6 Reasons Why Sports are Great for Kids

Tim Frechette is the founder and editor of athleticlift.com. His articles mainly focus on the great sport of volleyball. In this guest blog, Tim gives several reasons why involvement in sports is so important for many kids. I grew up playing all kinds of sports and I really think it gave me a boost with many of the qualities Tim is talking about in this article.

6 Reasons Why Sports are Great for Kids

Our childhood is the time to experience and explore as many interests and hobbies as we can. It’s also the time to hone skills where there’s potential talent. These are two reasons why sports are great for kids as it fulfills both for them. However, there’s even more that transcends the obvious benefits of sports.

Why Sports are Great for Kids

Any activity that stimulates kids’ brains and creativity is a good exercise to expand their abilities. With sports, the learnings they earn exceed intelligence and physical strength. Whether they go pro or not, these life skills developed by playing sports will shape them up into well-mannered and productive adults in the future.

They Learn Responsibility

Discipline is one of the things athletes are trained in early on. Handling the pressure of training and juggling that with other aspects of life like family and school puts much responsibility on them.

From something as simple having kids remember to bring their soccer cleats to something more complex like making sure to have other teammates’ backs during games, sports teach kids to be accountable for these responsibilities, big or small.

It Shapes Them Into Good Leaders

Through sports, kids learn the true meaning of leadership—one that’s not riddled with intentions of dominance and power over others, but one that’s driven by pure love for the game and desire for growth in the sport.

They may see this from how their coach trains every player, or how their captain motivates his or her teammates to work harder. Little things like that get picked up by kids, which they then apply as they become leaders themselves.

They Learn the Value of Teamwork

You know how the saying goes: “Teamwork makes the dream work.” A team doesn’t win with only one person doing the work. Victory is achieved through collective effort. Kids learn the value of teamwork both ways: either by losing bitterly because of no camaraderie, or experiencing the sweet taste of success with a solid team.

They Learn to Trust

Trust is as much a core value in sports as discipline and teamwork are. Trust in oneself, trust in teammates, trust that you have trained your best before a game, trust that the results will play out how it should be, win or lose. These are synonymous to acceptance and it’s an important trait for an athlete that can be applied to other things in life like school or work in the future.

They Build a Community

Community is vital. It could bring satisfaction to an important feeling kids yearn for at their age—a sense of belonging and importance. The bond kid athletes share with their teammates is unmatched to that with just a mere classmate or neighbor.

They Learn to Set Goals

In sports, there’s always a goal. Whether it’s as small as being able to run faster, shoot a ball, or bigger like winning a championship, kids who play sports won’t only know the goodness in attaining a goal, they also know the value of striving to achieve it. When they are raised in a gritty culture, they take that gritty attitude to everything else in their life.

Conclusion

From childhood up to young adulthood is the perfect range of time to try everything you can think of. Kids aren’t supposed to be idle, and sports are some of the activities you could put them in that maximizes both their sharp mind and physical strength. Good results are bound to come of it because they will earn these life skills that they can benefit from for a lifetime.