Benefits of Team Sports for Kids
Getting your kids to do team sports in their early childhood will have a very positive effect throughout their lives. Not only will they avoid health problems such as obesity, but it’ll also empower skills that’ll be useful to them in their daily lives. Moreover, as long as they’re in team sports, it’ll help them learn social skills, companionship, and team spirit.
Encourage your kids to join team sports
We live in a society that’s becoming more sedentary every day. In recent decades, children’s entertainment has undergone a radical change. Technology nowadays makes it possible for children to entertain themselves without hardly having to move from the sofa and, at the same time, child obesity is increasing.
If you think about the things you used to do when you were young, and what kind of things your children do now, you’ll surely agree that they’re very different. In the following article, we propose that you continue to encourage your kids to play sports and not only at school but in extracurricular activities as well.
Saying “sports” is too broad and, so we have to be more specific: team sports. Below we’ll review all the benefits of practicing team sports for kids.
The benefits of playing team sports
Team sports aren’t just a sport. They allow us to learn fundamental values, which will be useful later on in life.
If we can teach our children sports skills at an early age, they’ll develop those skills faster. And, while they remain active, they’ll also develop themselves as adults.
Teamwork
Knowing how to work in a team is fundamental nowadays. Most jobs require you to socialize with other people, so you’ll have to learn to work well with others. Schools are already assigning homework that’s more team-based and are trying to create relationships from a young age.
If your children practice team sports, they’ll learn what it means to be a part of something. The feeling of unity and mutual help, and the sensation of achieving a goal through teamwork is priceless.
Conflict management
Team sports will also teach your kids how to manage conflict. Failing to block a goal, missing a penalty shot or not being able to run as fast as expected are some of the reasons that’ll create conflict within the group.
Here, the coach plays a fundamental role as a mediator. Always remember that we’re talking about children.
The coach’s role is fundamental in maintaining a feeling of unity. Also, children will learn that their mistakes can be corrected with effort and work and that everything is better when you’re together and united.
Solidarity
It’s impossible for all the teammates always to be at their highest level. There will always be someone who won’t be at their best or who needs something. Your children will realize that they can’t achieve their if “they,” as a team, aren’t well.
Therefore, gestures such as loaning a shirt, lending slippers, or encouraging a partner who hasn’t had good aim are acts of solidarity in their purest form.
Commitment
Team sports are one of the best ways for kids to understand what commitment is all about. Realizing that their actions don’t affect just them, but that they influence the whole team is useful throughout life.
Therefore, responsibilities such as going to practice or playing matches become inexcusable. Their commitment to the team will turn into long-lasting relationships.
Team sports teach kids about life
Every child should play some sort of sport. Now, always keep in mind that children will be predisposed if the activities you propose are fun. That’s why you should look for the team sport with which they feel identified the most.
If you’ve found the right sport, your child won’t just remain active, but he or she will have fun as well. They’ll learn all the important moral values described in the previous paragraphs; and to all that, you can add the physical benefits of exercising!
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Blázquez, D. (1986). Iniciación a los deportes de equipo. Deportes (Martínez Roca).
