In many team
sports,
defence or
defense is the action of preventing an opponent from scoring. The term may also refer to the tactics involved in defense, or a sub-team whose primary responsibility is defense. Similarly, a
defense player or
defender is a player who is generally charged with preventing the other team's forwards from being able to bear down directly on their own team's
goalkeeper or
goaltender. Such
intentions exist in
association football,
ice hockey,
water polo and many other sports.