Youth sports are a sacrifice for children and parents.
Participating in sports takes a lot of time for parents to drive their kids to
and from practices and games. But despite these sacrifices sports have a
profoundly positive impact on kids. The amount of beneficial aspects in
organized sports for our country's youth is staggering. Having your child play
sports is one of the best things you can do for them. The effects and lessons
learned from sports, impact a kid immediately and also later in
life. Here are a few of the reasons why organized sports have such a positive
effect on children, and how that effect manifests itself.
Sports teach teamwork, selflessness, and trust
In team sports the biggest thing you learn is teamwork.
And teamwork, at its core, is about selflessness and trusting others. In sports
you learn that the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts, but only if
each of the parts is committed to working as a whole. One person thinking about
himself instead of the team is all it takes to keep a team from operating
properly and reaching its full potential. This is an incredibly valuable lesson
as it teaches kids how to be less selfish in their
everyday lives. The ability to trust others and work as a team also pays off
down the road when that child enters the working world. Those lessons are
equally important when you replace teammate with co-worker.
Sports teach problem solving, perseverance, and work
ethic
In sports you're not allowed to quit when the going gets
tough. If you're losing you have to find ways to problem solve if you want a
chance to win. Even if you don't win you'll understand that in order to win the
next time around you're going to have to work harder. These sorts of lessons
not only help children in school, they also help them later in life, in work,
relationships, and even in raising a family when the time comes.
Sports teach leadership
Sports are all about leadership. Some people lead by
example, others by speech. In order to succeed in sports every player must
lead, and every player must be receptive to the leadership of others. This is
equally true for those wishing to have success as adults, and it’s a valuable
lesson to learn early.
Sports encourage health and fitness
Many people think they don't enjoy strenuous physical
activity, but when they play sports they realize just how wrong they were. Kids
don't think of sports as being for health reasons, but adults do. So not only
do sports keep kids active and healthy, but they instill a lifestyle of
physical activity that carries them into adulthood. Those who play sports as
kids are more likely to stay active, and therefore healthy, as they grow older.
These are just some of the main reasons why organized
sports are beneficial to children. But there are many other reasons sports are
good for our kids. They learn discipline, sportsmanship, and how to deal with
both victory and defeat. Sports take sacrifice, but on the whole they are so
helpful for developing our youth.
This article was contributed by Samantha Greenbaum,
active weekend hiker and tireless mother of two. If you're looking for ways for
you or your family to learn weight management skills –whether it's through
sports activities or working out or nutritional changes-- Samantha recommends
Life Long Weigh.
No comments:
Post a Comment