New Definition of the term athlete

 

How should one define what an athlete is?

To a physical coach or a teacher at an elementary school, it might be the child who understands the game, knows how to move, and has the drive to do well. To a compassionate parent, it might be the child who learns to run and jump without hurting herself or her playmates and is good at sharing in the tasks and in the fun. For a particularly devoted and aggressive sports fan, the athlete they follow, and even fight other fans for, may be the one who represents their team and will do whatever it takes, and sacrifice themselves, to win. For the physical therapist who just wrote a book on the sustainable body, it might be the child who learns how to move with extension (extending the vertebral column during movement) and efficiency, all the while not debilitating himself so that wellness may play out over the course of the individual’s life.

One definition I find especially useful, is this.

An athlete is a person who moves their body in meaningful and purposeful ways on a regular basis. The athlete listens to their body, and the body listens to the athlete, making helpful determinations of what the body needs to do and when it needs to do it.