Students’ Ideas On: Extreme Sports
Taken at Eric Brown Skate Park, Leesburg, VA from www.spohnranch.com
October 9, 2018
For a minute, picture your favorite sport on your left. Now, on your right, picture that sport ramped up by 20. Essentially, that is what extreme sports are. Extreme sports are sports where one should have skill to participate, and, if poorly executed, there is a large chance of serious injury. While many choose to participate for the adrenaline rush, others play for the risk and adventure.
To find the exact definition of extreme sports, one should look at the separate definitions of the two words. A sport is an activity in which an individual uses skill to physically exert themselves against an individual or team for entertainment purposes. Extreme is defined as reaching a high degree. When put together, an extreme sport is a recreational activity that involves high risk. And Extreme Sports are extremely hard on the body without proper protection. When snow biking, people have been known to go at top speeds of 138.8 mph. Going at such fast speeds without a protective barrier can cause heart problems, stomach problems and, at extreme speeds, brain problems. And the danger is definitely recognized by students. Andre Monroy, a sophomore, said, “No, [extreme sports] wouldn’t interest me because I value my life a lot and I don’t think I would do anything that would put my life in danger.”
Out of the 11 people interviewed, eight said that they would like to know more about extreme sports, while three said that extreme sports didn’t interest them. As for whether or not they would play/participate in extreme sports, seven said that they would, two said they wouldn’t, and another two said that it depends on whether or not they would be injured. Now, why would people be so divided on whether or not they would participate in extreme sports? To find that out, we looked at what they considered to be extreme sports. At least five people listed football and basketball as extreme sports, while soccer and skydiving each were stated twice. In the minority were parasailing, skyaking (Yes, that is a thing… we checked.) and field hockey. Another two people expressed another opinion. Jenna Stover, a sophomore who was one of these people, described extreme sports as, “Any sport, it just matters how people play it.”
Many of your fellow classmates believe these sports can reach an extreme because of their physical contact and intense play. Jeremiah Robinson, a senior, summed up the popular opinion when he said, “Football, basketball, running, having fun with friends, exercising…” As much as extreme sports relate to these characteristics, they are not all that extreme sports are made of. As stated, extreme sports involve high risk and danger, but also there are aspects needed to make a sport extreme other than danger. They need to include natural conditions, such as high speeds and heights, and also specialized gear.
When asked to vote on whether a sport is extreme or not, many say wake boarding, water skiing, surfing, snowboarding, mountain biking, and parkour, these are all correct. As you can see, there is a similarity between all of these extreme sports, such as the ones listed, and that is location. Many of these extreme sports are found and practiced in extreme environments. But that is not always the case. For example, an extreme sport that is common in this area is skateboarding. However, given the options, most people chose the extreme sports correctly,but this was given sports to choose from, and, remember, not many know of the extreme sport world, therefore, they can only guess based on what they believe is truly an extreme sport. But maybe, just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, extreme is defined by the player.
