Team sport

From Encyclopedia Jr, free information reference for Kids

Women's Australian rules football is a team sport.

Team mates cooperate to beat the other team

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 (in its various forms), 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 (such as may occur in athletics or swimming). 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 (usually the most skilled) go for individual plays rather than acting collectively through teamwork.