Every parent wants their child to grow up happy and healthy - and it seems that participating in youth sports is a good way to ensure that. At best, your kids will discover a passion and talent that will see them through outstanding success in professional athletics; at worst, your kids will cultivate invaluable knowledge and experience that will benefit them regardless of what career path they choose.
If you already have a child involved in sports, here's how they will benefit by continuing to participate in athletics throughout their adolescence - and why every parent should encourage their kids to stick with a sport through childhood and beyond.
Sports Teach Cooperation and Competition
Competition and cooperation are two of the most important lessons that sports provide, and they are lessons that are difficult to gain in other childhood environments. In a team sport environment, like soccer or baseball, kids must work together to accomplish the ultimate goal: winning the game. As a result, kids who continue to participate in team sports through adolescence gain invaluable teamwork experience, to include effective communication with teammates, strategic organization and delegation experience and more.
Additionally, it can be useful for kids to learn how to safely and healthily compete. People compete on and off the field, for things like available positions, clients and even romantic partners. Unfortunately, it is possible for a child to be a poor competitor, who focuses solely on winning and who becomes upset and potentially violent when something isn't going their way. The more exposure children and teens have to friendly competition, the likelier they are to develop healthy habits for competing.
Sports Improve Physical Health
It should come as no surprise that kids who participate in sports tend to have better physical health than those who do not. According to the CDC, about 13.7 million children between the ages of 2 and 19 are afflicted with obesity, and overweight and obese children are likely to develop serious physical health problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, asthma, fatty liver disease and more. Children and teens who participate in athletic activity are enjoying more exercise, which helps manage weight and overall health.
Kids begin establishing lifelong habits and belief systems during adolescence. If they understand the value of exercise during their development, they are more likely to continue exercising safely and effectively through their adulthood. By learning about exercise through the fun lens of sport, your kids will establish a foundation of physical health that will benefit them as they age.
Sports Encourage Academic Success
There is a stereotype that sporty kids don't get good grades - but the opposite is true. Studies show that a child engaged in sports is more likely to have more positive grades with greater consistency than a child who lacks an athletic extracurricular, and sporty kids also have a higher probability of progressing to higher education. This could be due to grade point requirements for athletic participation, or it could be due to improved physical and mental health thanks to consistent exercise.
The best baseball schools in Florida tend to see alumni either recruited directly into professional or semi-professional leagues or else moving into prestigious college baseball programs that promise excellent academic credentials, as well. If your child is especially gifted and devoted to sports, it is well worth your investment to send them to a quality, sports-focused school - and you won't have to worry about a suffering academic performance.
Sports Build Confidence and Self-esteem
You might not realize it, but from a young age, your kids begin receiving messages about how they should act, what they should look like and who they should be. When kids don't fit these molds, they can begin to develop insecurities, which can lead to lifelong mental illness, social ineptitude and worse. Kids who engage in sports have plenty of opportunity to receive encouragement, compliments and reassurance that they are doing well, which counteract low self-esteem. Over time, a child who becomes proficient in a sport will recognize their value and ability, and they will be less susceptible to hits to their confidence in the future.
Even if you don't expect your kid to grow up to be a professional football player or gold-medal-winning athlete, it is wise to get young kids involved in some kind of sport or athletic endeavor. Kids and teens benefit in a big way by getting out and moving, and they will continue to benefit for the rest of their lives.
