Sports That Start With S

23 sports Things, colors and jobs Checked 9 Oct 2026

Here are 23 sports that start with S, each with a one-line description so you can tell what it is. The best-known ones come first, then the full list in A to Z order.

With 23 entries, S is the richest letter for sports by far. Water sports alone fill a big chunk: swimming, surfing, sailing, snorkeling, scuba diving, skin diving and sculling. Snow and ice add skiing, snowboarding, ski jumping, sledding and speed skating.

Soccer and softball are the team games most kids know. The surprises sit near the end of the list. Shinny is a simple street version of hockey, and stickball is baseball played in the street with a rubber ball and a broom. Sumo, a Japanese form of wrestling, is another quick answer.

Sports starting with S: 23
Best known: soccer, swimming
Longest name: skateboarding

Best-known sports that start with S

The ones most people will recognise, good for school lists, quizzes and games.

soccer
swimming
skating
skiing
surfing
softball
squash
skateboarding
sumo
snorkeling
scuba diving
sailing
snowboarding

All sports that start with S

#	Name	What it is
1	sailing	racing or traveling in boats moved by wind
2	scuba diving	skin diving with scuba apparatus
3	sculling	rowing by a single oarsman in a racing shell
4	shinny	a simple version of hockey played by children on the streets (or on ice or on a field) using a ball or can as the puck
5	showjumping	riding horses in competitions over set courses to demonstrate skill in jumping over obstacles
6	shuffleboard	a game in which players use long sticks to shove wooden disks onto the scoring area marked on a smooth surface
7	skateboarding	the sport of skating on a skateboard
8	skating	the sport of gliding on skates
9	ski jumping	the act of performing a jump on skis from a high ramp overhanging a snow covered slope
10	skiing	a sport in which participants must travel on skis
11	skin diving	underwater swimming without any more breathing equipment than a snorkel
12	sledding	the sport of riding on a sled or sleigh
13	snorkeling	skin diving with a snorkel
14	snowboarding	riding down snowy slopes on a single board
15	soccer	a football game in which two teams of 11 players try to kick or head a ball into the opponents' goal
16	softball	a game closely resembling baseball that is played on a smaller diamond and with a ball that is larger and softer
17	speed skating	competitive skating on speed skates (usually around an oval course)
18	squash	a game played in an enclosed court by two or four players who strike the ball with long-handled rackets
19	stickball	a form of baseball played in the streets with a rubber ball and broomstick handle
20	sumo	a Japanese form of wrestling
21	surf fishing	casting (artificial) bait far out into the ocean (up to 200 yards) with the waves breaking around you
22	surfing	the sport of riding a surfboard toward the shore on the crest of a wave
23	swimming	the act of swimming; :

Short sports with S

sumo

Questions people ask

How many sports start with S?

This list has 23 sports starting with S, from well-known ones like soccer, swimming, skating to rarer kinds.

What sports start with S?

Well-known examples are soccer, swimming, skating, skiing, surfing, softball, squash, skateboarding.

Source: Princeton WordNet, a public dictionary database, reviewed by our editors to keep only clear, real members of the list. Meanings are short dictionary glosses.

See every letter on one page: sports A to Z