比賽對參與者而言具多重意義。本文試由「網球賽是甚麼？」為出發點，目的是探討網球賽的深層意義，資料的收集是透過人類學的田野工作，以台灣北部地區一個結合國小、國中、高中的網球隊為對象，經由參與觀察與深度訪談了解球員、教練與家長參與球賽的感受與經驗，並透過研究者的詮釋，解析球賽的深層意義。經本研究發現：比賽是經由球員的競爭決定勝負，產生名次、積分，並進而得到獎金、贊助、以及國手資格等有形酬賞之外，在比賽中亦包含非物質的得與失，那是一種充滿情緒、激情、甚至是憤怒、傷心的情感反應，比賽讓教練與家長涉及了一種情感的陷入與消去，亦是關於名位的失去與獲得。此為本研究所指稱的球賽深層意義。

Competitions have multiple aspects of significance for participants. This study examined tennis tournaments in-depth significance by asking "What is the tennis competition?" as a starting point. By using anthropology fieldwork as the research technique, the researcher took the northern Taiwan tennis teams including elementary schools and high schools as subjects. By participative observations and in-depth interviews to understand their ideas about ball games, the researcher annotated and analyzed the in-depth significance of the games. This study found that competitions produced the position by victoryies and defeats, and even obtained the bonuses, supports, and the national champion qualifications. Besides these visible rewards, there were also invisible rewards, such as emotional, passionate, angry and even sad reactions. Competitions not only let participants involve one kind of emotional stalemate and elimination but were about fame acquisition and losing.