There are so many reasons to get your kids into sports. Sports offer many benefits for developing children. There are all the obvious benefits, like substituting for negative influences children are faced with, and of course the health benefits of staying fit and getting exercise.
Beyond the obvious benefits, kids who engage in sports often experience many other additional benefits. Here are a list of some of the best reasons to start you kids in sport programs.
- Sports can lead to better grades
Living an active life can have a real positive impact on a child’s scholastic success. Studies have shown that increased physical activity pumps more blood to the brain. Amazing Athletes writes that the one benefit of activity is that it, “improves essential skills for classroom learning, such as memory and concentration. Research has shown that children who are involved in sports do better in school than those who are not involved in sports, thus giving active children a leg up in the classroom.
According to a study conducted by the American College of Sports Medicine, kids who played at least one sport had a higher chance at receiving better grade scores than those student who refrained from playing individual or team sports activities. There are a couple different reason which may be causing this increase in academic success.
Children who play sports, especially school sponsored sport programs, have an extra pressure to keep good grades. Kids will self motivate if they want to keep swinging those youth baseball bats. Parents can only put so much academic pressure on their kids before they just stop listening. Kids that want to continue playing their favorite sport will have additional incentives to keep good grades.
Peer pressure can sometimes be a really good thing. Teammates don’t want to lose valuable players and friends on the field. Peer pressure in this regard can be a good motivating factor. When you have a group of student invested in keeping high grades, like those involved in school sports, they will become stronger as a group.
- Sports Build Self-Esteem
Sports can help kids build better self-esteem and higher levels of self confidence. Sports and physical activity are goal related. Kids who play sports are constantly pushing themselves to reach new goals. The ability to self-set goals, and apply the effort needed to achieve those goals, are important qualities to have later in life. People who set goals for themselves are more likely to accomplish those goals, leading to great accomplishments.
With these accomplishments come the satisfaction of reaching those goals and a higher sense of confidence and self-esteem. DailyParent writes on the benefits of building self-esteem through sports, “children with low self-esteem are more likely to have social and behavioral problems throughout their teenage and adult years. So signing a child up for an individual or team sport can provide the slight boost in self-esteem that can help him avoid a number of problems later in life.”
Sports can also give shy kids the chance at making friends, and unfit kids the chance to stay in shape. These are both contributing factors for build a strong sense of self-confidence. Sports also give kids the chance to see actual progress. Sports require practice and when kids practice and see results in real time their confidence builds.
- Sports Builds Communication Skills
Any athlete will tell you communication is a key factor in sports. Players must be able to communicate on and off the field. For many kids communicating can be scary and difficult. Sports create an arena where communication is a must. Kids who play sports build stronger communication skills. These skills will be valuable well into adult life.
The communication doesn’t stop with the teammates. Kids playing sports must learn to communicate with various adults as well. Kids playing sports have a higher level of engagement, and often close mentorships, with the other parents, coaches, and referees. Kids who play sports will be exposed to challenging communications. These encounters can better prepare your kids for difficult and/or challenging communicational situations later in life.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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