Children are naturally very competitive and love to get their way. In sports, winning, to most, if not everyone, is the primary goal. Showing that you and your team are better than the opponent and outclassing them to be the last one standing is what many strive for. Sports are great for those who love competition, are friendly or competitive, and are a great way to stay fit and healthy, make friends, build character, and much more.
Playing a sport of any kind as a child, forcefully or naturally, is an excellent way to grow in social areas with different people and forces them to cooperate to achieve very similar goals (most likely to win). While some parents think that sports are either useless or dangerous (which to an extent is true), or even if the child has no interest in sports at all, vast amounts of studies have shown the countless benefits that sports can have on a young child and how they can help them grow as a person.
The primary reason why sports are so beneficial to youth development is because of the socialness that comes with sports. Almost every sport involves two or more people working on a team to create a result that builds a bond between the team participants and creates a chemical reaction between them that produces victories. As commonly known, socialization and social skills are one of the key contributing factors to a high-functioning society, and there is no better way to build up one’s socialization skills than being forced to play games with them on a field or a court. Youth sports can also enable parents to participate in some way or form, allow them to interact with their children more, and create stronger parent-child bonds.
Sports are also great at keeping children healthy and constantly active. This can be great for children with a lot of energy and keep them outside rather than inside playing video games. Staying active and outside is also great for American children due to the CDC’s recent statistics on child obesity in the USA, where children have a 19.7% obesity rate (1 in 5 children have obesity). Additionally, studies from the National Athletic Trainer’s Association and the government of the state of Victoria in Australia found multiple benefits of physical activity, including a lowered risk of future illness, improved sleep, and better development of bones, muscles, ligaments, and tendons, and a more significant development of hand-eye coordination and functional movement skills. These benefits show how crucial it is for young children to participate in physical activity.
What many parents tend to leave out of the picture when considering putting their child into a sport is its psychological benefits. Studies from the American Psychological Association provided evidence of the strong correlation between sports and psychological benefits after years of active participation; these studies included benefits such as lower rates of anxiety and stress, increased self-confidence, improved cognitive performance, and an increase in creativity (just to name a few). Additionally, findings found a correlation between youth sports and higher self-esteem and happiness.
Sports and other forms of physical activity have significantly impacted children and led to stronger lives later. Freshman sports athlete James Ramirez, who has been doing sports all his life and regularly works out, said in an interview.
“Sports have made me stronger and healthier, and I’ve never been more fit. I love my body image more after doing all these activities. I give all this credit to my parents for putting me in this position at such a young age.”.
In contrast, a person who lacks sports in their lives has still shown excellent results regarding activity and health. High school graduate and keen musician Sarah Rajaratnam stated in an interview on youth sports.
“I was never interested in sports, and my parents never put me into any sports as a child. Instead, I played music. I wish to be more active, but I am still perfectly healthy and happy overall, but I do see the benefit of youth sports.”.
Although people are better off without youth sports, ample benefits and opportunities can come from youth sports.
