Team sport

Cricket is a popular team sport played at international level

A team sport includes any sport which involves players working together towards a shared objective.

A team sport is an activity in which a group of individuals, on the same team, work together to accomplish an ultimate goal which is usually to win. This can be done in a number of ways such as outscoring the opposing team. Team members set goals, make decisions, communicate, manage conflict, and solve problems in a supportive, trusting atmosphere in order to accomplish their objectives. This can be seen in sports such as basketball, volleyball, water polo, handball, lacrosse, cricket, baseball, and the various forms of football and hockey amongst others.

Every team sport is different. Some team sports are practiced between opposing teams, where the players interact directly and simultaneously between them to achieve an objective. The objective generally involves teammates facilitating the movement of a ball or similar object in accordance with a set of rules, in order to score points. This usually involves careful strategic planning, good preparation, and a mental and physical toughness of each individual that is part of the team. Team sports rely on all of the players working together equally in order to succeed at the task at hand. Being part of a team sport requires that each athlete has patience and perseverance since the goals put forth to accomplish might take some time to meet. This involves a good deal of dedication, hard work, and good leadership over that span of time.

However, other types of team sports do not involve teammates facilitating the movement of a ball or similar item in accordance with a set of rules, in order to score points. For example, swimming, rowing, sailing, dragon boat racing, and track and field among others are also team sports. In other types of team sports there may not be an opposing team or point scoring, for example, mountaineering. Instead of points scored against an opposing team, the relative difficulty of the climb or walk is the measure of the achievement.

Olympic team sports

Six team sports are currently on the program of the Olympic Games; rugby sevens will debut in the Olympics in 2016. Cricket's inclusion in the 2024 Summer Olympics depends on the decision of the International Cricket Council and its members.[1]

Ice hockey and curling are the only team sports at the Winter Olympics.

All Olympic team sports include competitions for both men and women.

Sport Men Women
First edition Editions First edition Editions
Rugby union at the Summer Olympics Paris 1900 5 Rio de Janeiro 2016 1
Football at the Summer Olympics Paris 1900 25 Atlanta 1996 5
Field hockey at the Summer Olympics London 1908 21 Moscow 1980 8
Basketball at the Summer Olympics Berlin 1936 17 Montreal 1976 9
Volleyball at the Summer Olympics Tokyo 1964 12 Tokyo 1964 12
Handball at the Summer Olympics Berlin 1936 11 Montreal 1976 9
Water polo at the Summer Olympics Paris 1900 26 Sydney 2000 4
Ice hockey at the Winter Olympics Chamonix 1924 21 Nagano 1998 4
Curling at the Winter Olympics Chamonix 1924 5 Nagano 1998 4

Notes

  1. ↑ Cricket edges closer to Olympic roster by AFP. Retrieved on 13 FEB 2010.

See also

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Team sports.