Professional Athletes: A True Sport

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Throughout the years, people have been debating as to whether or not cheerleaders, equestrians, and many other groups are true athletes in a recognized sport. Nowadays, people would not dare to tell a cheerleader that what they do is not a sport. As technology has become a larger part of people’s daily lives, a new group has been brought into question and highly debated over. Professional gaming is starting to become a real, prosperous part of society, yet many people still feel as though esports athletes are lazy and 40 year old losers living with their parents. Too many people are stuck on the fact that gamers sit at a computer for a large portion of their day. Imagining someone who sits at a computer all day quickly leads people to the …show more content…

According to the Oxford dictionary, a sport is “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment”. Many people will say that because there is no physical element to esports, it cannot be considered a true sport. Although I do concede that professional gamers spend hours sitting in chairs, there are still physical elements to esports. For example, an esports athlete still can get injuries that can prematurely end their gaming careers. In order to prevent injuries, there are stretches and warm ups that must be done before a big game. There are also other physical elements to esports. Not only is the amount of cortisol produced the same amount as a race car driver, but the heart can also beat as high as 160 times per minute, which is the same for a marathon runner (Welle). Many people think of esports games being very individualistic, but worldwide, people pay money to go to an arena and watch competitions. If people are paying money to watch, then there also has to be coaches, sponsors, contracts, lawyers, and merchandise just like for the NFL (Aaron). Every professional team now has coaches, some even have more than one, which was not always the case. As the intensity of esports increased worldwide, professional coaches became necessities for every team seeking success. As said in the definition of sports, there must be a …show more content…

Why should we, the people of the United States, not validate what gamers are doing? Again and again, people biasedly go along with their beliefs about professional gamers without ever considering the other side. If gamers are willing to work for it, why shouldn’t they be recognized as athletes? Saying that gamers aren’t athletes and that what they do is not important is like saying that Babe Ruth was not a tremendous athlete without ever trying to hit a baseball themselves, which I doubt many people would try to make a case for. While gaming is a sedentary activity, there are physical elements to it that many people choose to not notice. Whether a majority of the population sees gaming as a sport or not, there is still such a large number of people invested in it. The people who do choose to take advantage of the gaming industry will prosper as technology continues to be a huge part of our society. Like other sports such as the X Games, cheerleading, dance team, and much more, esports have to earn their title as a sport. As we start to normalize esports in society, the United States’ gaming industry will continue to grow and prosper. If you are not familiar with gaming, I know it is easy to not care. In order to understand the slightest bit about what it really is that

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