No one can say when sports first emerged, but the fact that children have included sports in their play activities for centuries is an indication that they have existed for as long as humans have played games. Many prehistoric artifacts depict hunters, chasing their prey with glee. Ancient civilizations incorporated hunting as an end in itself, with rich iconographic and literary evidence. Today, it is a popular pastime that can be enjoyed by a wide range of people.
Sport is usually governed by rules and customs that provide consistency in adjudication of who wins. In some sports, such as horse racing and golf, the winner is determined by a set of objective and subjective measures, which may not be related to the sport. As a result, the term “sport” is used to describe many forms of physical activity. However, the word “sport” refers to a broad range of activities that are organized around the same basic structure.
Sports also differ from one another by the degree of organisation. Organised sports are often more complex, more competitive, and more organized. While traditional sports may be dominated by competitions between people of the same gender, social sports have varied motivations at their core. A good way to distinguish between different types of sport is to look at the structure of the sport. The goal of organized sport is to promote a certain type of physical activity. But, if a sport is social, it can be described as a social activity with varying motivations.