Sports involving some kind of ball have become the king of the American sathletic world. The Super Bowl whips up a frenzy every year; the culmination of football season’s greatest champs. Where does everybody do on a hot summer night? They root, root, rooting for the home team at the baseball stadium downtown. Between college basketball and the NBA (National Basketball Association) sports channels are booked.

Ball sports are a big deal here. Everybody played Little League in some form when they were young. Sports like football, basketball, and baseball are integral parts of American culture. Even soccer is gaining in importance, though the USA hasn’t quite caught on like England or Brazil. Need a date for Friday? Go bowling; it’s a ball sport.

But not all sports require a pigskin. Take rock climbing–hanging by chalked hands while mounting huge natural formations that man was never meant to climb. Some kids never grew out of playing knights growing up, and now they’ve taken up fencing. You think dribbling a basketball on the way to school is cool, wait until you see the guy carring a sword. Or gymnastics. No dribbling required, but seeing someone execute nine seconds of pure airborne ballet is aranatomical art.

Americans have this image of an athlete–tight or loose uniform, depending on the sport, mangy or Marine-styled hair, a bajillion tatoos, and a solemn countenance. This is what ball sports have done to atheleticism. Most schools in America offer the trinity and one other token sport, like tennis, so they can say the kids’ have options. There are dozens of sports that the majority of Americans don’t recognize as sports: archery, judo, shooting (several types), horseback riding. These little-known skills were once absolute necessities of life, and are now just Summer Camp activities to most folks.

There’s nothing wrong with liking football, or popping open a box of crackerjack while Casey steps up to bat, or shooting hoops, but there’s lots of different ways to be athletic. You don’t always have to use a ball.