What makes FRC a sport?

[JamesCH95]

Whoever thinks that FRC is not physically demanding has not done it before. There are few times I sleep so soundly as I do after an FRC build season and regional.

I imagine these are the same people who don't think racing (cars) is a sport. I've had to be pulled out a car by my teammates because I was so exhausted at the end of an endurance stint.

I say this being a collegiate athlete in soccer, volleyball, and ultimate frisbee, as well as an FRC driver and race car driver, and alpine ski racing in HS. All of these are sports in their own right, all are physically demanding (especially if you take them seriously), all are mentally demanding, all are highly competitive. All require a focused strategy, focus, control, creativity, and a dash of luck.

These are all sports in my opinion, having competed in them at highly demanding levels.

[JamesBrown]

Originally Posted by JamesCH95

Whoever thinks that FRC is not physically demanding has not done it before. There are few times I sleep so soundly as I do after an FRC build season and regional.

There is a huge differense between something being tiring and some thing requiring "physical exertion" as the definition of sport states. I don't argue at all that build season and competitions where you down, however it is not because I am physically exerting my self.

[JamesCH95]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

Is NASCAR racing a sport?

It requires significant physical fitness to maintain brain function, let alone lightning-fast reflexes, in sustained 3g turns for several hours at a time (not to say they drivers experience 3gs for the entirety of the race, just during the long turns). Add onto that a giant weight strapped to your head (helmet) and steering effort and you've got a very physically demanding activity.

Originally Posted by JamesBrown

There is a huge differense between something being tiring and some thing requiring "physical exertion" as the definition of sport states. I don't argue at all that build season and competitions where you down, however it is not because I am physically exerting my self.

I mean this as an honest question: have you ever been a student driver?

I thought that being a driver was physically demanding. It certainly got my heart rate up and exercised my circulatory system. Picking up and moving the robot over and over is quite an exercise, although arguably a side-effect of FRC and not directly part of the competition.