Whether it is playing catch with your father, making your first sports team at school, or simply frolicking outside with neighborhood friends, these events are centered on sports, not virtual sports. There is a fine line between the two.
According to Dr. Ralph Richards the Senior Research Consultant for the Australian Sports Commission, sport is by definition “an activity involving physical exertion, skill and or hand-eye coordination as the primary focus of the activity, with elements of competition where rules and patterns of behavior governing the activity exist formally through organizations” (Richards, R., 2015). Examining the attributes of virtual sports will …show more content…
We are currently in the midst of a major boom in popularity of virtual gaming and it shows no signs of stopping. A recent study estimates that 93 million Americans regularly partake in traditional sports, but more than twice that number —194 million—regularly play video games. That 's 61% of the population (Apstein, S., 2015). Consequently, I commend our school for facing the issue with appropriate concern and respect. The fact of the matter is that virtual sports are here to stay. It is our job to manage their existence efficiently to fully utilize their benefits and diminish their detriments as much as …show more content…
If we can manufacture a healthy, affordable, and educational method in which to incorporate virtual gaming as a complement to physical education than we can help garner more attention around physical activity. Selecting the appropriate games can ensure that students will be able to improve many skills and facets of educational development that may often be ignored in our current curriculum. Improved literacy, attention spans, reaction time, and higher-level thinking are examples of educational characteristics that can be obtained or further developed through certain videogames (Rai, L., & Yan, G. 2009).
The ongoing debate regarding the categorization of virtual gaming as a sport or not, is unnecessary. Ultimately whether e-Sports are considered a hobby, a competition, a sport, or simply a video game is not as important as their actual involvement in our lives. Like everything in life there are pro’s and con’s to virtual sports. If we can correctly harness the benefits of virtual gaming whilst minimizing the drawbacks, then the program should exist beyond its trialed period and serve as supplement to existing sporting programs going forward at our