Sport or not?

[acdcfan259]

Originally Posted by m3ch4num470r

If you could teach all of chess in one hour, how come the best computers can be beaten by people with a lifetime of training? The truth is, Chess requires almost as much training as baseball.

A little off topic, but I couldn't let that go unchallenged.

I think everyone blew that out of proportion. I don't think he necessarily meant they're going to be a world-class chess player, just that they would know how to play.

[ComradeNikolai]

Originally Posted by acdcfan259

I think everyone blew that out of proportion. I don't think he necessarily meant they're going to be a world-class chess player, just that they would know how to play.

You can learn how to play baseball, however, in just as little time, if not less.

[jimbot]

FIRST is a sport, robotics is not a sport. Robotics is a field of science. First is taking this field of science and placing a competitive twist on it.

The definition of a sport states that it is a event requiring the use of physical skills or MENTAL skills. any person who has played a sport knows its not just your physical skills. If you have no clue what to do when competing, then you will fail. All of my coaches have told me that soccer is 10% physical, 90% mental.

if you consider the level of mental power we put into First then it can equal other non-physical sports like chess or NASCAR. (You compete so they are a sport in my mind).

[SlaminSwimster]

i write this as i watch the olympics. I believe that a sport is something where an athlete pushes his or her body to a certain limit in order 2 accomplish a certain task. in which case FIRST is not a sport. However, in this world poker and nascar are considered sports. in that case FIRST beyond a doubt is a sport.

[Andrew Schreiber]

I would specify FIRST as a sport. But that is because I feel that a sport is a competition, either between you and another, your team and another, or yourself and yourself. Any competition is, in my opinion a sport.

The other part of my response is a question, why does it matter if FIRST is a sport?

[acdcfan259]

Originally Posted by Damien1247

The other part of my response is a question, why does it matter if FIRST is a sport?

Because it's not build season.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Damien1247

The other part of my response is a question, why does it matter if FIRST is a sport?

I don't know that it matters regarding some of the chit chat aspect of it that is in threads in CD. How it does matter is in the way FIRST is being marketed and promoted globally on all levels. Promoting science and technology with the end goal of having more scientists, technologists, and engineers available to help develop solutions to our world problems and create opportunities for our global future is a challenge. My personal views towards FIRST being a sport or not really don't matter when I am acting as a representative of FIRST in the role of mentor or volunteer. What matters in those roles is that I am mirroring the goals, mission statement, and promotional concept of FIRST that are stated in the FIRST website. If I don't, then my attempts to promote FIRST could conflict, causing confusion.

There is a saying that I'll probably mess up but it goes something like - you can't fit a square peg in a round hole. I rather think of FIRST as adding that triangular shape that fits in neither but adds/enhances/creates opportunity. We can't quite define FIRST according to past standards and traditions, because it is shaping the future and does not conform to today's model of sports. And does it need to? Do teams that play basketball or football, submit Chairman's Award or Woodie Flowers essays? FIRST is broader than sports as we know them. Not better - broader, wider, with enormous impact potential on our present and our future, globally (and beyond).

[catsylve]

While I would like to say that defining robotics as a sport would help to put it on a level of funding and acceptance with the sports in our schools, I don't believe that this will solve the problem. We have an activities director at our school who is supposed to be responsible for ALL activities. However, if you are not involved in soccer, basketball, or especially football, you may as well not exist.

We cannot even get permission to use the gym without a tremendous fight. We bring more good attention to the school in a week than the sports teams in a month. I have tried from the beginning to help them understand that we are a team in the true sense of the word, but we are only viewed as an after school activity.

The point is that the definition of a sport or not is probably an outdated idea that holds many teams in FIRST back. It really doesn't matter. This program benefits kids as much as any athletic program. We do not promote the criticism and winner take all attitude that most sports do. Whether we define robotics as a sport or not will not change the lives of kids as much as redefining the sports we already have. Keep the integrity of your program uppermost and the definition really won't matter.