But now I'm starting to wonder how much of a sport volleyball really is. Take a look at this chart from the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology:
Notice anything interesting. They have labelled Volleyball under "Light Effort" when it comes to exercising! All the other sports on the chart are under "Vigorous Effort". They even have Raking Leaves higher up the exercise chart than Volleyball. That must be why I never could get good at volleyball...I like to focus on real sports!
So what do you think? Is Volleyball really a sport or is it just "light effort" like stretching and easy gardening?
(P.S. I phoned the Public Health Agency of Canada and they said they weren't able to put soccer on here because that is a little too extreme for the general public and they don't want people having heart attacks all the time)
3 comments:
I guess as a person who likes volleyball more than soccer, I should try to defend this great pastime. There is no question that volleyball isn't nearly the intensive workout that soccer is. The problem is saying that it's not a sport. Using the definition of a sport and applying it to soccer and volleyball you'll find that both easily qualify. (I'm not going to state definitions here, I think this argument would hold under most circumstances). The charts rate volleyball so low on the exercise graph because it is assuming it is being played as a rec/social sport like curling, darts or slow pitch. In otherwords, play halfheartedly for 5 minutes and sit back and have a beer, then play a little more, then drink again. Repeat until the game is over or you can't stand anymore. Find a competitive venue for volleyball and suddendly you find yourself very tired and very sweaty much sooner than 60 minutes into the exercise. Also, try really playing competitive beach with only two people on a side. I'm terrible, but that is hard work.
Scott,
Thanks for the comment! I agree that volleyball does officially classify as a sport by definition. I also know volleyball can be quite rigorous when played competitively (or so I've seen from watching). I just found it very funny that the perception of volleyball is that of an easy going exercise activity compared to others like basketball and hockey. I'm surprised they didn't put slowpitch in there instead as I think that although you can play that pretty competitvely too, it is much less strenuous than volleyball is. I wasn't trying to completely make fun of volleyball as I enjoy playing the game and I do enjoy playing 2vs2 beach volleyball which is very tiring! I just think that volleyball really needs to work on the general perception of their game...and actually get someone who is athletic to make that chart! It is quite apparent that the person who made it is not an athlete of any means whatsoever.
Okay, Sheldon! Have you ever played volleyball with Shiela and Sherri (the one from Bethany)???? We are talking no "light effort"! If there is only "light effort", there is "heavy consequences"! I say volleyball is like some jobs - it's how much you decide to put into it!
Christy
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