. Association football, shown above, is a team sport which also provides social
actions. A 'sport' is commonly defined as an organized, competitive, and skillful
physical activity requiring commitment and fair play. It is governed by a set of
rules or customs. In a sport the key factors are the physical capabilities and
skills of the competitor when determining the outcome (winning or losing). The
physical activity involves the movement of people, animals and/or a variety of
objects such as balls and machines. In contrast, games such as card games and
board games, though these could be called mind sports, require only mental
skills. Non-competitive activities such as jogging and rock-climbing, are
usually classified as recreations. Physical events such as scoring goals or crossing a line first often define the
result of a sport. However the degree of skill in some sports such as diving,
dressage and figure skating is judged according to well-defined criteria. This
is in contrast with other judged activities such as beauty pageants and body-
building shows, where skill does not have to be shown and the criteria are not
as well defined. Accurate records are kept and updated for most sports at the highest levels,
while failures and accomplishments are widely announced in sport news. Sports
are most often played just for fun or for the simple fact that people need
exercise to stay in good physical condition. However professional sport is a
major source of entertainment. Although they do not always succeed, sports participants are expected to display
good sportsmanship, standards of conduct such as being respectful of opponents
and officials, and congratulating the winner when losing.
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