 6, 1869, between two college
teams, Rutgers and Princeton, under rules based on the association football rules of the time.During the latter half of
the 1870s, colleges playing association football switched to the Rugby Union code, which allowed carrying the ball. A
set of rule changes drawn up from 1880 onward by Walter Camp, the "Father of American Football", established
the snap, eleven-player teams, and the concept of downs; later rule changes legalized the forward pass, created
the neutral zone, and specified the size and shape of the football.

American football as a whole is the most popular sport in the United States. The most popular forms of the
game are professional and college football, with the other major levels being high school and youth football.
As of 2012, nearly 1.1 million high school athletes and 70,000 college athletes play the sport in the United
States annually, almost all of them men, with a few exceptions. The National Football League, the most
popular American football league, has the highest average attendance of any professional sports league in
the world; its championship game, the Super Bowl, ranks among the most-watched club sporting events in
the world, and the league has an annual revenue of around US$10 billion.
History
Early history
American football evolved from the sports of association football (soccer) and rugby football. Rugby football, like
American football, is a sport where two competing teams vie for control of a ball, which can be kicked through a set of
goalposts or run into the opponent's goal area to score points.
What is considered to be the first American football game was played on November 6,
1869 between Rutgers and Princeton, two college teams. The game was played between two teams of 25 players
each and used a round ball that could not be picked up or carried. It could, however, be kicked or batted with the feet,
hands, head or sides, with the ultimate goal being to advance it into the opponent's goal. Rutgers won the game 6
goals to 4. Collegiate play continued for several years in which matches were played using the rules of the host
school. Representatives of Yale, Columbia, Princeton and Rutgers met on October 19, 1873 to create a standard set
of rules for all schools to adhere to. Teams were set at 20 players each, and fields of 400 by 250 feet (122 m × 76 m)
were specified. Harvard abstained from the conference, as they favored a rugby-style game that allowed running with
the ball.
An 1875 Harvard-Yale game played under rugby-style rules was observed by two impressed Princeton athletes.
These players introduced the sport to Princeton, a feat the Professional Football Researchers Association compared
to "selling refrigerators to Eskimos."[10] Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Columbia then agreed to intercollegiate play
using a form of rugby union rules with a modified scoring system.[11] These schools formed the Intercollegiate Football
Association, although Yale did not join until 1879. Yale player Walter Camp, now regarded as the "Father of American
Football", secured rule changes in 1880 that reduced the size of each team from 15 to 11 players and instituted
the snap to replace the chaotic and inconsistent scrum.

Teams and positions

A football game is played between two teams of 11 players each. Playing with more on the field is punishable by a
penalty. Teams may substitute any number of their players between downs; this "platoon" system replaced the
original system, which featured limited substitution rules, and has resulted in teams utilizing specialized offensive,
defensive and special teams squads.
Individual players in a football game must be designated with a uniform number between 1 and 99. NFL teams are
required to number their players by a league-approved numbering system, and any exceptions must be approved by
the Commissioner. NCAA and NFHS teams are "strongly advised" to number their offensive players according to a
league-suggested numbering scheme.
Offensive unit
The role of the offensive unit is to advance the football down the field with the ultimate goal of scoring a touchdown
The offensive team must line up in a legal formation before they can snap the ball. An offensive formation is
considered illegal if there are more than four players in the backfield or fewer than five players numbered 50–79 on
the offensive line.[30][41][42] Players can temporarily line up in a position whose eligibility is different from what their
number permits as long as they immediately report the change to the referee, who then informs the defensive team of
the change.[43] Neither team's players, with the exception of the snapper, are allowed to line up in or cross the neutral
zone until the ball is snapped. Interior offensive linemen are not allowed to move until the snap of the ball

Defensive unit
The role of the defense is to prevent the offense from scoring by tackling the ball carrier or by
forcing turnovers(interceptions or fumbles).
The defensive line (DL) consists of defensive ends (DE) and defensive tackles (DT). Defensive ends line up on the
ends of the line, while defensive tackles line up inside, between the defensive ends. The primary responsibilities of
defensive ends and defensive tackles is to stop running plays on the outside and inside, respectively, to pressure the
quarterback on passing plays, and to occupy the line so that the linebackers can break through.
Tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that can be played individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of
two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow
rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent's court. The object of the game is to play the
ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return. The player who is unable to return the ball will
not gain a point, while the opposite player will.
Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society and at all ages. The sport can be played by anyone
who can hold a racket, including wheelchair users. The modern game of tennis originated in Birmingham, England, in
the late 19th century as "lawn tennis". It had close connections both to various field ("lawn") games such
as croquet and bowls as well as to the older racket sport of real tennis. During most of the 19th century, in fact, the
term "tennis" referred to real tennis, not lawn tennis: for example, in Disraeli's novel Sybil (1845), Lord Eugene De
Vere announces that he will "go down to Hampton Court and play tennis."
The rules of tennis have changed little since the 1890s. Two exceptions are that from 1908 to 1961 the server had to
keep one foot on the ground at all times, and the adoption of the tiebreak in the 1970s. A recent addition to
professional tennis has been the adoption of electronic review technology coupled with a point challenge system,
which allows a player to contest the line call of a point, a system known as Hawk-Eye.

Tennis is played by millions of recreational players and is also a popular worldwide spectator sport. The four Grand
Slam tournaments (also referred to as the "Majors") are especially popular: the Australian Open played on hard
courts, the French Open played on red clay courts, Wimbledon played on grass courts, and the US Open played also
on hard courts.
History
Historians believe that the game's ancient origin lay in 12th century northern France, where a ball was struck with the
palm of the hand.[3] Louis X of France was a keen player of jeu de paume ("game of the palm"), which evolved
into real tennis, and became notable as the first person to construct indoor tennis courts in the modern style. Louis
was unhappy with playing tennis outdoors and accordingly had indoor, enclosed courts made in Paris "around the
end of the 13th century".[4] In due course this design spread across royal palaces all over Europe.[4] In June 1316
at Vincennes, Val-de-Marne and following a particularly exhausting game, Louis drank a large quantity of cooled wine
and subsequently died of either pneumonia or pleurisy, although there was also suspicion of poisoning.[5] Because of
the contemporary accounts of his death, Louis X is history's first tennis player known by name.[5] Another of the early
enthusiasts of the game was King Charles V of France, who had a court set up at the Louvre Palace.
It wasn't until the 16th century that rackets came into use, and the game began to be called "tennis", from
the French term tenez, which can be translated as "hold!", "receive!" or "take!", an interjection used as a call from the
server to his opponent.[7] It was popular in England and France, although the game was only played indoors where
the ball could be hit off the wall. Henry VIII of England was a big fan of this game, which is now known as real
tennis.[8] During the 18th and early 19th centuries, as real tennis declined, new racket sports emerged in England.
Further, the patenting of the first lawn mower in 1830, in Britain, is strongly believed to have been the catalyst,
worldwide, for the preparation of modern-style grass courts, sporting ovals, playing fields, pitches, greens, etc. This in
turn led to the codification of modern rules for many sports, including lawn tennis, most football codes, lawn bowls
and others.

Equipment
Part of the appeal of tennis stems from the simplicity of equipment required for play. Beginners need only
a racket and balls.
Rackets
The components of a tennis racket include a handle, known as the grip, connected to a neck which joins a roughly
elliptical frame that holds a matrix of tightly pulled strings. For the first 100 years of the modern game, rackets were
made of wood and of standard size, and strings were of animal gut. Laminated wood construction yielded more
strength in rackets used through most of the 20th century until first metal and then composites of carbon graphite,
ceramics, and lighter metals such as titanium were introduced. These stronger materials enabled the production of
oversized rackets that yielded yet more power. Meanwhile, technology led to the use of synthetic strings that match
the feel of gut yet with added durability.
Under modern rules of tennis, the rackets must adhere to the following guidelines;

 The hitting area, composed of the strings, must be flat and generally uniform.
 The frame of the hitting area may not be more than 29 inches (74 cm) in length and 12.5 inches (32 cm) in width.
 The entire racket must be of a fixed shape, size, weight, and weight distribution. There may not be any energy
source built into the rackets.
 The rackets must not provide any kind of communication, instruction or advice to the player during the match.
The rules regarding rackets have changed over time, as material and engineering advances have been made. For
example, the maximum length of the frame had been 32 inches (81 cm) until 1997, when it was shortened to 29
inches (74 cm).
Many companies manufacture and distribute tennis rackets. Wilson, Head and Babolat are some of the more
commonly used brands; however, many more companies exist.[ The same companies sponsor players to use these
rackets in the hopes that the company name will become more well known by the public.

Balls
Tennis balls were originally made of cloth strips stitched together with thread and stuffed with feathers.Modern tennis
balls are made of hollow vulcanized rubber with a felt coating. Traditionally white, the predominant colour was
gradually changed to optic yellow in the latter part of the 20th century to allow for improved visibility. Tennis balls
must conform to certain criteria for size, weight, deformation, and bounce to be approved for regulation play. The
International Tennis Federation (ITF) defines the official diameter as 65.41–68.58 mm (2.575–2.700 in). Balls must
weigh between 56.0 and 59.4 g (1.98 and 2.10 oz).Tennis balls were traditionally manufactured in the United
States and Europe. Although the process of producing the balls has remained virtually unchanged for the past 100
years, the majority of manufacturing now takes place in the Far East. The relocation is due to cheaper labour
costs and materials in the region.

Grand Slam tournaments

The four Grand Slam tournaments are considered to be the most prestigious tennis events in the world. They are
held annually and comprise, in chronological order, the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US
Open. Apart from the Olympic Games, Davis Cup, Fed Cup, and Hopman Cup, they are the only tournaments
regulated by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The ITF's national associations, Tennis Australia (Australian
Open), the Fédération Française de Tennis (French Open), the Lawn Tennis Association (Wimbledon) and the United
States Tennis Association (US Open) are delegated the responsibility to organize these events.
Aside from the historical significance of these events, they also carry larger prize funds than any other tour event and
are worth double the number of ranking points to the champion than in the next echelon of tournaments, the Masters
1000 (men) and Premier events(women). Another distinguishing feature is the number of players in the singles draw.
There are 128, more than any other professional tennis tournament. This draw is composed of 32 seeded players,
other players ranked in the world's top 100, qualifiers, and players who receive invitations through wild cards. Grand
Slam men's tournaments have best-of-five set matches while the women play best-of-three. Grand Slam tournaments
are among the small number of events that last two weeks, the others being the Indian Wells Masters and the Miami
Masters.
Currently, the Grand Slam tournaments are the only tour events that have mixed doubles contests. Grand Slam
tournaments are held in conjunction with wheelchair tennis tournaments and junior tennis competitions. These
tournaments also contain their own idiosyncrasies. For example, players at Wimbledon are required to wear
predominantly white. Andre Agassi chose to skip Wimbledon from 1988 through 1990 citing the event's traditionalism,
particularly its "predominantly white" dress code. Wimbledon has its own particular methods for disseminating tickets,
often leading tennis fans to follow complex procedures to obtain tickets

Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points
by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.[1] It has been a part of the official program of
the Summer Olympic Games since 1964.
The complete rules are extensive, but simply, play proceeds as follows: a player on one of the teams begins a 'rally'
by serving the ball (tossing or releasing it and then hitting it with a hand or arm), from behind the back boundary line
of the court, over the net, and into the receiving team's court. The receiving team must not let the ball be grounded
within their court. The team may touch the ball up to 3 times but individual players may not touch the ball twice
consecutively. Typically, the first two touches are used to set up for an attack, an attempt to direct the ball back over
the net in such a way that the serving team is unable to prevent it from being grounded in their court.
The rally continues, with each team allowed as many as three consecutive touches, until either (1): a team makes
a kill, grounding the ball on the opponent's court and winning the rally; or (2): a team commits a fault and loses the
rally. The team that wins the rally is awarded a point, and serves the ball to start the next rally. A few of the most
common faults include:

 causing the ball to touch the ground or floor outside the opponents' court or without first passing over the net;
 catching and throwing the ball;
 double hit: two consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same player;
 four consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same team;
 net foul: touching the net during play;
 foot fault: the foot crosses over the boundary line when serving.
The ball is usually played with the hands or arms, but players can legally strike or push (short contact) the ball with
any part of the body.

A number of consistent techniques have evolved in volleyball, including spiking and blocking (because
these plays are made above the top of the net, the vertical jump is an athletic skill emphasized in the sport)
as well as passing, setting, and specialized player positions and offensive and defensive structures.
History
Origin of volleyball
On February 9, 1895, in Holyoke, Massachusetts (United States), William G. Morgan, a YMCA physical education
director, created a new game called Mintonette, a name derived from the game of badminton, as a pastime to be
played (preferably) indoors and by any number of players. The game took some of its characteristics
from tennis and handball. Another indoor sport, basketball, was catching on in the area, having been invented just ten
miles (sixteen kilometers) away in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, only four years before. Mintonette was
designed to be an indoor sport, less rough than basketball, for older members of the YMCA, while still requiring a bit
of athletic effort.
The first rules, written down by William G Morgan, called for a net 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) high, a 25 ft × 50 ft (7.6 m
× 15.2 m) court, and any number of players. A match was composed of nine innings with three serves for each team
in each inning, and no limit to the number of ball contacts for each team before sending the ball to the opponents'
court. In case of a serving error, a second try was allowed. Hitting the ball into the net was considered a foul (with
loss of the point or a side-out)—except in the case of the first-try serve.

After an observer, Alfred Halstead, noticed the volleying nature of the game at its first exhibition match in
1896, played at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfield College), the game quickly
became known as volleyball (it was originally spelled as two words: "volley ball"). Volleyball rules were
slightly modified by the International YMCA Training School and the game spread around the country to
various YMCAs.
Strategy

Player specialization
There are 5 positions filled on every volleyball team at the elite level. Setter, Outside Hitter/Left Side Hitter, Middle
Hitter, Opposite Hitter/Right Side Hitter and Libero/Defensive Specialist. Each of these positions plays a specific, key
role in winning a volleyball match.

 Setters have the task for orchestrating the offense of the team. They aim for second touch and their main
responsibility is to place the ball in the air where the attackers can place the ball into the opponents' court for a
point. They have to be able to operate with the hitters, manage the tempo of their side of the court and choose
the right attackers to set. Setters need to have swift and skillful appraisal and tactical accuracy, and must be
quick at moving around the court.
 Liberos are defensive players who are responsible for receiving the attack or serve. They are usually the
players on the court with the quickest reaction time and best passing skills. Libero means 'free' in Italian—they
receive this name as they have the ability to substitute for any other player on the court during each play. They
do not necessarily need to be tall, as they never play at the net, which allows shorter players with strong passing
and defensive skills to excel in the position and play an important role in the team's success. A player
designated as a libero for a match may not play other roles during that match. Liberos wear a different color
jersey than their teammates.
 Middle blockers or Middle hitters are players that can perform very fast attacks that usually take place near
the setter. They are specialized in blocking, since they must attempt to stop equally fast plays from their
opponents and then quickly set up a double block at the sides of the court. In non-beginners play, every team
will have two middle hitters.
 Outside hitters or Left side hitters attack from near the left antenna. The outside hitter is usually the most
consistent hitter on the team and gets the most sets. Inaccurate first passes usually result in a set to the outside
hitter rather than middle or opposite. Since most sets to the outside are high, the outside hitter may take a longer
approach, always starting from outside the court sideline. In non-beginners play, there are again two outside
hitters on every team in every match.
 Opposite hitters or Right-side hitters carry the defensive workload for a volleyball team in the front row. Their
primary responsibilities are to put up a well formed block against the opponents' Outside Hitters and serve as a
backup setter. Sets to the opposite usually go to the right side of the antennae.
At some levels where substitutions are unlimited, teams will make use of a Defensive Specialist in place of or in
addition to a Libero. This position does not have unique rules like the libero position, instead, these players are used
to substitute out a poor back row defender using regular substitution rules. A defensive specialist is often used if you
have a particularly poor back court defender in right side or left side, but your team is already using a libero to take
out your middles. Most often, the situation involves a team using a right side player with a big block who must be
subbed out in the back row because they aren't able to effectively play back court defense. Similarly, teams might use
a Serving Specialist to sub out a poor server situationally.
Swimming

Swimming is an individual or team sport that involves using arms and legs to move the body through water.
Typically, the sport takes place in pools or in open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one
of the most popular Olympic sports,with events in butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle,
and individual medley. In addition to these individual events, swimmers take part in relays. Swimming each
stroke requires specific techniques, and in competition, there are specific regulations concerning the
acceptable form for different strokes. There are also rules put in place to regulate what types
of swimsuits are allowed at competitions. Although it is possible for competitive swimmers to incur several
injuries from the sport, there are also multiple health benefits associated with the sport.
History
Evidence of recreational swimming in prehistoric times has been found, with the earliest evidence dating to Stone
Age paintings from around 10,000 years ago. Written references date from 2000 BC, with some of the earliest
references to swimming including the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Bible, Beowulf, the Quran and others. In 1538, Nikolaus
Wynmann, a German professor of languages, wrote the first book about swimming, The Swimmer or A Dialogue on
the Art of Swimming (Der Schwimmer oder ein Zweigespräch über die Schwimmkunst).
Swimming emerged as a competitive recreational activity in the 1830s in England. In 1828, the first indoor swimming
pool, St George's Baths was opened to the public.[3] By 1837, the National Swimming Society was holding regular
swimming competitions in six artificial swimming pools, built around London. The recreational activity grew in
popularity and by 1880, when the first national governing body, the Amateur Swimming Association was formed,
there were already over 300 regional clubs in operation across the country.
In 1844 two Native American participants at a swimming competition in London introduced the front crawl to a
European audience. Sir John Arthur Trudgen picked up the hand-over stroke from some South American natives and
successfully debuted the new stroke in 1873, winning a local competition in England. His stroke is still regarded as
the most powerful to use today.
Captain Matthew Webb was the first man to swim the English Channel (between England and France), in 1875.
Using the breaststroke technique, he swam the channel 21.26 miles (34.21 km) in 21 hours and 45 minutes. His feat
was not replicated or surpassed for the next 36 years, until T.W. Burgess made the crossing in 1911.
Other European countries also established swimming federations; Germany in 1882, France in 1890 and Hungary in
1896. The first European amateur swimming competitions were in 1889 in Vienna. The world's first women's
swimming championship was held in Scotland in 1892.
Men's swimming became part of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens. In 1902, the
Australian Richmond Cavill introduced freestyle to the Western world. In 1908, the world swimming
association, Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA), was formed. Women's swimming was introduced into the
Olympics in 1912; the first international swim meet for women outside the Olympics was the 1922 Women's
Olympiad. Butterfly was developed in the 1930s and was at first a variant of breaststroke, until it was accepted as a
separate style in 1952.

Elite and international swimming

Open water swimming

Open water swimming is swimming outside a regular pool, usually in a lake, or sometimes ocean. Popularity of the
sport has grown in recent years, particularly since the 10 km open water event was added as an Olympic event in
2005, contested for the first time in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
New recent technology has developed much faster swimsuits. Full body suits have been banned, but swimmers at
the very top levels still wear suits that have been lasered together because stitching creates drag. The disadvantage
of these suits is that they are sometimes uncomfortable and tight.

The largest Ocean Swim's in terms of numbers of participants are in Australia, with the Pier to Pub, Cole
Classic and Melbourne Swim Classic all with roughly 5000 swimming participants.
Changes to the sport
Swimming times have dropped over the years due to superior training techniques and new technical developments.
The first four Olympics were not held in pools, but in open water (1896 – the Mediterranean, 1900 – the Seine river,
1904 – an artificial lake, 1906 – the Mediterranean). The 1904 Olympics' freestyle race was the only one ever
measured at 100 yards, instead of the usual 100 meters. A 100-meter pool was built for the 1908 Olympics and sat in
the center of the main stadium's track and field oval. The 1912 Olympics, held in the Stockholm harbor, marked the
beginning of electronic timing.[
Male swimmers wore full-body suits until the 1940s, which caused more drag in the water than their modern
swimwear counterparts experience. Competition suits now include engineered fabric and designs to reduce
swimmers' drag in the water and prevent athlete fatigue. In addition, over the years, pool designs have lessened the
drag. Some design considerations allow for the reduction of swimming resistance, making the pool faster. These
include proper pool depth, elimination of currents, increased lane width, energy absorbing racing lane lines and
gutters, and the use of other innovative hydraulic, acoustic, and illumination designs. There have been major changes
in starting blocks over the past years. Starting blocks used to be small, narrow and straight [27] but through time they
have become bigger and wider and nowadays the surface of the block is angled towards the swimming pool. [28] In
addition, starting blocks now have a "wedge" which is a raised, slanting platform situated at the rear of the main
block. This enables the swimmer to adopt a crouched position at a 90 degrees angle and push off quicker with the
rear leg to increase their launch power.
The 1924 Summer Olympics were the first to use the standard 50-meter pool with marked lanes. In the freestyle,
swimmers originally dove from the pool walls, but diving blocks were incorporated at the 1936 Summer Olympics.
The tumble turn was developed by the 1950s and goggles were first used in the 1976 Olympics.
There were also changes in the late 20th century in terms of technique. Breaststrokers are now allowed to dip their
heads completely under water to glide, which allows for a longer stroke and faster time. However, the
breaststrokers must bring their heads up at the completion of each cycle. In addition, a key hole pull in the
breaststroke start and turns has been added to help speed up the stroke. There have been some other changes
added recently[when?] as well. Now off the start and turns, breaststrokers are allowed one butterfly kick to help increase
their speed. Backstrokers are now allowed to turn on their stomachs before the wall in order to perform a "flip-turn".
Previously, they had to reach and flip backwards and a variation of it, known as a "bucket turn" or a "suicide turn", is
sometimes used in individual medley events to transition from backstroke to breaststroke.

Health Benefits
Swimming is a healthy workout that can be done for a lifetime. It is a low-impact activity that has several mental and
bodily health benefits, that is a recreational motion for everyone. Swimming can provide a low-impact workout.
Swimming builds endurance, muscle strength, and cardiovascular fitness.

The US Census Bureau reports that two and a half hours per week of aerobic physical activity such as
swimming can decrease the risk of chronic illnesses. Along with this, swimming is linked to better cognitive
function, lower risk of type 2 diabetes, lower risk of high blood pressure, and lower risk of stroke. People are
typically able to exercise longer in water than on land without increased effort, and minimal joint or muscle
pain
Common injuries
Due to continuous rotation and usage, the shoulder (rotator cuff) is the joint most susceptible to injury in swimmers.
As opposed to a single incident, injury to the rotator cuff in swimmers is a result of repeated trauma and overuse. The
joint is most prone to injury when the arm is repetitively used in a position above the horizontal. This position occurs
in each of the four swimming strokes in every cycle of the arms. Of the four muscles and tendons of the rotator cuff,
the injury, or tear, is most likely to occur in the tendon of the supraspinatus. Rotator cuff impingement is due to
pressure on the rotator cuff from part of the scapula as the arm is raised.
The best way to prevent injury is to diagnose the issue early. Typically, poor technique and excessive use without
rest are the primary causes of injury. Through communication between swimmers, coaches, parents, and medical
professionals, any issue can be diagnosed prior to more serious injury. Additionally, proper warm-up and strength
training exercises should be completed before any rigorous movements.
In treating a rotator cuff injury, the most important factor is time. Due to the nature of the joint being primarily
stabilized by muscle and tendon, the injury must be fully healed to prevent recurrence. Returning to swimming or
other demanding exercises too soon will likely result in degeneration of a tendon eventually resulting in a rupture.
During the rehabilitation period, focus should be placed on rotator cuff and scapular strengthening.