Goal (sports)

Other sports may have other types of structures or areas where the ball or puck must pass through, such as the basketball hoop.

In other sports, a goal may be one of several scoring methods, and thus may be worth a different set number of points than the others.

In these sports, the score is expressed as the total number of points earned by each team.

In Australian rules football the score is expressed by listing the quantity of each team's "goals" and "behinds" followed by the total number of points.

The structure is often accompanied with an auxiliary net, which stops or slows down the ball when a goal is scored.

In netball, a single post at each end of the court supports a horizontal hoop that the ball must fall through.

In basketball, the hoop and net used for scoring can be supported on a post or mechanism at each end, or on structures attached directly to the wall.

A goal can be made directly from a stroke-off, penalty-shot, a free-stroke, a face-off or a corner stroke.

In most higher levels of play the goal structure is attached to the ice surface by flexible pegs and will break away for safety when hit by a player.

These non-netted goals are no long regulation[11][12] in competitive play but are common depending on the resources of a club.

In Treibball, a point is scored when a dog knocks a ball (referred to as a rolling sheep) into the goal.

[16] The primary object of basketball is to score by shooting (i.e., throwing) the ball into a goal officially called the basket.

The basket consists of a metal ring 18 inches (46 cm) in internal diameter, suspended horizontally 10 feet (3.0 m) above the floor such that the center of the ring is equidistant from each sideline and 5 feet 3 inches (1.60 m) from the end line.

The basket ring has a net attached below to briefly check the ball's downward progress and indicate a score.

[19] The ring, net, and the front, top, bottom, and sides of the backboard are all considered inbounds, while the back of the backboard and the support structure – even those parts suspended over inbounds areas of the court – are considered out of bounds.

[20] At each end of the field in the following games, there is both a marked scoring area and a separate goal post structure.

Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the end zone.

Unlike other sports which require the ball/puck to pass completely over the goal line to count as a score, both Canadian and American football merely need any part of the ball to break the vertical plane of the outer edge of the goal line to count as a touchdown.

In the American game, the now rarely used fair catch kick, if successfully made, also scores 3 points.

NFL and CFL rules mandate that a ribbon be attached to the top of each goal post.

A retractable net may be placed behind the goal posts, well beyond the field of play, to prevent the ball from entering spectator areas.

A transitional design from this time retained the twin set of stanchions but placed them behind the crossbar.

The modern goal posts supported by a single "goose-necked" stanchion (in the shape of the letter 'Y') made their debut in the 1966 CFL playoffs and were adopted by all three professional leagues (CFL, NFL, and AFL) the following year, with many (but not all) college teams following suit in the years since.

Uniquely in arena football, the goal posts are attached to nets on either side of the crossbar which are taut to allow the ball to rebound back onto the field of play.

These nets do not represent a scoring area, but keep the ball in play and prevent it from entering the crowd.

[26] Canadian football also offers a secondary form of goal, the rouge or single point; it is awarded if a ball enters the end zone by way of any kick (either a missed field goal or a punt) and is not returned by the opposing team; this is not offered in American football (such a play results in a touchback instead).

It is normally performed by the goalscorer, and may involve his or her teammates, the manager or coaching staff and/or the supporters of the team.

Whilst referring to the celebration of a goal in general, the term can also be applied to specific actions, such as a player removing his shirt or performing a somersault.

The expression "moving the goalposts", which means to make a set of goals more difficult just as they are being met, is often used in business but is derived from association football.

[30] It is commonly used to imply bad faith on the part of those setting goals for others to meet, by arbitrarily making additional demands just as the initial ones are about to be met.