If I were to use the comprehensive list of sports categories that
aditya2k-ga answered for 'Sports Categories' (all 5 of them), could
you please further refine that search to include the divisions that
users of those sports would use to categorize themselves; i.e.
Racquetball might use A, B, C, D, OPEN and PROFESSIONAL where squash
may use NOVICE, BEGINNER, INTERMEDIATE, ADVANCED, AMATEUR AND
PROFESSIONAL.  This is just an example of what I found at
indoorcourt.com...and it seems pretty shabby.

I'm doing a stats project that will be heavily graded on its accuracy
of its medium as well as its application (that's my part!), and after
seeing this nice and comprehensive list of sports realized how perfect
this would be for my project.  The divisions of categories I need must
satisfy a national audience...and by that I mean that the use of my
application must, and accordingly its divisions of catagories, be as
useful to a person in Nebraska as it is to someone in Boston.

I've seen some incompatible divisions so far, and thus hope that you
will be able to help me complete this list accurately, for all the
sports on that list.  Thanks.

P.S.  I should clarify that I'm talking about divisions for amateur
sports, so the info should include divisions that satisfy all the
different organizations that use them.  A standard system.

---

Request for Question Clarification by aditya2k-ga on 03 Nov 2002 15:15 PST

Hi thrash,

     Good day and thank you for your question. Its out of sheer
coincidence that I managed to lock this question for answering,
considering that I found a reference to an earlier answer of mine.

     All sports will definitely have to have a novice (or beginner)
and intermediate categories. Here are the other categories for other
sports (in no particular order)

Cricket
-------
- Test cricketer
- County cricketer
- Minor Counties cricketer
- Club cricketer

Chess
-----
- Grand Master (GM)
- International Masted (IM)
- FIDE Master (FM)
- National Master (NM)

Golf
----
Golf players are normally categorized by handicaps. From 0 to any
negative number... -20,-30 etc...



I'm not posting this as a full fledged answer yet, as I would like to
know if I'm on the right track. Please indicate so.

Thanks,
Aditya2K

Special request to fellow researchers : Please leave this question to
me for a day or two please. If I don't answer by Tuesday, then go
ahead and answer it. But, until then, please don't. Humanitarian
request from me.

---

Clarification of Question by thrash-ga on 03 Nov 2002 21:03 PST

Hello.  Yes, you're right on target...as long as those divisions you
posted would suffice for the larger contingency of cricket
organizations, per say.  I guess a good guiding consideration would
be, 'If these divisions were used to organize various groups of their
sort, would these divisions appropriately suffice as comprehensive
mediums to coordinate these types of activities?"  That probably
hammers it home.  Best of luck!

---

Request for Question Clarification by aditya2k-ga on 03 Nov 2002 23:33 PST

One more clarification. Are you looking for individual categories for
each sport? Or would a generalized one for a group of related sports
suffice?

---

Clarification of Question by thrash-ga on 04 Nov 2002 07:45 PST

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by individual categories...but I'll
take a stab.  If you're asking this because you suspect you're likely
to find more than one system or method of dividing, or ranking, the
people and teams in each sport, then I'd say either give me what you
got, unless it is intimated that one system is much more accepted than
any other, because then that would be preferred.  Hope that works.

---

Request for Question Clarification by aditya2k-ga on 05 Nov 2002 03:27 PST

Hi,

 While I was working on the answer, a doubt crept up in my mind.

 For sports like soccer where there are no player ratings etc.., would
you like to categorize them based on their positions? For example,
For soccer,
- Goalkeeper
- Defense
  * Sweeper
  * Right Fullback
  * Left Fullback
  * Center Fullback
- Midfield
  * Center Midfielder
  * Left Midfielder
  * Right Midfielder
- Attack
  * Center Forward (Striker)
  * Left Wing
  * Right Wing

If not, then one would have to make a wild guess and go in for the
usual Novice, Intermediate, College, State, National, International.

Secondly, for a sport like boxing where there are categories based on
weight, is this what you're looking for?
Heavyweight - No weight limit
Cruiserweight - 86.18kg limit
Light Heavyweight - 79.38kg
Junior Light Heavyweight - 76.20kg
Middleweight - 72.57kg
Junior Middleweight - 69.85kg
Welterweight - 66.68kg
Junior Welterweight - 63.50kg
Lightweight - 61.23kg
Junior lightweight - 58.79kg
Featherweight - 57.15kg
Junior Featherweight - 55.34kg
Bantamweight - 53.52kg
Junior bantamweight -52.16kg
Flyweight - 50.80kg
Junior Flyweight - 49.99kg
Strawweight - 47.63kg

Please let me know. Furthermore, in how much time do you need this
info? Although the question expires on 3rd Dec, the minimum time for a
question is 1 month, but the customer may require it sooner.

Cheers,
Aditya2K

Other Researchers : Please let me answer this. Its 50% done. If its
unlocked by chance, it may be because I forgot to refresh it.

---

Clarification of Question by thrash-ga on 05 Nov 2002 13:40 PST

Sound like a great idea, as long as no divisions, or rankings
(depending on what you call them), exist.  I need the stongest basis
possible; basically the whatever really exists.  And if you say it
doesn't exist, then I'll follow your lead, and that idea for socer
sounds like the next best thing.  As for boxing...the same thing
holds; if you say there's no division among different amateur
organizations, then weights must be the next best thing.

Lastly, I actually don't need these answers until the end of the
month.  Thank you.

Hi thrash,

Thanks for the clarifications. Sorry for getting back to you late; I
had to attend to some pending college work.

I'll just paste the above again, so thats it will be easier for you to
consolidate the answer.

Remember, amateur players of a sport (any sport) can be classified as
* Beginner
* Novice
* Intermediate
* Advanced

This looks shabby no doubt, but it seems to be the most universal form
of player classifications being used today (as far as their playing
level is concerned). However, a better way of classifying them would
be to classify them according to what role they play in a game. For a
team sport, it could be their type of action or key position. In the
case of individual sports, especially tennis, squash etc., it would be
difficult to classify a player beyond the above mentioned four
classifications. Alternatively, age divisions are normally used, but
this is not universal, and secondly, there may be people in the same
age division with varying playingl levels. I have detailed on the
common sports in the lines to follow. In case I have inadvertently
missed an important sport or you want a sport, please post a request
for answer clarification and I will clarify it at the earliest.

Cricket
-------
- Test cricketer (International level)
- County cricketer (National Level)
- Minor Counties cricketer (State Level)
- Club cricketer (District Level)
- College Level
- School Level
- Recreational Player

The above would actually apply only to cricket divisions. They could
further categorize themselves based on what type of cricketer they are
:
- Batsman
- Wicket-Keeper
- Leg spin bowler
- Off break bowler
- Slow left arm bowler
- Chinaman bowler
- Fast bowler
- Fast medium bowler
- Medium bowler
- All-Rounder (This would be someone who is a batsman + one of the
types of bowlers. You should make a provision for such a person to
select bowler type as well)


Chess
-----
- Grand Master (GM)
- International Master (IM)
- FIDE Master (FM)
- National Master (NM)
- Intermediate (Rating between 1600 and 2200)
- Beginner (Rating <= 1600)

Alternatively, you could have a textbox, where a person enters his/her
rating


Golf
----
Golf players are normally categorized by handicaps. From 0 to any
negative number... -20,-30 etc... So it would be
- Handicap 0
- Handicap 1
- Handicap 2
- Handicap 3
and so on....
The best thing to do in this case is to include a text box where the
user can enter his handicap


Boxing
------
The following are divisions which are used by boxing associations all
around the world
Heavyweight - No weight limit
Cruiserweight - 86.18kg limit
Light Heavyweight - 79.38kg
Junior Light Heavyweight - 76.20kg
Middleweight - 72.57kg
Junior Middleweight - 69.85kg
Welterweight - 66.68kg
Junior Welterweight - 63.50kg
Lightweight - 61.23kg
Junior lightweight - 58.79kg
Featherweight - 57.15kg
Junior Featherweight - 55.34kg
Bantamweight - 53.52kg
Junior bantamweight -52.16kg
Flyweight - 50.80kg
Junior Flyweight - 49.99kg
Strawweight - 47.63kg

Soccer
------
For a sport like soccer, poeple normally classify themselves based on
their field positions.
- Goalkeeper
- Defense
  * Sweeper
  * Right Fullback
  * Left Fullback
  * Center Fullback
- Midfield
  * Center Midfielder
  * Left Midfielder
  * Right Midfielder
- Attack
  * Center Forward (Striker)
  * Left Wing
  * Right Wing

Users could also classify themselves as novices, intermediate, state,
national, international or recreational


Baseball
--------
Baseball, like soccer have no real universal divisions among amateur
associations. So, once again you will have to use player positions. As
far as a hitter is concerned, a hitter is a hitter and can be rated
based on his average. As far as the fielding is concerned, the
following positions apply :
- Pitcher
- Catcher
- First Base
- Second Base
- Third Base
- Shortstop
- Left Fielder
- Right Fielder
- Center Fielder


Basketball
----------
- Center
- Point Guard
- Power Forward
- Shooting Guard
- Small Forward
Have a look at http://www.eteamz.com/basketball/instruction/tips/category.cfm/Positions/
for the role of each position


Ice Hockey
----------
- Goalkeeper (also called goalie or goaltender)
- Left Defenseman
- Right Defenseman
- Left Wing
- Right Wing
- Center Wing
These positions are graphically represented at
http://www.firstbasesports.com/hockey_excerpts.html#ex2


Wrestling
---------
The USA Wrestling 2002 Age Divisions & Weight Classes can be found at
http://www.themat.com/newusaw/2002weights.asp
The categories in brief are :
- Bantam
- Midget
- Novice
- Schoolboy/girl
- Cadet
- Junior
- FILA Jr. World
- University
- Senior


Taekwondo (can be applied to other martial arts as well)
-------------------------------------------------------
There are various belt levels for Taekwondo :
- White
- Yellow
- Camoflauge
- Green
- Purple
- Blue
- Brown
- Red Belt
- First Degree Black Belt Recommended
- First Degree Black Belt Decided
- Second Degree Black Belt Recommended
- Second Degree Black Belt Decided
- Third Degree Black Belt
- Fourth Degree Black Belt
- Fifth Degree Black Belt
- Sixth Degree Black Belt
- Seventh Degree Black Belt
- Eighth Degree Black Belt
- Nineth Degree Black Belt
You can have a look at
http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Stadium/3006/atabelts.html to see
what each colour signifies


American Football
-----------------
The following positions apply in American Football. Detailed
descriptions at http://www.overseasbet.com/SportsNews/footballback.htm

- Quarterback
- Halfback
- Fullback
- Tight End
- Wide Receiver
- Offensive Tackle
- Guard
- Center
- Defensive End
- Defensive Tackle
- Linebacker
- Cornerback
- Safety
- Place Kicker
- Punter
- Punt Returner
- Kick Retuener
- Long Snapper
- Holder


Netball
-------
- GK (Goal Keeper)
- WD (Wind Defence)
- GD (Goal Defence)
- C  (Center)
- GA (Goal Attack)
- WA (Wing Attack)
- GS (Goal Shoot)
Details at http://www.netball.org/thesport.htm


Handball
--------
- Center
- Right Wing
- Left Wing
- Left Back
- Right Back
- Center Back
- Goalkeeper


Tennis, Squash, Billiards, Table Tennis etc...
---------------------------------------------
These sports don't have any special classifications. You would have to
use the 4 classifications mentioned at the beginning of this answer.
Same is the case with X-Games sports and other individual sports.

My suggestion is that you have three fields.

The first one to classify them according to their level - something to
the tune of beginner, intermediate, advanced etc..
The second one to classify them according to age - for e.g.
<12,12-18,19-30,31-40,41-40,50+
The third one is the field which I have mentioned in my answer
(position or weight division etc..)

If you have any clarifications, then please do not hesitate to ask,
and I will clarify it at the earliest (within a day or two).

Thank you for using this service and have a nice day.

Warm Regards,
Aditya2K

Search Strategy : I searched for the various sports  -  information,
player rankings, ratings, positions and divisions.

Less than 30% of what I asked was answered.  I asked for the
researcher to research the specific rankings for a total of 60
different and unique sports, and he/she answered only 17.  It was an
expensive question because many sports were very unusal ones, and most
of what the researcher answered were mostly common ones.  And even
beyond that problem, the main one remains that 43 out of the 60 were
not accounted for, when I needed all of them and made that very clear.
 Thank you, and please understand that I'm only displeased because I
was not delivered the answer I requested, which I made clear I needed
in entirety.  P.S.  I had considered clarifying my question again, but
I don't have the confidence that this researcher will be able to
deliver this answer in the amount of time that I need it.  Hope this
is enough detail for you.  Thanks again.

The attempt was good but not substantially what I needed answered.