“When you play sport you concentrate better, you work harder, you feel better about yourself, you get fitter, you get healthier” said the minister of Western Australian Education, Mark McGowan. Children in today’s society are more likely to pass leisure time doing sedate activities, such as browsing the Internet or glaring into a television screen rather than playing sport. The psychological, physical, and health benefits of team sports are evident when compared to individual sport or sedate activities, when performed by children. Team sports help to provide your children with many life skills while keeping them healthy, fit, and popular. Participation in team sport provides opportunities for leadership and socializing, as well as the development of skills for handling success and failure. Statistics show that children who are involved in team sport while in high school are more likely to experience academic success and graduate from high school, then those who are not involved.

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL BENEFITS

Team Sport Participation has been considered the best weight loss technique used by parents to keep their children physically healthy and active. The State Government of South Australia trusts that children involved in team sports tend to be more physically fit than their uninvolved peers and have greater involvement in physical activity across time. Active After-school Communities is a government supported program within Australia, allowing low income families the chance to enrol their children in to team sporting programs. The free program has a range of team orientated sports including cricket, basketball, and group swimming which have been proved to reduce weight gain, increase physical activity, and improve psychological health.

Physical and health factors enhanced while participating in sport include improved motor skills, improved self-esteem, improved reaction time, decreased chance of depression, increased aerobic capacity and decreased stress levels. Surveys Completed by a primary and secondary school revealed that children enrolled in team sport are less likely to get involved with drugs and smoking because they realize the impact these activities can have on their performance. Girls who play sports are also less likely to become pregnant at a young age.

TEAMWORK AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS

Canadian professionals dedicated to researching trends in sport have found that individuals participating in team sport are more involved in their community, less self centred and more open to learning when compared to individuals concentrating on individual sports. This can be a terrible for individuals participating in individual sports during the cross over to teenager when your children need others for support. Team Sport helps develop teamwork and leadership skills while allowing participants a chance to share values with others. Children learn to work appropriately with others and take directions from others whether the team has a coach or not. Team sports help children develop discipline. They learn to set goals and then work to achieve those goals within the sport. Children learn that working hard can help them to accomplish goals not only while playing sport but throughout their lives. Children involved in sport have a better sense of pride and accomplishment. With team sport comes factors which can change your child’s attitude for the better for instance winning awards can boost confidence to great levels, and being named captain will give your child leadership skills with confidence and determination.

SOCIAL BENEFITS AND INTERACTION SKILLS

Children who tend to spend a predominant amount of their time playing computer games and watching television alone are more like to be less popular at school. Team Sport can help your children get along with and become accepted by others, including peers, family members, teachers, and coaches. Team sport gives your children a time and place to interact with others allowing them to develop social skills and a network of friends. In many schools and communities, nonathletic boys find it difficult to develop a social network. Children discover that they can work with people they don’t enjoy working with and still be productive, improve their skills, and have fun. Participation in team sport is a great opportunity to meet and friend people of different backgrounds, incomes, beliefs and race because sport is a great equalizer. Team sport can give your child the experience of belonging to something larger than themselves. Pushing your children into sport at a young age will generally drive them to stay involved throughout their lives. Your children will want to continue playing sport with friends as friends will push your children to continue on with their sport.

CONCLUSION

Giving your children a reason to exercise is reason enough to enrol them in to team sport. Fitness aside though, team sport has other benefits to children such as social, emotional, physical, and health factors. Striking a balance in your child’s leisure and exercise time between solitary and social activities ensures that they can live up to their potential and enjoy life to its fullest. The best thing you can do for your child to uncover this balance is enrol them into a team sport of your choice at a young age. It will not only benefit your child’s life but will help build the relationship between your child and you. All you have to do is support and encourage them throughout their sporting life. Children who find passion in sport will most likely hold on to this passion throughout their life, leading to a healthier and more successful future. While parents have always known that children can benefit physically from participating in team sport, few parents realize the psychological and social benefits associated with team sport that your children enjoy.