The basis of what the public considers a sport in our modern day is much different from what was considered sport years ago. However, the core principles of what makes a sport have not changed. These traits include things such as endurance, precision, mental strength, physical strength, perseverance, dedication, and knowledge.

These traits are the foundation of what makes a sport and create a competitive environment. The reason why the basis of what the public considered a sport in our modern day and age is solely the social acceptance of certain types of sports and the adaptation of technology, which in turn has released more sports on an electronic level.

Essentially, sports has not only been at the physical level, but has expanded to the electronic level with E-Sports. E-Sports has rapidly been increasing in popularity amongst millennials. E-Sports share the same principles as that of standards sports, but in different ways. E-Sports is very comparable to that of chess, since one needs to look at all the pieces on the board and utilize their positioning in the most optimal way possible. E-Sports will eventually have the same representation as sports in the upcoming decades to come as exposure of E-Sports increases.

Modern Day Sports

The most popular sports have already been established, and a large quantity of the sports that are showcased in the Olympics have been static for a long time. There have been many attempts at creating new sports involving different types of rules or are inspired by other sports, however, none have truly risen to the same level of that of basketball, football, or baseball.

The only difference of today’s sport compared to the past is the mentality of players from then and now. Players in certain sports of the past could win alone from sheer talent. However, nowadays, to win in a sport, you must have multiple strong players, bench players, and synergy to win games consistently. For example, one can look at the levels of the Cavaliers and the Warriors in the NBA in 2017, where both teams have taken strong rosters and have tried to take over the league and win championships. Whereas, in the past, Michael Jordan could be the best player in the league and use his strength to make his teammates around him better and win championships off of sheer talent.

Sports of today have much more exposure than they did in the past, since they are always on television or streamed online. Sports have a large influence on our lives and change how we interact with one another. Friends can bond by playing sports with one another or can relate with one another through sports. Although, sports are not the only way to bond with or relate to one another nowadays with the rise of e-sports.

Modern Day E-Sports

A stadium full of viewers about to watch the League of Legends World Championships (source: www.sportingnews.com)

E-Sports have risen to high levels of popularity amongst millennials, since most people of our day and age can relate to playing videogames. E-Sports essentially takes competitive and popular games and displays professional players who play the game at high levels. Surprisingly, people have grown fond of E-Sports amongst millennials, since these players are playing the game that people love to play at a higher level, which in turn is an enjoyable watching experience for the viewer.

There are two separate categories for E-Sports, which includes your standard E-Sports and speedrunning. However, the more popular of the two is E-Sports; speedrunning is a different category since it is more of an underground sport, not so known by the public. Speedrunning entails that a player completes a game as fast as possible. The speedrunning community is generally helpful and try to help one another out.

The reason why E-Sports has rapidly grown ever since its creation spawns from the passion within the community. Professional players spend hours of time training to optimize their gameplay within their game, and have grown to make it a lifestyle for themselves. The passion that comes from the professional players stems to the viewer, giving the viewer adrenaline and excitement as they watch the game being played.

Tying in what we know now

Disabled woman participating in a tennis match (source: www.womenssportsfoundation.org)

Overall, sports of our day and age have come to be since players of any sports is passionate about what they do and play the game at a high level. Viewers relate to the players typically from experience of playing the game or being fascinated at the high level of play displayed amongst the players.

The main difference of what makes a sport nowadays compared to the past is technology of today, which has inherently created E-Sports. Standard sports of today have already been refined, which means that creating a new sport today would be extremely difficult to do. However, strangely enough, E-Sports does not tend to struggle with creating a new sport since a new sport within E-Sports is contingent on game developers creating games that would in turn be mainstream and then be turned into a competitive sport, which incentivizes players to play at a more serious level at the given game.

Sports bring people together and help relate others to one another. Sports will adapt now and will continue to adapt in the future, most likely from the advancement of technology and the change in norms within society. One can only hope that sports only continues to grow since they bring joy to people’s lives and are a part of our everyday life.