List of sports
The following is a list of sports/games, divided by category.
According to the World Sports Encyclopedia (2003), there are 8,000 indigenous sports and sporting games.[1]
Physical sports
Acro sports
- Breakdancing
- Cheerleading
- Competitive dancing
- Dancesport
- Freerunning
- Gymnastics
- High kick
- Parkour
- Stunt
- Trampolining
Air sports
Ball-over-net games
Basketball family
Bat-and-ball
- Baseball
- Baseball5
- Softball
- 16-inch softball
- Fast-pitch softball
- Bat and trap
- British baseball – four posts
- Brännboll – four bases
- Corkball – four bases (no base-running)
- Cricket – two creases
- 100-ball cricket
- Backyard, Beach and Street cricket
- Blind cricket
- Club cricket
- Deaf cricket
- First-class cricket
- French cricket
- Ice cricket
- Indoor cricket
- Indoor cricket (UK variant)
- Kilikiti
- Kwik cricket
- Last man stands cricket
- Limited overs cricket
- List A cricket
- One-armed versus one-legged cricket
- One Day International
- Short form cricket
- Single wicket/Double wicket
- Tape ball cricket
- Tennis ball cricket
- Test cricket
- Trobriand cricket
- Twenty20
- Twenty20 International
- T10 cricket
- Windball cricket
- Danish longball
- Elle
- Kickball
- Lapta – two salos (bases)
- The Massachusetts Game – four bases
- Matball
- Oina
- Old cat – variable
- Over-the-line – qv
- Palant
- Pesäpallo – four bases
- Punchball
- Rounders – four bases or posts
- Scrub baseball – four bases (not a team game per se)
- Stickball – variable
- Stool ball – two stools
- Tee-ball
- Town ball – variable
- Vigoro – two wickets
- Wireball
- Wiffleball
Baton twirling
Color guard
- Color guard (flag spinning)
- Rifle spinning
- Air blade spinning
- Sabre spinning
Board sports
Sports that are played with some sort of board as the primary equipment.
Catching games
- Dodgeball
- Frisbee
- Ga-ga
- Keep away
- Kin-Ball
- Newcomb ball
- Quidditch
- Yukigassen
Climbing
Bicycle
Skibob
Unicycle
- Mountain unicycling
- Street unicycling
- Unicycling
- Unicycle basketball
- Unicycle Football
- Unicycle hockey
- Unicycle trials
Combat sports: wrestling and martial arts
A combat sport is a competitive contact sport where two combatants fight against each other using certain rules of engagement.
Grappling
- Aiki-jūjutsu
- Beeni
- Jujutsu
- Sambo (martial art)
- Sumo
- Wrestling
- Amateur wrestling
- Folk wrestling
- Boli Khela
- Collar-and-elbow
- Collegiate wrestling
- Cornish wrestling
- Dumog
- Glima
- Gouren
- Kurash
- Lancashire wrestling
- Malla-yuddha
- Mongolian wrestling
- Pehlwani
- Professional wrestling
- Schwingen
- Shuai jiao
- Ssireum
- Varzesh-e Pahlavani
- Yağlı Güreş
- Greek wrestling
Striking
Mixed or hybrid
- American Kenpo
- Baguazhang
- Bando
- Bartitsu
- Bujinkan
- Hapkido
- Chun Kuk Do
- Hwa Rang Do
- Jeet Kune Do
- Kajukenbo
- Kalaripayattu
- Krav Maga
- Kuk Sool Won
- Marine Corps Martial Arts Program
- Mixed martial arts
- Northern Praying Mantis
- Ninjutsu
- Pankration
- Pencak Silat
- Sanshou
- Shidōkan Karate
- Shōrin-ryū Shidōkan
- Shooto
- Shoot boxing
- Shootfighting
- Shorinji Kempo
- Systema
- T'ai chi ch'uan
- Unifight
- Vajra-mushti
- Vale tudo
- Xing Yi Quan
- Zen Bu Kan Kempo
Weapons
- Axe throwing
- Battōjutsu
- Boffer fighting
- Canne de combat
- Cardboard Tube Fighting
- Eskrima
- Egyptian stick fencing
- Fencing
- Gatka
- Hojōjutsu
- Iaidō
- Iaijutsu
- Jōdō
- Jogo do pau
- Jūkendō
- Jittejutsu
- Kendo
- Kenjutsu
- Krabi–krabong
- Kung fu
- Kyūdō
- Kyūjutsu
- Medieval MMA
- Modern Arnis
- Naginatajutsu
- Nguni stick-fighting
- Okinawan kobudō
- Shurikenjutsu
- Silambam
- Sōjutsu
- Sword fighting
- Wushu
- Kumdo
- Wing Chun
Cue sports
- Carom billiards
- Novuss (and cued forms of carrom)
- Pool
- Eight-ball
- Blackball (a.k.a. British eight-ball pool)
- Nine-ball
- Straight pool (14.1 continuous)
- One-pocket
- Three-ball
- Seven-ball
- Ten-ball
- Rotation
- Baseball pocket billiards
- Cribbage (pool)
- Bank pool
- Artistic pool
- Trick shot competition
- Speed pool
- Bowlliards
- Chicago
- Kelly pool
- Cutthroat
- Killer
- Russian pyramid
- Snooker
- Sinuca brasileira
- Six-red snooker
- Snooker plus
- Hybrid carom–pocket games
- English billiards
- Bottle pool
- Cowboy
- Obstacle variations
- Table Sports
Dog sports
Sports using a dog.
Equestrian sports
Sports using a horse.
- Buzkashi
- Barrel racing
- Campdrafting
- Cirit
- Charreada
- Chilean rodeo
- Chuckwagon racing
- Cross country
- Cutting
- Dressage
- Endurance riding
- English pleasure
- Equitation
- Eventing
- Equestrian vaulting
- Gymkhana
- Harness racing
- Hobby horse polo
- Horse racing
- Horse polo, or polo
- Horseball
- Jousting
- Mounted games
- Pato
- Pleasure driving
- Reining
- Rodeo
- Show hunter (British)
- Show jumping
- Steeplechase
- Sur-papakh
- Team penning
- Tent pegging
- Western pleasure
Fishing
Flying disc sports
Football
- Ancient games
- Chinlone
- Cuju
- Episkyros
- Harpastum
- Kemari
- Ki-o-rahi
- Marn Grook
- Woggabaliri
- Yubi lakpi
- Medieval football
- Association football
- Jorkyball
- Paralympic football
- Powerchair Football
- Reduced variants
- Beach soccer
- Crab soccer
- Fireball
- Five-a-side football
- Futsal
- Ice football
- Indoor soccer
- Masters Football
- Papi fut
- Rush goalie
- Walking football
- Street football
- Swamp football
- Three sided football
- Australian football
- AFLX
- Metro footy
- Nine-a-side footy
- Rec footy
- English school games
- Eton College
- Harrow football
- Gaelic football
- Gridiron football
- Rugby football
- Hybrid codes
Golf
Gymnastics
- Acrobatic gymnastics
- Aerial silks
- Aerobic gymnastics
- Artistic gymnastics
- Juggling
- Parkour
- Rhythmic gymnastics
- Rope jumping
- Slacklining
- Trampolining
- Trapeze
- Tumbling
Hunting
Sometimes considered blood sports.
Ice sports
- Bandy
- Barrel jumping
- Broomball
- Curling
- Figure skating
- Ice cross downhill
- Ice football
- Ice hockey
- Ice yachting
- Ringette
- Sledge hockey
- Speed skating
Kite sports
- Hang gliding
- Kite buggy
- Kite fighting
- Kite landboarding
- Kitesurfing
- Parasailing
- Snow kiting
- Sport kite (Stunt kite)
Mixed discipline
Decathlon, heptathlon, and the pentathlons consist of ten, seven, and five component contests that are scored together using one points system.
Orienteering family
Pilota family
Parkour/Freerunnning
Sport Parkour and Freerunning are empirically measured competitions of skill, speed or style on an obstacle based course. Self expression, demonstration of control and power are measured.
- Freerunning
- Martial Arts Tricking
- Ninja Warrior
- OCR
- Parkour
- Trampolining
Racket (or racquet) sports
Racket sports are games in which players use rackets to hit a ball or other object. However, this list is broader and includes sport disciplines where players use not rackets but paddles (hand-held frame with flat boards or planks instead of strings).
- Badminton
- Ball badminton
- Basque pelota
- Beach tennis
- Crossminton (previously "Speedminton")
- Matkot
- Miniten
- Padel
- Paleta Frontón
- Pelota mixteca
- Pickleball
- Platform tennis
- Qianball
- Racketlon
- Racquetball
- Racquets
- Real tennis
- Road tennis
- Soft tennis
- Speed-ball
- Squash
- Squash tennis
- Stické
- Table tennis
- Tennis
- Tennis polo
Remote control
Rodeo-originated
Sports that have originated from rodeos in the old Western Americas.
- Bullriding
- Miniature Bull Riding
- Barrel Racing
- Bronc Riding
- Saddle Bronc Riding
- Bareback Bronc Riding
- Pole bending
- Roping
- Breakaway Roping
- Calf Roping
- Team Roping
- Steer Roping
- Steer Wrestling
- Goat Tying
Snow sports
Skiing
Individual
Athletic hybrid
- Modern pentathlon
- Biathlon
- Summer biathlon
- Ski field shooting
- Field running
- Moose biathon
- Target sprint
- Pistol skiing
- Orienteering shooting
- Military patrol
- Underwater target shooting
Stacking
Stick and ball games
Hockey
- Hockey
- Ball hockey
- Bando
- Bandy
- Broomball
- Field hockey
- Indoor field hockey
- Floorball
- Ice hockey
- Inline sledge hockey
- Ringette
- Rinkball
- Roller hockey
- Inline hockey
- Roller hockey (Quad)
- Skater hockey
- Rossall Hockey
- Spongee
- Street hockey
- Underwater hockey
- Unicycle hockey
Polo
- Polo
- Bicycle polo
- Canoe polo
- Cowboy polo
- Elephant polo
- Hobby horse polo
- Segway polo
- Yak polo
Street sports
Strength sports
Tag games
- Bo-taoshi
- British bulldogs (American Eagle)
- Capture the flag
- Hana Ichi Monme
- Hide and seek
- Jugger
- Kabaddi
- Kho kho
- Kick the can
- Marco Polo
- Oztag
- Red rover
- Tag
Wall-and-ball
Games involving opponents hitting a ball against a wall/walls using a racket, or other piece of equipment, or merely gloved/barehanded.
Aquatic & paddle sports
These sports use water (a river, pool, etc.).
Canoeing
- Canoeing
- Outrigger canoeing
Kayaking
- Creeking
- Flyak
- Freeboating
- Sea kayaking
- Squirt boating
- Surf kayaking
- Whitewater kayaking
Rowing
- Rowing (sport)
- Gig racing
- Coastal and ocean rowing
- Single scull
Aquatic ball sports
Underwater
Competitive swimming
Kindred activities
Subsurface and recreational
Diving
- Cliff diving
- Diving
Weightlifting
Motorized sports
Auto racing
- Autocross (a.k.a. Slalom)
- Autograss
- Banger racing
- Board track racing
- Demolition derby
- Desert racing
- Dirt track racing
- Drag racing
- Drifting
- Folkrace
- Formula racing
- Formula Libre
- Formula Student
- Hillclimbing
- Ice racing
- Kart racing
- Land speed records
- Legends car racing
- Midget car racing
- Monster truck
- Mud bogging
- Off-road racing
- Pickup truck racing
- Production car racing
- Race of Champions
- Rally raid
- Rallycross
- Rallying
- Regularity rally
- Road racing
- Short track motor racing
- Snowmobile racing
- Sports car racing
- Sprint car racing
- Street racing
- Stock car racing
- Time attack
- Tractor pulling
- Touring car racing
- Truck racing
- Vintage racing
- Wheelstand competition
Motorboat racing
- Drag boat racing
- F1 powerboat racing
- Hydroplane racing
- Jet sprint boat racing
- Offshore powerboat racing
- Personal water craft
Motorcycle racing
- Auto Race
- Board track racing
- Cross-country rally
- Endurance racing
- Enduro
- Freestyle motocross
- Grand Prix motorcycle racing
- Grasstrack
- Hillclimbing
- Ice racing
- Ice speedway
- Indoor enduro
- Motocross
- Motorcycle drag racing
- Motorcycle speedway
- Off-roading
- Rally raid
- Road racing
- Superbike racing
- Supercross
- Supermoto
- Supersport racing
- Sidecar racing
- Track racing
- Trial
- TT racing
- Free-style moto
Fantasy sports
Sports seen in movies, literature, etc.
- Quidditch
- Hunger Games (Gladiating)
- Whack-bat (Fantastic Mr. Fox)
- Blitzball (Final Fantasy)
Overlapping sports
Sports falling into two or more categories.
- Tennis
- Polocrosse
- Badminton
- Polo
- Chess Boxing
Mind sports
Requiring little or no physical exertion or agility, mind sports are often not considered true sports. Some mind sports are recognised by sporting federations. The following list is intended to represent anything that is likely to be referred to as a mind sport, not to argue their validity as sports.
Card games
Speedcubing
Competitive model sports
Different classification
Potentially other sports are listed here.
Air sports
Athletics (track and field)
Electronic sports
Sports played using electronic devices.
- Combat robot
- Contesting
- Radio-control vehicles
- Video gaming
Endurance sports
Goal sports
Sports in which the method of scoring is through goals.
Skating sports
Strength sports
Sports mainly based on sheer power.
- CrossFit
- Highland games
- Olympic weightlifting
- Powerlifting
- Rock climbing
- Strongman
- Thumb wrestling
- Toe wrestling
- Tug-o-war
- Wood chopping
- Wood splitting
- Zourkhaneh
Table sports
- Air hockey
- Backgammon
- Beer Pong
- Connect Four
- Cue sports (a.k.a Billiards)
- Draughts (a.k.a. checkers)
- Dominoes
- Headis
- Janggi
- Mahjong (a.k.a. Taipei)
- Reversi (a.k.a. Othello)
- Scrabble
- Subbuteo
- Table football
- Table hockey
- Table tennis (a.k.a. ping pong)
- Xiangqi
Target sports
Sports where the main objective is to hit a certain target.
- Archery
- Axe throwing
- Bocce
- Bocce volo
- Boccia
- Bolas criollas
- Boules
- Bowling
- Bowls a.k.a. lawn bowls
- Calva
- Candlepin bowling
- Cornhole
- Croquet
- Cue sports
- Darts
- Golf
- Horseshoes (horseshoe throwing)
- Jeu provençal (boule lyonnaise)
- Knife throwing
- Kubb
- Matball
- Mölkky
- Pall mall
- Pétanque
- Pitch and putt
- Ring-goal
- Shooting
- Shuffleboard
- Skittles
- Skee ball
- Tournament of Knights
- Trugo
- Woodball
Team sports
Sports that involve teams.
- Basketball family
- Bat and ball games
- Bowling
- Basque pelota
- Bunnock
- Camogie
- Football family
- Gateball
- Handball
- Hardcourt Bike Polo
- Hockey family
- Horseshoe
- Hurling
- Kickball
- Lacrosse
- Mesoamerican ballgame
- Newcomb ball
- Polo
- Paintball
- Quidditch
- Ringette
- Roller derby
- Rowing
- Sepak takraw
- Ultimate (sport)
- Underwater football
- Woodsman
- Volleyball
Windsports
Sports which use the wind (apart from sailing):
- Kite flying
- Parachuting
- Hot air balloon racing
Fictional sports
- 43-Man Squamish
- Calvinball
- Quidditch (Harry Potter)
- Guyball
Miscellaneous sports
- Bed racing
- Cheese rolling
- Chess boxing
- Competitive eating
- Egg and spoon race
- Extreme ironing
- Ferret legging
- Fierljeppen
- Footbag (hacky sack)
- Haggis hurling
- Lumberjack sports
- Aizkolaritza
- Axe throwing
- Logrolling
- Wood chopping
- Wood splitting
- Marching band
- Patball
- Ring-goal
- Ringette
- Sack race
- Soap shoes
- Tennikoit
- Tetherball
- Three-legged race
- Wallball
- Wife-carrying
- Yoyoing
- Object spinning
See also
- Flying disc games
- Individual sport
- List of ball games
- List of types of games
- Team sport
References
- How many sports are there in the world?] ("Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 23, 2010. Retrieved May 14, 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)). See ISBN 9780760316825.