Quote:
Originally Posted by JamesBrown
There are also schools that award letters for Robotics.
There is nothing that says Varsity letters must be given to sports teams. Varsity recognition is commonly given to the top team as an acknowledgement that they are the ones who officially represent that school in competition. Most commonly this looks at sports but certainly the definition could be extended to any athletic or academic team.
Just because someone (or some group) thinks it is a sport doesn't mean it is a sport (Fallacy of Appeal to Authority as your varsity debaters would tell you). I would be willing to bet that whoever wrote the justification to give Varsity letters to those students didn't use the arguement "It is a sport because talking, gesturing and writing all expend energy, therefore there is physical exertion, therefore it is a sport".
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Now who's lawyering...
I'm kidding, don't worry.
I looked up the definition of a varsity letter, and it is awarded for excellence in school activities. My assumption that it was awarded to sports teams was incorrect.
I like your terms "athletic team" and "academic team." Do only athletic teams participate in sports or can academic teams participate in sports? Can there be some overlap? Maybe we need a Venn diagram...
I like mathking's example of precision shooting. I assume there is no significant stamina or endurance required, but it is considered an Olympic sport. FRC demands fine motor control and precise machine operation similar to shooting that other games do not (I'm looking at you Chris_is_me). Does the demand of good hand-eye coordination and fine motor skill qualify FRC as a sport? Does the fact that this machine exists in reality, rather than virtually (I'm thinking of video games here) make it a sport?