Sports have dominated the world of entertainment ever since the first sporting event took place, specifically, the same few popular sports played on repeat. However, like everything else, the realm of sports must continue to grow and adapt to continue holding their currency and interest for all audiences watching.
This fact is visible in as little of a thing as the implication of the pitch timer in baseball. An implication where a 30-second timer is placed between batters and a 15-second timer between pitches if no runner is on base (20 seconds if any base has a player) in an effort to create a quicker pace of play, according to the MLB website. Reflecting that even a sport once regarded as the most popular in America now requires additional rules for increased viewer retention.
While people may not notice it, sports have to adapt and keep up with the times just as everything else, now more than ever. In previous times, the only sports people could play were sports of sheer basic athleticism like running, swimming, wrestling, and weight lifting, simply because those were the sports that were available. Nowadays, a person can open their computer and within 10 minutes sign up to play any sport imaginable, all the way from gymnastics to chess-boxing.
At WHHS alone, this fact is very apparent, considering this is the first year where many sports, such as water polo and field hockey, can get you a gym waiver, raising the question of what is so different from these new-age sports, compared to the classics that have defined the word for generations.
“Water polo is kind of a mix of a bunch of other sports,” Fiona Manders, ‘27, said. “It uses basically all the muscles in your body, which is like swimming, but it’s not just laps back and forth. It’s more like playing soccer with your hands.”
The process of initiating a sport at WHHS is often complex. Students seeking representation of their activity as well as times and places to play must first get it approved as a club.
Several clubs are in the midst of trying to become a sport. One such club, striving to become official in order to get equal credit for their hard work, is Ultimate Frisbee.
“Ultimate Frisbee is about communities and making new friends,” Carina Dinardo, ‘25, said. “Because sometimes it’s not too competitive, It’s usually like you’re kind of there to have a good time.”
Milam Jenkins, ‘25, is currently motivated to see pickleball represented in the WHHS community after developing a love for it over the summer.
“I got into pickleball because of my dad,” Jenkins said. “He worked a gig filming a pickleball tournament in downtown Cincinnati this past spring and he told me all about how I should try this sport. For my birthday I got two paddles and two balls and we played.”
Sports will continue to adapt and change in similar ways. Ideas and interests will pop up, leading to the actualization of many new sports in the future. This fact will be reflected within the WHHS community, as interests turn into clubs and eventually into the possibility of becoming deemable enough as a sport in the eyes of the school district.This opens the question of just how far the possible options for physical fitness and well-being can extend one day.