Phenomenon of Sport and Game in Culture

Sport and game are related very closely in semantic space, they can be used as synonyms both in scientific and common discourses. However, they are quite distinct as phenomena of perception and we can draw a clear border between two of them. Whilst game (and play) is a product of nature, a phenomenon which takes its roots in a biological world (Homo sapiens are not the only animals that can play), the sport is related to culture and can be understood as a wide set of practices established to exercise competing activity in socially and culturally structured way. Even if sport is only viewed in context of physical activity, one still cannot agree that sport belong to phenomena of nature, since this activity means training, and training implicates a purpose and means to reach it, and the purpose is surely formed by culture, and also from the culture the means are taken. Sport and game are related through culture and by looking at characteristics of game in general and various games in cultures in particular, we can move closer to understanding
the nature of sport, maybe, quite literally.