Breaking Down Barriers - National Women's Law Center

What Is a “Sport”
• The Department of Education’s Office for Civil
Rights (OCR) determines whether an activity is a
sport, and thus whether participants in that activity
can be counted as athletes, on a case-by-case basis,
using a long list of factors, which include:
whether selection for a team is based on
objective factors related primarily to athletic
ability;
whether the activity is limited to a defined
season;
whether the activity is administered by the
athletic department
whether the primary purpose of the activity is
athletic competition and not the support or
promotion of other teams
© 2009 National Women’s Law Center 22