Sports include many different forms of physical activity. Sports can be played to entertain an audience or bring out the competitive side of the sports participants. Some people play sports to keep in the best possible physical shape and others play sports in the hopes of getting a college scholarship. 

Some sports require a team effort and others pit one individual against another. One of the most popular sports is football. Football requires a team of players who will play against another team. The goal of the game is to get the football across the goal line.  There are plenty of other players in the game who are trying to keep the one with the ball from crossing the line. It is sport that is played by males, often starting in high school. Many good high school football players will be recruited by various colleges to play of their team. If they accept the offer of the college, they will receive a scholarship to help them with their college tuition and expense. Some lucky football players go on to play professional football for the National Football League (NFL). 

Another popular sport is baseball. Young children usually start off playing softball. The game is basically the same except for the ball. Softball, as you might guess, has a softer ball than baseball. Softball is played by both male and females, but a team does not usually mix the two together. When the males grow older they advance on to baseball while females usually stick with softball. 

Baseball is another sport that starts in high school and advances on to college. After college there are professional baseball teams that rival the popularity of professional football. 

Both football and baseball require players to be in optimum physical health. Both are considered to be contact sports that require a great degree of skill and a lot of physical activity. Both games require running with a great deal of speed. Workouts for football and baseball can be grueling since both are often played during warm weather. 

Playing sports of all types date back as far as 2000 BC. The official meaning of the work sports means leisure in English. An older definition is “anything humans find amusing or entertaining. 

Another reason people play sports is to learn the ethical behavior of good sportsmanship. Two football players on opposite teams will go head to head but when one of them is down the other one will lend them a hand to get up. Even though they are playing against each other, they exhibit respect for each other. Sports are designed to teach ethics that will carry the sportsman through life. It also teaches ethical behavior to those who are on the sidelines watching the game. They all want their particular team to win but they will gladly congratulate the opposite team on their win.

 Sports of all types teach competitive skills and keep the mind and body sharp. The help teach lifetime skills of fitness and working well with others. The skills gained by playing sports will carry the player throughout their entire life.