Tag Archives: sport

Ballet in the Whole

One topic I am very passionate about is Ballet. Ballet has many types of styles inside of it, including Story Ballets, Classical Ballets, Neo-classical Ballets and Contemporary Ballets. One of the highest levels of Ballet is being a principal dancer of a professional Ballet company. Some of the best ballet schools and companies are the Royal Ballet, Joffrey Academy of Dance, American Ballet Theatre, The Juilliard School and Paris Opéra Ballet School. One interesting fact is that the first professional ballet dancers were De Lafontaine or Mademoiselle De Lafontaine. All in all Ballet has a lot of variety and is a very old concept.

My view on Ballet is that it is a traditionally a very classical art that has turn into more of a sport. Throughout the years ballet has become more athletic. In the beginning ballet was mainly for the royal and was used for parties and celebrations. Currently ballet has loads of variety. One day a dancer could be performing a contemporary ballet and the next day performing a classical ballet. One of the main reasons why ballet has become more athletic is that wearing pointe shoes has become more popular for female dancers. These shoes are used to put the dancer on the top of their toes, they are a satin shoe with a hard toe and a hard shank. In conclusion ballet went from a traditional dance for Royals to a athletic performance technique.

~Brianna

Golf is it a sport or does it fall short?

Golf is a game that can be traced back to the 1400’s. Truley a game that has been around for hundreds of years. Yet today there is a controversy weather golf is a sport or not. Golf is a game where you have a small white ball about the size of a donut hole. The ultimate goal of the sport is too get the ball in the hole in as few tries as possible. Yet as we said earlier is golf really a sport? Or is it just a game? It matches both definitions but what which one does it match best?

                                  golf ball

Golf in my opinion is definitely a sport. I personally believe it matches the definition of a sport more than a game. In the definition of sport it says that a sport must be physically exerting and it must take skill. If you had never played golf before than you’d probably think it was a game and does not take much skill because so many people of all ages play it. Well it does take skill because of the fact that you have to have the right technique to hit the ball. It it is physically exerting because it puts wear and tear on the muscles that you use to hit the ball. You also can’t forget about the fact that without a cart you are walking an extremely far distance and without a caddie you also have a giant bag you have to carry which is also physically exerting. Those are my thoughts on why golf is a sport rather than a game.

~Jack

Skiing

 

Skiing is a wonderful activity for anybody and of any age. People ski for exercise, fun, pleasure, competition, etc.  Skiing is a sport where you go down a mountain covered in snow on two skis with bindings attached to boots where your feet go in. Poles are used to mark your turn when carving down the mountain. Skiing dates back all the way to 6000 B.C.  Now I tell you skis have changed in style since then! Old skis used to be very tall and straight, all wooden making it harder but more challenging. Skis now are mostly parabolic, smaller, lighter, ski boots more improved, and better edges for a better turning radius.

For skiing I prefer park skiing (freestyle skiing). Park skiing includes jumps and rails. Jumps you can go off of and do tricks and the rail you go on them and grind them with the bottom of your skis! I personally like to use twin tip skis when park skiing. Twin tip skis have the same front and back so if you put them together it looks like you are on a cylinder almost. I enjoy twin tips because you can ride backwards and land backwards off jumps or rails. You can’t believe the thrill of going off a jump and feeling like you’re flying through the air!

~Jared

Livin Laxin Chillin

 The rules of women’s lacrosse differ significantly from men’s lacrosse and are specifically designed to allow less physical contact between players. As a result of the lack of contact, the only protective equipment required is eyewear and a mouth guard. The pockets of women’s sticks are shallower than those of the men, making the ball harder to catch and more difficult to shoot at high speed. Women play with three attackers (or “homes”), five midfielders (or “middies”), three defenders (starting from the back, called “point”, “cover point”, and “third man”), and one goalie. Seven players play attack at one time and seven defenders are present. There is a restraining line that keeps the other four players (plus the goalie) from going into the attack. If those players cross the line, they are considered offsides and a penalty is given.

Lacrosse is my main sport and is very full of contact but not as much as men’s lacrosse.   The sport contains lots of hard training and lots of running involved. This sport is one of the best and most popular sports out there, so many people have joined clubs, teams, etc. Trying lacrosse is a great idea, but before you get to the practices… be in shape it’s not as easy as if you weren’t in shape.

~Vicki Palmer

Making a mark in the Field Hockey World

Have you ever thought of becoming a professional athlete? Well I have. I have had a passion for for field hockey the day I started playing. Even though field hockey isn’t a popular sport and isn’t on ESPN, doesn’t mean it isn’t a professional sport. It is a big event in the Olympics and is very popular in Europe. The US women have not won many Olympic medals in field hockey but they have gotten better over the years. Here are the results of their current 2012 season. Usa womens schedule and results for 2012 It shows they are increasingly getting better even in just one season.
I want to be apart of the amazing experience of being on the national team. The sport comes very natural to me and I think that I should keep practicing hard so I get good enough to become a professional. Many people do not get the chance to do this but I think if anyone works hard enough, they may be able to reach their goal. It is my dream of making it that far and I will do whatever it takes to get their. I will make my mark in the field hockey world.

~Sarah Pierpont

The Ongoing Conflict: Cheerleading, is it a sport or not?

Athletes lift weights, but cheerleaders lift athletes, so why isn’t it considered a sport? Athletic experts have argued for ages about whether or not cheerleading is a sport. Some people believe cheerleading calls for vigorous strength, and constant activity; others believe it is a silly hobby. Aisha Harris states, “The 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld a 2010 ruling against Quinnipiac University, which found that cheerleading is not a varsity sport under Title IX. The issue arose in 2009 when the university replaced the women’s volleyball team with competitive cheerleading, which the U.S. District Court found to be an inadequate swap.” They believe that since cheerleading is not an olympic event, it should not be considered a sport. Also, experts think there is already a sport just like cheerleading which calls for women of strength and flexibility…gymnastics. Cheerleading not only meets, but surpasses the athletic element of being a sport, therefore, it is mind boggling as to why experts will not agree to officially call it one.

As time goes on, the physical requirements of being a part of a cheerleading team increases. Participants need the strength to lift other athletes higher than their heads, the flexibility to do all sorts of tumbling, and the mentality to work as a team remembering every movement on its exact count while working your hardest to please the on-looking fans or judges. Experts say it is not a sport because it is all about pleasing your audience, looking as flirty and pretty as possible with the makeup you wear and the short skirts over spandex. Even though the stereotypical statement points out that cheerleaders try to look better than other athletes while performing, it doesn’t have anything to do with the amount of work they are exerting to stay in position and on count. Cheerleading takes time, effort, and commitment. Whoever thinks learning how to do a round-off, back handspring, back tuck is easy…they should try it themselves, maybe that would give them an idea of the work required to be a cheerleader. Nobody knows what goes on behind the scenes when entire pyramids start to collapse, and everybody to work as a team to keep it up without showing worry, unease, or a slight glimpse of struggle. If experts think most sports should have an element of physical contact, believe me, there is enough of it in cheerleading. People do not realize the amount of scrapes, bruises, bloody noses, and concussions participants go through to get to the end of their routine. Cheerleaders are full of strength, flexibility, grace, and charm; if somebody asks why I think cheerleading is a sport, I’ll show them my routine and tell them to fill my position the next time around.

 ~Alexis Yamin

Longboarding

Longboarding has been spreading throughout our country and  is becoming a passion for many skaters.  Longboarding consists of many different styles. There’s free style, free riding and downhill.  Freestyle is more like skate boarding.  Usually people that do freestyle can do kickflips ollies and even tre flips.  Free riding consists of slides.  A slide is when you rotate your board around.  Your wheels slide. If you want to see some slides and some freestyle click  here. Downhill is pretty much in the name.  You bomb down hills at great speed .  When I say bomb I mean tucking and going straight down hills.

Longboarding is a very fun hobby.  This is mainly why I do it.  But, there is a closely wound community behind it.  We tend to hate on each other’s styles but at the end of the day we are all longboarders and we support each other.  It’s a great feeling when you know you have a huge international group behind you and your hobby.  For many longboarding is a type of transportation.  For others it is a sport.  And to others it is their life.  I hope that I don’t fall into the life category because its a hard life.  In  longboarding, there is always going to be someone better than you and faster than you, but it’s the heart thats make millions.

~James Marinaccio