Recreation and Sport, whilst very similar in some aspects, are actually very different from one and other. Some people enjoy sports, some recreation and some both, but different things and activities define each.

Recreation

Recreation is the fun expenditure of time in a manner designed for therapeutic refreshment, generally of both body and mind. While leisure is a more likely form of entertainment or sleep, recreation is active for the participant, but in a refreshing and diverting manner. As people in the world’s wealthier regions lead increasingly sedentary lifestyles, the need for recreation has increased greatly, so a rise in active and recreational vacations has exemplified this.

Organized recreation

Recreation can become an organized activity by local governments and for – profit enterprises. Local Governments often create parks boards and/or community centers for the area’s disposal. Growing interest and funding via grants and taxation can revenue and staff organised sports, at-risk-youth activities, arts and crafts and senior citizen activities. Several U.S. state governments operate recreation programs for. Other possible benefits include reduced healthcare costs.

Recreational Careers

Becoming a recreation specialist often requires a Bachelor of Arts degree in recreation management. A recreation specialist would be expected to meet the recreational needs of a community or assigned interest group. People with such degrees often work in parks and recreation centers in towns, on community projects and activities. Networking with instructors, budgeting, and evaluation of continuing programs are common job duties. Most U.S. states have a professional organization for continuing education and certification in recreation management. The National Recreation and Park Association administers an examination called the CPRP (Certified Park and Recreation Professional) that is considered a national standard for professional recreation specialist practices.

Recreational Activities

Taking part in a recreational activity will often mean to appreciate it or practice it. The most common types of recreational activities include:

Art
Computer Games
Cycling
Dancing
Drawing
Eating and Drinking
Going to the beach
Hobbies
Humor, jokes, riddles, anecdotes
Hunting and Fishing
Kite flying
Martial arts
Music
Painting
Partying
Pet Ownership
Reading a book
Sledding
Shopping
Singing
Spending time with friends and loved ones
Sports and exercise
Travel and tourism
Using the internet
Video games
Visiting an amusement park
Watching movies
Writing
Yoga

In recent years, more exciting forms of recreation have received more attention, such as skiing, snowboarding, bungee jumping, sky diving, hang gliding, paintball, rock climbing, backpacking, canyoning, caving, BASE jumping, adventure tourism and motor sport.

Sports

A sport is commonly defined as an organized, competitive, and skilful physical activity requiring commitment and fair play. It is governed by a set of rules or customs. In a sport the key factors are the physical capabilities and skills of the competitor when determining the outcome. The physical activity involves the movement of people, animals and/or a variety of objects such as balls and machines. In contrast, games such as card games and board games, though these could be called mind sports, require only mental skills. Non-competitive activities such as jogging and rock-climbing are usually classified as recreations.

Physical events such as scoring goals or crossing a line first often define the result of a sport. However the degree of skill in some sports such as diving, dressage and figure skating is judged according to well-defined criteria. This is in contrast with other judged activities such as beauty pageants and body-building shows, where skill does not have to be shown and the criteria are not as well defined.

Accurate records are kept and updated for most sports at the highest levels, while failures and accomplishments are widely announced in sport news. Sports are most often played just for fun or for the simple fact that people need exercise to stay in good physical condition. However professional sport is a major source of entertainment.

Although they do not always do so, sports participants are expected to display good sportsmanship, standards of conduct such as being respectful of opponents and officials, and congratulating the winner when losing.

The History of Sport

There are artefacts and structures that suggest that the Chinese engaged in sporting activities as early as 4000 BC. Gymnastics appears to have been a popular sport in China’s ancient past. Monuments to the Pharaohs indicate that a number of sports, including swimming and fishing, were well-developed and regulated several thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt. Other Egyptian sports included javelin throwing, high jump, and wrestling.

A wide range of sports were already established by the time of Ancient Greece and the military culture and the development of sports in Greece influenced one another considerably. Sports became such a prominent part of their culture that the Greeks created the Olympic Games, which in ancient times were held every four years in a small village in the Peloponnesus called Olympia.

Sports have been increasingly organized and regulated from the time of the Ancient Olympics up to the present century. Industrialization has brought increased leisure time to the citizens of developed and developing countries, leading to more time for citizens to attend and follow spectator sports, greater participation in athletic activities, and increased accessibility. These trends continued with the advent of mass media and global communication. Professionalism became prevalent, further adding to the increase in sports’ popularity, as sports fans began following the exploits of professional athletes through radio, television, and the internet—all while enjoying the exercise and competition associated with amateur participation in sports.

Sport and Art

Sports have many affinities with art. Ice skating and Tai chi, and Dancesport for example, is sports that come close to artistic spectacles in themselves. Similarly, there are other activities that have elements of sport and art in their execution, such as artistic gymnastics, Bodybuilding, Parkour, performance art, Yoga, bossaball, dressage, culinary arts, etc. Perhaps the best example is Bull-fighting, which in Spain is reported as arts when mentioned in the newspapers. The fact that art is so close to sports in some situations Is probably related to the nature of sports. The definition of ‘sports’ above put forward the idea of an activity pursued not just for the usual purposes, for example, running not simply to get places, but running for its own sake, running as well as we can.

In the same way, a sporting performance such as jumping doesn’t just impress us as being an effective way to avoid obstacles or to get across streams. It impresses us because of the ability, skill, and style which is shown. Art and sports were probably more clearly linked at the time of Ancient Greece, when gymnastics and calisthenics invoked admiration and aesthetic appreciation for the physical build, prowess and ‘arete’ displayed by participants.

Spectator Sport

Sport is also, and quite often, played in front of an audience as a form of entertainment for the spectators. Most professional sport is played in a theatre of some kind, often such as a stadium, a golf course, a race track or even the open road for the paying public to see.

Large television or radio audiences are also commonly attracted, with rival broadcasters bidding large amounts of money for the ‘rights’ to show certain fixtures. The football World Cup attracts a global television audience of hundreds of millions; the 2006 Final alone attracted an estimated worldwide audience of well over 700 million. In the United States, the championship game of the NFL, the Super Bowl, has become one of the most watched television broadcasts of the year. Super Bowl Sunday is a de facto national holiday in America; the viewership being so great that in 2007 advertising space was reported as being sold at $2.6m for a 30 second slot.