When people think of sports, they think of a scoring system that usually involves a ball and a goal or net of some sort. The less likely it seems that there is an official scoring system, the less likely people are to perceive it as an actual sport.

The Google definition of a sport is “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.” But then why are some physical demanding activities such as horseback riding, figure skating, and roller derby not considered sports? They are composed of individuals or teams that compete against each other. These might be uncommon sports, but they still fit under the definition.

People still argue that in horseback riding the rider is just sitting there while the horse does all the work, or that the figure skater is not doing anything physical, or that roller derby is just roller skating in circles and shoving people.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary has a few definitions of a sport: “contest or game in which people do certain physical activities according to a specific set of rules and compete against each other; a physical activity (such as hunting, fishing, running, swimming, etc.) that is done for enjoyment; physical activity engaged in for pleasure; a particular activity (as an athletic game) so engaged in.”

In all of the definitions, a sport is defined as a physical activity. One sport that is not always recognized as a sport is roller derby. Amanda Bandera, Div. 859, joined a roller derby team in Hyde Park last year in February. Her interest in roller derby sparked when she watched the movie “Whip It.” She thought she had to wait until she was 18 to join a team but she got a flyer at her middle school, Murray Language Academy, about the team and decided to join.

“You kind of have to have the track to [practice] and equipment involved like wrist guards, mouth guards, elbow pads,” Bandera said. So there are good reasons that it might not be offered as a high school team sport, but it is still a sport.

“It’s a sport because it involves competition and training like any other sport,” Bandera said. “People don’t view it as a sport because it’s not common. It’s not like you can flip to a random channel and watch roller derby. I wish I could but the only games I have ever seen were in person.”

Horseback riding is another sport that can be perceived as not very physically engaging.

Bridget O’Donnell, Div. 759, has been riding horses for the past six years and recently got her own horse, a warm-blood quarter horse, Frankie. She started riding when she and her family were visiting her lake house in Wisconsin and went on a trail ride there.

Horseback riders do a lot of work even though may not seem like it.

“People think we just sit there,” O’Donnell said. “When in reality we do more work than anyone else in sports. We have the legs of a runner, the strength of a boxer, and the endurance of a cross country star. People don’t consider it a sport because they only see the surface, which is ‘just sitting there’.”

O’Donnell says that this sport also requires a lot more time and dedication than some sports. Because it is also a more expensive sport, it is hard to stay dedicated to it. But O’Donnell has stayed dedicated to it because of her friends, her family and her horse.

“You’re not only paying for your lessons but you’re also paying for the horse to be able to ride the horse and care for the horse,” Haila Hassan, Div. 571, said. “You need more for it, like time, space, dedication. It’s not just the riding.”

Hassan, who has been horseback riding since she was in seventh grade, agrees that horseback riding can be perceived as “just sitting there and the horse doing all the work.”

“Just like any other sport it involves a lot of mental game and definitely physical activity,” Hassan said. “You have to communicate with the horse…You’re not the only one doing it. It’s not like you and some inanimate object. The horse is doing work, but you’re doing equal if not more work than the horse.”

Horseback riding is not just about a certain muscle strength that you need to have. It engages all muscles and your brain. You need to know how to communicate with an animal that does not understand words Hassan says.

“It’s definitely different from other sports and that it just involves communication with an animal rather than a person,” Hassan said.

But she does understand how it can look like the rider is not doing much work.

“The movements they do are very subtle,” Hassan said. “But as a rider, you know that they’re very particular and specific movements. So I can see how people interpret it that way.”

I know that these movements do not always have to be obvious, they may be as slight as the rider tightening or loosening their grip on the reins. Horse’s mouths are very sensitive so hand and arm movements do not have to be very strong, just firm.

Just like most physical activities, it’s a break from hectic lives and keeps you focused on something else rather than

something stressful that’s been on your mind lately, like finals.

“It’s like any other sport. You need to be involved in the sport mentally, so you’re not thinking about your school

work, or something else,” Hassan said. “So it’s kind of like a break. It’s different with a horse because you have to be in

the game when you’re with the horse or else it probably won’t go well.”

Julia Burbano, Div. 574, says that figure skating is a sport because it is an individual sport. Burbano started figure skating when she was three years old and has continued to skate for the past 14 years. It started when she and her family would go to the public skates at skating rinks.

Her older sister now coaches figure skating and her older brother plays hockey.

Mrs. Darbyshire, a forensic science and chemistry teacher, figure skates as well. She first started figure skating when her mom and aunt took her to a frozen-over parking lot. Now, she has been figure skating for the past 27 years.

“It’s a very graceful sport,” Darbyshire said. The job of a figure skater is to make it look easy even though it’s incredibly difficult, people don’t realize that. People look at it and go, ‘Oh it didn’t take her any effort so it shouldn’t take me any effort.’ And then they go out and try it and fall on their face.”

Just like Burbano, Darbyshire knows how much work goes into being a figure skater.

“You don’t practice three times a week to play a game at the end of the week,” Burbano said. “You practice to prepare for large events and competitions, not just weekly games. It’s not a usual team sport at schools because it’s a competitive sport and it takes a lot of practice, persistence, dedication and it’s not something that can be easily taught in a school setting.”

Sports are not just physical activities, they are activities that involve a person physically and mentally. They don’t always need a direct scoring system or a ball and a net. Some sports are made to look easy and effortless. Sports are different and just because it looks easy, does not mean it is not a sport.