Wikipedia:Notability (sports)

This article is regarded as a guideline used to determine whether or not a sportsperson, sports league, or an amateur/professional sports league organization merits an article at Wikipedia. Recently there has been some heavy debate on notabilty on certain sports articles here on wikipedia and the involvement of wikiprojects in notabilty debate, mainly WP:BASEBALL, many users agree that this proposal is needed.

In general, the text of an article should include enough information to explain why the person, league, or organization is notable. A subject is presumed to be sufficiently notable if it meets the general notability guideline below, or if it meets an accepted subject specific standard listed in the table to the right. These guidelines pertain to the suitability of article topics but do not directly limit the content of articles.

At a minimum, all articles must have been discussed in independent, non-trivial, reliable sources - not including sources independent of statistical analysis websites or guides. In short, they should be able to meet the criteria laid out at Wikipedia:Reliable sources and Wikipedia:Verifiability#Sources.

Note that this is currently a rough draft, information is expected to change, and please do not use this guideline for deletion debates until it becomes an official policy.

Applicable policies and guidelines

WP:V, WP:BLP, WP:BIO

Notabilty guidelines on sportspersons

Baseball

Baseball figures are considered notable if they:

• Are a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum or the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.
• Have appeared in at least one game in any one of the following active major leagues: Major League Baseball, Nippon Professional Baseball, Korea Baseball Organization, Chinese Professional Baseball League or any other top foreign league.
• Have appeared in at least one game in any of the following defunct leagues: All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, American Association, Cuban League, Federal League, Japanese Baseball League, National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, Negro Major Leagues, Players League, Union Association.
• Have played in at least a whole season in AAA baseball, won a notable Minor League Baseball award, or started in any minor league baseball All-star game.
• Have won a national award, or established a NCAA record while a member of a Division I college baseball team.
• Have represented their native country at a major international amateur baseball competition such as the Olympics, Pan-American Games or the World Baseball Classic.
• Have served as a commissioner, president, general manager, owner, coach, or manager in one of the above-mentioned leagues.
• Major League Baseball Umpires are notable if they have umpired for at least one full season. Minor League umpires are not notable.

Basketball

• Any player who has played one game in the National Basketball Association or the WNBA is notable.
• Any player who has played in a major international competition such as the Olympics or World Championships is notable.
• Any player who played in the old American Basketball Association is notable.
• A player who started at least one season in the Continental Basketball Association or NBA Development League is notable.
• Any player who has played one game in the Euroleague is notable.
• Any player who has played in at least seven games in a top-level domestic club competition outside North America (ACB, Lega A, NBL, et al., or for women, the WNBL) is notable.

American football/Canadian football

• National Football League players who had played in at least six regular season games, or started in one or more game, had made more than one tackle, running for more than a couple of yards, one completion, one reception, or any other meaningful stat. Replacement Players of the 1987 NFL Strike needs to have independent reliable coverage.
• Players drafted in the first four-five rounds of the NFL Draft are notable unless they didn't last pass training camp, players who were drafted in the later rounds that doesn't meet the criteria above aren't notable.
• Players who didn't survive pass training camp or only played in practice squad aren't notable unless they had some achivements in the college football level.
• Players who played in more than one season or started at least six games in the Canadian Football League, Arena Football League, World Football League, USFL, XFL or any other major professional football league, are notable. Remember those leagues mainly consist of the players who couldn't make an NFL Roster.
• Players of minor league or semi-profesional football teams, like the Af2 aren't notable.

There are exceptions for players who meets the college football and those who meet the multiple, independent, reliable sources criteria.

College athletes

College Football

• Current college football players are notable if are a key starter for a major Division-A school.
  • Current Backups aren't notable.
• Former College football players are notable if they were a major award winner, is in the College Football Hall of Fame, owns records for the NCAA or a major Division I school, or was a key contributer in a championship team. Starting QBs from the top Division-I schools are also considered as notable.
• Head coaches of major Division-I teams are considered notable same with offensive and defensive coorinators with independent reliable sources.
• Regular assistant coaches (like running back coach) aren't notable unless they meet another criteria like if they played in the NFL or won a major award.

college baseball

• College baseball players are not notable unless they have won a national award, or if they own a NCAA record.

college basketball

• Current college basketball players are notable if they have started ten or more games for a Major Division I NCAA Basketball team.
• Backups and walk-ons aren't notable.
• Former college basketball players who didn't move on to a proffesional league like the National Basketball Association aren't notable unless they achived notabilty (like a record) in another way like Hank Gathers.

Ice hockey

Ice hockey players shall be considered notable if they fulfill one or more of the following and if they otherwise fulfill the requirements of WP:V and WP:RS:

• Played one or more games in the National Hockey League, the Elitserien, the SM-liiga, the Russian Super League or other such top national professional league.
• Played one or more games in a defunct league generally considered to have been a "major" professional league, such as the World Hockey Association, the National Hockey Association, the Czechoslovak Extraliga, the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and suchlike.
• Played one or more games in an amateur league considered, through lack of a professional league, the highest level of competition extant, such as the 19th century Amateur Hockey Association or the Soviet League.
• Played five or more seasons, and at least 100 games, in a fully professional minor league such as the American Hockey League, the International Hockey League, the ECHL, the Mestis, the HockeyAllsvenskan or other such league.
• Achieved preeminent honors (all-time top ten career scorer, league or playoff MVP, first team all-star, All-American) in a lower minor league such as the Central Hockey League or the United Hockey League, in a major junior league such as the Ontario Hockey Association or the Western Hockey League or in a major collegiate hockey league.
• Played on a national Olympic team.
• Are Honoured Members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Football (soccer)

See Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Football/Notability

• Players, Managers and Referees who have represented their country in any officially sanctioned international competition (including the Olympics) are notable as they have achieved the status of participating at the highest level of football. The notability of these is accepted as they would have received significant coverage as outlined above in the general notability criteria.
• Players, Managers and Referees who have participated in their country's fully professional domestic leagues are notable. Notabilty must still be shown though. A fully professional league is defined as being constituted completely of teams composed of players that are paid to play for the team and have no other wage-paying job (i.e. not part-time and not amateur).
• Players, Managers and Referees who have not participated in a fully professional domestic league are not notable, however notability can still be shown as per the general notability criteria. The article might not be deleted if proof of notability has been provided.
• A player who signs for a domestic team but has not played in any games is not deemed to have participated in a competition therefore they aren't notable.
• Youth Players are not notable unless they satisfy one of the statements above.

Cricket

Wikipedia:WikiProject Cricket participants have adopted the following guidelines for notability of a cricket person for an article in Wikipedia:

• has appeared in at least one Test, ODI, ICC Trophy match from 2005, or ICC Trophy final prior to 2005 as player, umpire, coach or administrator
• has appeared in at least one major (i.e., first-class or List A) match as a player

The term "first-class cricket" can be misleading since, officially, it did not begin until 1947 and should not be applied retrospectively according to the MCC definition. Whereas in practice the term is loosely applied to major matches since the 17th century, it is better to think of major cricket as an all-embracing term that includes ListA as well as first-class. Hence, a player who represented Kent in the county match in 1709 is equally notable with a player who represented Kent CCC in the Twenty20 Cup in 2007.

Please note that the failure to meet these criteria does not mean an article must be deleted; conversely, the meeting of any of these criteria does not mean that an article must be kept. These are merely rules of thumb which some editors choose to keep in mind when deciding whether or not to keep an article that is on articles for deletion and relavent guidelines such as WP:V and WP:RS.

In addition, non-players who have made a notable contribution to cricket should have pages. These include benefactors, administrators, umpires, coaches, writers, broadcasters, historians and so on. With these, it is important to ensure that the article's content outlines the person's notability in terms of his or her contribution to the sport. There is bound to be a more subjective view of such contributions whereas an appearance in a first-class match enables a purely objective view to be taken. Note especially that the person must have earned notability in their own right; they are not notable if they are a member of a club.

Please keep in mind that the article in question must actually document that the criterion is true. It is not enough to make vague claims in the article or rant about person's importance on a talk page or AFD page -- the article itself must document notability.

Rugby

Rugby league

A player of rugby league would be deemed notable to have their own article on Wikipedia if they:

1. Have played first grade rugby league (depending on country).
2. Have played more than 10 first grade games OR
3. Have played in a first grade team consistently.
4. Have had a good rugby league career in second grade (depending on country).
5. Have played in more than one year of rugby league.

Other personalities surrounding the game are notable if they:

1. Are a consistent first grade rugby league commentator.
2. A referee that has refereed at least 100 games.
3. A notable newspaper/other media journalist.

Rugby union

From the WikiProject Rugby union main page:

WikiProject Rugby union participants have adopted the following guidelines for notability of a rugby union person for an article in Wikipedia:

• has appeared in at least one test match, sevens competition or domestic rugby competition, as player, umpire, coach or administrator
• has appeared in at least one first class rugby union match

Please note that the failure to meet these criteria does not mean an article must be deleted; conversely, the meeting of any of these criteria does not mean that an article must be kept. These are merely rules of thumb which some editors choose to keep in mind when deciding whether or not to keep an article that is on articles for deletion. In particular, players from the early days of rugby cannot meet these criteria as they pre-date the era of first-class rugby.

Figure skating

This is modified from Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Figure Skating#Notability for figure skaters.

Notability for competitive figure skaters, in descending order of notability:

1. Competed at the Olympic Games
2. Competed at an ISU Championship: World Figure Skating Championships, World Junior Figure Skating Championships, European Figure Skating Championships, Four Continents Figure Skating Championships
3. Medalled on the senior level at the skater's national championships.
4. Competed at a Grand Prix of Figure Skating event (Skate America, Skate Canada International, Trophee Eric Bompard, Cup of China, Cup of Russia, NHK Trophy, Bofrost Cup on Ice)
5. Medalled at a senior level "B" competition. (ex: Nebelhorn Trophy, Karl Schäfer Memorial, Ondrej Nepela Memorial)
6. Medalled on the ISU Junior Grand Prix
7. Competed internationally on the junior or senior levels.

Skaters who are not inherantly notable, but may be notable for other reasons (this simply cannot be the only claim of notability):

1. Competed at an in-country competition (there's a better word, but it's not coming to mind) that is not that country's national championships (for example, national qualifying competitions such as Eastern Sectionals in the United States).
2. Skaters who compete at a level lower than Junior (ex: Novice, pre-Novice, Juvenile).

Notability for people assosciated with skating who were not notable as eligible skaters:

1. A coach who has coached notable skaters, but were not themselves notable as skaters. (ex: Pam Gregory)
2. A choreographer who has worked with many notable skaters, but were not themselves notable as skaters. (ex: David Wilson)
3. Judges who have been involved in judging scandals.
4. Professional skaters who have competed professionally, or have made appearances on televised skating shows.
5. Heads of national and international federations.
6. Individuals recognized for their contributions to skating by membership in the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame, or a national figure skating hall of fame, such as the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame.
7. Other individuals who have made significant contributions to the development of figure skating as sport or entertainment, other than as competitors, whose accomplishments are verifiable by multiple reliable sources. (ex: Tom Collins, founder of Champions on Ice)

Olympians

All Olympic athletes are notable assuming that they have appeared in competition and meet requirements for reliable, third party sources.

Individual seasons

Articles can be created on indiviual seasons of the top leagues as they are notable. Wikipedia encourages well-written articles on individual seasons, several season articles (2005 Texas Longhorns football team and 2006 Colorado Buffaloes football team) are WP:GA.

But if the season article consists of mainly stats, Wikipedia is not a stats directory, and there are other sites on the web, baseball-reference for example that has the same kind of info. It is strongly recommended that those articles are redirected to the team page until sourced prose is created.

Seasons of college sports teams aren't notable unless they are Division-A college football teams of the highest leagues, like the Big Ten. If the article on the individual season college football season is short, consider grouping several seasons by a logical criteria - such as the tenure of one head coach.

Individual games

Games aren't notable, there has been millions of them played and wikipedia isn't a news source. Go to yahoo or another website if you want to look at them, or create a sports wiki. The only games that an article can be written about are championship games, or games that reached national front page news, like Pacers-Pistons brawl.

Rivalries

Some articles on sports rivalries exists here, like Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. Whole books have been written on the subject though. An article on a rivalry must tell why the rivalry is important with multiple non trivial, reliable sources. One game does not consists of a rivalry, same with a few incidents like fights and such.