Team sport
Team sport refers to sports that are practiced between opposing teams, where the players interact directly and simultaneously between them to achieve the objective, such as in
football ,
cricket,
baseball,
handball,
hockey,
basketball and
volleyball. The term is used to distinguish itself from
individual sports which are based soley on individuals' merit, i.e. most
raquet sports,
boxing or
Martial arts) and individual timed races . However, racing sports like swimming, cross country, and track and field are also contested as team sports, especially scholastically.
Encyclopedia
Team sport refers to sports that are practiced between opposing teams, where the players interact directly and simultaneously between them to achieve the objective, such as in
football ,
cricket,
baseball,
handball,
hockey,
basketball and
volleyball. The term is used to distinguish itself from
individual sports which are based soley on individuals' merit, i.e. most
raquet sports,
boxing or
Martial arts) and individual timed races . However, racing sports like swimming, cross country, and track and field are also contested as team sports, especially scholastically. Although they differ in many ways from ball sports, teamwork and team scoring play a major part in these competitions. As with other team sports, scoring relies on the depth and versatility of the team, although standouts can significantly affect their team's points.
Most team sports involve a
ball or other object. In some sports such as football,
basketball or hockey, the teams contend for possession of the object, which must be passed through some sort of
goal; in other sports, such as volleyball, the teams pass the object back and forth in an attempt to place it in contact with a certain area of the playing field or court. Baseball, as well as similar sports which use a bat to strike at the ball, is relatively unique in that the team playing defense controls the ball, with the team attempting to score trying to propel the ball away from themselves while the players themselves attempt to reach a specified goal.
Relay and
pairs events are not considered team sports.
"This is a team sport!" is a negative criticism, implying selfish play, often heard in sports such as soccer, basketball and ice hockey, when the players go for individual plays rather than acting collectively through teamwork.
