The following is a list of sports/games, divided by category.
According to the World Sports Encyclopaedia (2003), there are 8,000 indigenous sports and sporting games.[1]
Acrobatic arts
Air sports
Aquatic and paddle sports
These sports use water (a river, pool, etc.).
Canoeing
Kayaking
Rafting
Rowing
Other paddling sports
Aquatic ball sports
Surface
Underwater
Competitive swimming
- Backstroke
- Breaststroke
- Butterfly stroke
- Freestyle swimming
- Individual medley
- Synchronized swimming
- Medley relay
Kindred activities
Subsurface and recreational
- Apnoea finswimming
- Aquathlon (underwater wrestling)
- Freediving
- Immersion finswimming
- Scuba diving
- Spearfishing
- Snorkelling
- Sport diving (sport)
- Underwater orienteering
- Underwater photography (sport)
- Underwater target shooting
Diving
Archery
Ball games
Bat-and-ball games
- Baseball
- Bat and trap
- Bete-ombro
- 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
- T10 cricket
- Tape ball cricket
- Tennis ball cricket
- Test cricket
- Trobriand cricket
- Twenty20
- Twenty20 International
- Windball cricket
- Danish longball
- Elle
- English baseball
- Kickball
- Lapta – two salos (bases)
- The Massachusetts Game – four bases
- Matball
- Oină
- Old cat – variable
- Over-the-line – qv
- Palant
- Pesäpallo – four bases
- Plaquita
- Punchball
- Rounders – four bases or posts
- Schlagball
- Scrub baseball – four bases (not a team game per se)
- Stickball – variable
- Stoolball – two stools
- Stoop ball
- Tee-ball
- Town ball – variable
- Vigoro – two wickets
- Vitilla
- Welsh baseball
- Wiffleball
- Wireball
Invasion games
Sports in which the method of scoring is through goals.
Basketball family
Football family
Handball family
- Balle à la main
- Ballon au poing
- Downball
- Four Square or FS Handball
- Beach handball
- Czech handball
- Field handball
- Goalball
- Spikeball
- Tchoukball
- Torball
- Water polo
- Wheelchair handball
- Rollball
Stick and ball family
Hockey
Hurling and shinty
Lacrosse
Polo
Net and wall games
Games involving opponents hitting a ball over a net using a racket, or other piece of equipment, or merely gloved/barehanded:
Games involving opponents hitting a ball against a wall/walls using a racket, or other piece of equipment, or merely gloved/barehanded:
Pilota family
- American handball
- Australian handball
- Basque pelota
- Fives
- Frisian handball
- Four square
- Gaelic handball
- Jeu de paume
- Palla
- Pallone
- Patball
- Roundnet
- Valencian pilota
Racket (or racquet) sports
Sports that use a netted racket
- Badminton
- Ball badminton
- Frontenis
- Battledore and shuttlecock
- Crossminton (previously "Speedminton")
- Qianball
- Racketlon (a series of other racket and paddle sports)
- Rackets
- Racquetball
- Real tennis
- Road tennis
- Soft tennis
- Speed-ball
- Squash
- Squash tennis
- Stické
- Tennis
- Tennis polo
- Touchtennis
Sports that use a non-netted racket, or paddle
Board sports
Sports that are played with some sort of board as the primary equipment.
Climbing
Cycling
Sports using bicycles or unicycles.
Bicycle
- Artistic cycling
- BMX
- Cycle ball
- Cycle polo
- Cycle speedway
- Cyclo-cross
- Dirt jumping
- Downhill mountain biking
- Freestyle BMX
- Hardcourt Bike Polo
- Mountain biking
- Road bicycle racing
- Track cycling
- Underwater cycling
Skibob
Unicycle
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
- Aikido
- Jujutsu
- Judo
- Brazilian jiu-jitsu
- Sambo (martial art)
- Sumo
- Wrestling
- Amateur wrestling
- Greco-Roman wrestling
- Freestyle wrestling
- Folk wrestling
- Boli Khela
- Catch wrestling
- Collar-and-elbow
- Collegiate wrestling
- Cornish wrestling
- Devon wrestling
- Dumog
- Glima
- Gouren
- Kurash
- Lancashire wrestling
- Malla-yuddha
- Mongolian wrestling
- Pehlwani
- Schwingen
- Shuai jiao
- Ssireum
- Varzesh-e Pahlavani
- Yağlı Güreş
- Greek wrestling
- Mud wrestling
- Oil wrestling
- Professional 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
- Sanda
- Shidōkan Karate
- Shōrin-ryū Shidōkan
- Shooto
- Shoot boxing
- Shootfighting
- Shorinji Kempo
- Systema
- Tai chi
- Unifight
- Vajra-mushti
- Vale tudo
- Xingyiquan
- Zen Bu Kan Kempo
Weapons and kicking
- Battōjutsu
- Bojutsu
- Boffer fighting
- Buhurt
- Canne de combat
- Cardboard Tube Fighting
- Eskrima
- Egyptian stick fencing
- Fencing
- Gatka
- Historical European martial arts
- Hojōjutsu
- Iaidō
- Iaijutsu
- Jōdō
- Jogo do pau
- Jūkendō
- Jittejutsu
- Kendo
- Kenjutsu
- Krabi–krabong
- Kumdo
- Kung fu
- Kyūdō
- Kyūjutsu
- Medieval MMA
- Modern Arnis
- Naginatajutsu
- Nguni stick-fighting
- Okinawan kobudō
- Pillow Fight Championship
- Shurikenjutsu
- Silambam
- Sōjutsu
- Sword fighting
- Wing Chun
- Wushu
- lathi khela
Other
Flying disc sports
Gymnastic
Ice sports
Kite sports
Marker sports
Mixed discipline
Decathlon, heptathlon, and the pentathlons consist of ten, seven, and five-component contests that are scored together using one points system.
Motorsports
Sports involving the use of motorized vehicles
Auto racing
- Autocross (a.k.a. Slalom)
- Autograss
- Banger racing
- Board track racing
- Demolition derby
- Desert racing
- Dirt track racing
- Drag racing
- Drifting
- Endurance racing
- Folkrace
- Formula racing
- Formula Libre
- Formula Student
- Hillclimbing
- Baseball racing
- 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
ATV racing
Musical
Orienteering
Parkour/Freerunning
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.
Running
Sailing
Snow sports
- Broomball (outdoors, snow)
- Snow baseball (Indian variant of Baseball played during winters)
Skiing
Sled sports
Shooting sports
Sports using guns (firearms, air guns, etc.).
Individual
- Clay pigeon shooting
- Slingshotting
- Bullseye shooting
- Field shooting
- Practical shooting
- Match crossbow
- shoot the chicken
- paintball
Athletic hybrid
- Bowling
- Modern pentathlon
- Biathlon
- Summer biathlon
- Ski field shooting
- Field running
- Moose biathlon
- Target sprint
- Pistol skiing
- Orienteering shooting
- Military patrol
- Underwater target shooting
- Water baseball
- Air baseball
- Ice baseball
Skirmish
Stacking
Street sports
- Free running and jumping
- Freestyle footbag
- Freestyle football
- Powerbocking
- Parkour
- Scootering
- Street workout
Strength sports
Tag games
Walking
Weightlifting
Overlapping sports
Sports falling into two or more categories.
Sports involving animals
Dog sports
Sports in which dogs participate.
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
- Trick riding
- Horse racing
- Horse polo, or polo
- Horseball
- Jineteada gaucha
- Jousting
- Mounted games
- Mounted archery
- Pato
- Pleasure driving
- Reining
- Rodeo
- Show hunter (British)
- Show jumping
- Steeplechase
- Sur-papakh
- Team penning
- Tent pegging
- Western pleasure
Fishing
- Angling
- Big-game fishing
- Casting
- Noodling
- Spearfishing
- Sport fishing
- Surf fishing
- Rock fishing
- Fly fishing
- Ice fishing
- Bass fishing
Hunting
Sometimes considered blood sports.
Rodeo-originated
Sports that have originated from rodeos in the old Western Americas.
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
Esports
- Battle royale game
- Combat flight simulation game
- Digital collectible card game
- Fighting game
- First-person shooter
- Multiplayer online battle arena
- Real-time strategy
- Real-time tactics
- Rhythm game
- Sim racing
- Sports video game
- Third-person shooter
- Tile-matching video game
- Virtual reality game
Speedcubing
Strategy board games
- Arimaa
- Backgammon
- Checkers
- Chess
- Atomic chess
- Bughouse chess
- Chess960 (also known as Fischer Random Chess)
- Losing chess
- Chinese checkers
- Diplomacy
- Dominoes
- Draughts
- Go
- Go-Moku
- Jacquet
- Janggi
- Ludo
- Mahjong
- Mancala
- Reversi
- Risk
- Scrabble
- Shōgi
- Sholo Guti
- Sogo (Score four)
- Stratego
- Sudoku
- Xiangqi (Chinese chess)
- Yut
Other
Competitive model sports
Remote control
Different classification
Potentially other sports are listed here.
Air sports
Athletics (track and field)
Electronic sports
Sports played using electronic devices.
- Capture the flag (cybersecurity)
- Combat robot
- Competitive programming
- Contesting
- Fitness game
- Radio-control vehicles
- Video gaming
- Wire loop game
Endurance sports
- Chariot racing
- Cross-country skiing
- Cycling
- Iditarod
- Long-distance running
- Rowing
- Swimming
- Wheelchair racing
- Wood chopping
Skating sports
- Bandy
- Figure skating
- Ice cross downhill
- Ice dancing
- Ice hockey
- Ice skating
- Inline skating
- Roller skating
- Ringette
- Rinkball
- Speed skating
- Tour skating
Snowsports
See #Skiing
Strength sports
Sports mainly based on sheer power.
- CrossFit
- High striker
- Highland games
- Olympic weightlifting
- Powerlifting
- Rock climbing
- Strongman
- Thumb wrestling
- Toe wrestling
- Tug-o-war
- Wood chopping
- Wood splitting
- Zourkhaneh
- Calisthenics
Table sports
- Air hockey
- Backgammon
- Beer Pong
- Carrom Nok Hockey
- Chess
- Connect Four
- Cue sports (a.k.a Billiards)
- Draughts (a.k.a. checkers)
- Dominoes
- Headis
- Janggi
- Mahjong
- Paper Football
- Reversi (a.k.a. Othello)
- Scrabble
- Shogi
- Subbuteo
- Table football
- Table hockey
- Table tennis (a.k.a. ping pong)
- Table Shuffleboard/Sling Puck
- Teqball
- 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
- Cornhole
- Croquet
- Curling
- Darts
- Horseshoes (horseshoe throwing)
- Jeu provençal (boule lyonnaise)
- Jukskei
- KanJam
- Knife throwing
- Kubb
- Lawn darts
- Matball
- Mölkky
- Pall mall
- Peashooter (toy)
- Pétanque
- Pitch and putt
- Ring-goal
- Ring toss
- Shooting
- Shuffleboard
- Skittles
- Skee ball
- Snowball fight
- Tejo
- Trugo
- Varpa
- Woodball
- Water balloon
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
- Hybrid carom–pocket games
- Obstacle variations
- Table Sports
Golf
- Beach golf
- Clock golf
- Codeball
- Dart golf
- Disc golf
- Footgolf
- GolfCross
- Hickory golf
- Indoor golf
- Long drive
- Match play
- Miniature golf
- Park golf
- Pitch and putt
- Sholf
- Shotgun start
- Skins game
- Snow golf
- Speed golf
- Stroke play
- Swingolf
- Topgolf
- Urban golf
Team sports
Sports that involve teams.
Windsports
Sports which use the wind (apart from sailing):
Fictional sports
Fictional sports that are played in real life:
- 43-Man Squamish
- Calvinball
- Quidditch (Harry Potter)
- Swiss Guyball
- BASEketball
- Brockian Ultra-Cricket
- Squid Game
- Hunger Games
- Whack-bat
- Blitzball
- Fictional Martial Arts
Miscellaneous sports
- Air guitar
- Arctic sports
- Cheese rolling
- Chess boxing
- Chicken fight
- Competitive eating
- Competitive math
- Conker fighting
- Drum and bugle corps
- Dwyle Flonking (sport)
- Earthball
- Egg and spoon race
- Extreme ironing
- Extreme Pogo
- Ferret legging
- Fierljeppen
- Footbag (hacky sack)
- Guyball
- Haggis hurling
- Hopscotch
- Jegichagi
- Jeopardy!
- Jump rope
- Lawn mower racing
- Lumberjack sports
- Marching
- Object spinning
- Patball
- Pea shooting
- Quadrobics
- Quiz Bowl
- Redneck Games
- Ring-goal
- Ringette
- Sack race
- Soap shoes
- Stihl Timbersports Series
- Tennikoit
- Tetherball
- Three-legged race
- Ultimate Tazer Ball
- Wallball
- Wife-carrying
- Woodsman
- Yoyoing