Benefits of Team Sports for Kids
Team sports and sports in general, offer tremendous physical and health benefits for kids. They force kids to exercise regularly, even when they have no idea that the fun they are having is part of physical exercise.
In this way, sport helps prevent lots of diseases such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, among others. Therefore, when kids play sports, without even realizing it, they are becoming healthier.
That’s not all! Sport offers many, many more benefits to the kids who take part. Team sports have been proven to help kids develop emotionally, mentally, and socially. And the best part is that kids get to have tons of fun with other kids!
Here is a closer look at the benefits kids get to enjoy when they participate in team sports:
Teaches the Value of Teamwork
Team sport, by definition, forces its participants to work together. For example, in a game of youth baseball, it isn’t all about owning the best youth bat the team of 9 needs to work well together if the game is to go in their favor. This teaches kids to internalize the importance of teamwork from an early age, according to this informative post. They will then get to take the lessons they learn with them throughout their lives.
Improves Self-Esteem
Kids are simple beings. They enjoy positive reinforcement. When they take part in team sports and are encouraged to continuously do well, this builds their confidence. So when they get pat on the back or given the thumbs up by their teammates and their coaches, they grow into better, more confident people with a positive outlook on life. Plus, as they keep discovering their abilities, they gain even more self-esteem.
Teaches Leadership Skills
In a team sport, everyone has a vital role to play that contributes to the success of the whole. Kids who play team sports learn about responsibility and how to make the team that they are part of shine as one, as opposed to standing out alone.
Learning leadership skills that will place these kids at a clear advantage over their peers who do not play team sports, as it teaches them how to handle themselves in social situations.
Team sports help kids develop a sense of camaraderie. They start developing close friendships from an early age, and sometimes, these friendships last a lifetime. Team sports also helps kids learn how to be better people in their relationships, a skill that will prove very beneficial as they grow.
Foster’s Better Communication
To participate in a team sport, kids have to communicate with each other. Communication is part of the game. In this way, team sports teach them the nuances of self-expression. When you combine this with the self-esteem they gain from team sports, you get kids who grow up to be confident communicators, a skill that sets them up for life.
Teaches Respect and Discipline
Team sport has a chain of authority. From the team captain to the referee, the coach, the presence of authority figures, and the need to follow instructions teach kids that they need to respect authority. Whenever they get penalized for breaking a particular rule, they learn that there are consequences for not following the rules.
They also learn to treat their peers with respect and to respect their opponents no matter the outcome of the game. These skills are essential if they are to grow into morally good members of society.
Time Management
Team sports rely heavily on proper time management. Practice happens at a specific time every day; the game lasts for a particular amount of time per game, among other things. It trains kids to value their time, and they take these lessons and incorporate them into every aspect of their lives.
The bottom line is: kids who play team sports do better in their studies and perform better than their peers who didn’t when they transition into the workplace.
You bring up an excellent point about how team sports help children learn to communicate better and help them understand the nuances of self-expression. My sister is going to move to a new town in the first week of April. She mentioned that she’d love to find a reputable place where she can purchase soccer goals since her 2 daughters really want to play this sport.
Hi Heather!,
Many thanks for your valuable content. You are an inspiration with your hard work. It will help peoples to know why team sports are important for children.
Keep up the awesome work and know that you’re appreciated!
Thanks
Mukesh