Benefits Of Youth Sports

With around 45 million kids enrolled in some type of organized sport, it’s clear that youth sport is a massive part of American culture. Most people remember playing a rudimentary form of soccer or basketball during elementary school, when rules weren’t too important, and having fun was the only goal. While nearly everyone can recall playing some kind of organized sport during their childhood, a very small percentage of people stick with sport beyond middle school, and even fewer go on to play after high school. The amount of children who quit organized sport during adolescence has raised questions about the psychological risks of youth sport. Youth sports in and of themselves are not an inherent problem; however, issues do arise when children are asked to take on too much at too young of an age. While there are risks associated with youth sport, organized sports also provide

Youth sports ages are considered to be high school sports and below. “And more than 45 national sports groups, including the USTA, MLB, NFL, PGA, and NHL are backing an effort to encourage multi-sport play” (Rosenwald, 2017, p. 3). Kids love sports, and it’s one of the things that they do for fun. Sports keep the youth in today’s society physically and socially active which can help prepare them for their future greatly. Most kids that do play youth sports are out for more than just one sport, which helps kids even more, and that is very helpful for them. When they play more than one sport it helps them develop skill that they can use in other sports. “They(the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and

The benefits of sports participation have been studied during the last few years. Sports participation has also long been thought to provide a social environment that fosters basic values such as fair play, competiveness, and achievement (Pate, Trost, Levin & Dowda, 2000). Furthermore, Pate et al. (2000) conclude that in the most populous demographic subgroups of United States high school students, sports participation is associated with multiple positive health behaviors. This trend was most striking for white females and white males, among whom sports participation was significantly associated with numerous positive healthy behaviors and almost no negative health behaviors. African American and Hispanic students had fewer associations with positive health behaviors, and even some association with negative behaviors were observed. Sports has been a important key to high schools students get involved on a social environment that can cause very positive healthy behaviors among the youth. Pate et al. (2000) continue to observe that school and community sports programs have the potential to help youth establish lifelong healthy physical activity patterns.

Positive Physical Effects. The most tangible effects on children who play sports is the effects on children’s bodies. According to the author of the book ReSYNC Your Life, Samir Becic, kids are not as injury-prone when involved in athletics because sports help to boost a child’s skeletal and muscular system (“Top 10 Benefits of Youth Sports”). Not only does a healthy, uninjured child feel better, parents also save money by not having to go to the Emergency Room as often. In Becic’s eyes, fighting obesity by keeping kids moving is another positive influence of sports (“Top 10 Benefits of Youth Sports”). Obesity is an ever-growing problem in our society, and obesity leads to multiple different health issues including heart problems. Becic explains that playing sports as a child promotes a healthy heart, which ultimately suppresses the chance of heart disease (“Top 10 Benefits of Youth Sports”). These studies show that by participating in athletics as a child, that child is likely to see their physical health improve.

Physical activity has not only physical benefits. It also has a very big impact on social-emotional and cognitive aspects of child’s live. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “The development of a physically active lifestyle is a goal for all children. Traditional team and competitive sports may promote healthy activity for selected youth. Individual sports, noncompetitive sports, lifetime sports, and recreational activities expand the opportunity for activity to everyone. The opportunity to be active on a regular basis, as well as the enjoyment and competence gained from activity, may increase the chances that a physically active lifestyle will be adopted.”

One thing almost every young child looks forward to is the activity of play. Kids love nothing more than to go outside, run around with friends, and get dirty. If children are already active at a young age, why not encourage them to continue by enrolling them in an organized youth sport program? Young people will gain many positive experiences by participating in organized physical activities, but none as important and influential as the social skills, physical skills, and mental skills developed and nurtured during their time in youth sport. As a result, the young participants can continue to build upon and cultivate these skills which will ultimately be transferred into their development as successful adults. Along with the social and

There are many different reasons why including sports in a child’s life can help build them for their future. A few of the more obvious reasons include healthy weight, social skills, and self-discipline. According to Greg Wells of aboutkidshealth.ca, “Starting a child in an organized sport gives them a healthy habit of physical activity to see them right through to adulthood and help them ward off many age- and weight-related ailments” (Wells). In addition to the short-term benefits, as children develop in life with the inclusion of sports, they learn to become attentive and gain stronger strategy skills (Wells). More specifically, football has the potential to develop strong

Children who partake in organized sports receive many social, mental and psychological benefits that exceed those that come from general physical activity. Starting a child in an organized sport gives them a healthy habit of physical activity at an early

One reason kids should not play competitive sports is because of the stress and time commitment they have to put into it. Time management is very important for a child to learn so they can stay focused and complete certain tasks; however, sports greatly interfere with that. Time management can be very effective for a child to develop for the future. According to azcentral.com, a healthy living website, “...sports requires a significant time commitment from children....travel to and from competitions and the events themselves all take time away from children's daily activities”(Westminster 2017). This just proves that sports can be too much of a time commitment. It is not just always fun and games. It requires a lot of attention and valuable time from children, and it may just be too much to handle for them. Also stated in Sports Illustrated, “they are going to lose a lot of their free time...they won’t have time to get too involved and nights and weekends are going to be booked all season long...the off-season could be filled with strength and conditioning requirements” (SI Play 2017). This adds up to suggest that even when the season may be over, it may just never be done! Parents have to spend a lot of time. Based on this, time commitment is essential, and not everyone has that time.

The need for youth sports programs is validated and magnified by information that attributes long-term value to participants in these programs. Numerous studies document the direct value of youth participation in sports. These studies indicate a direct correlation demonstrating that involvement in sports reduces the potential to become involved in drugs, sex, crime, and gang-related behaviors. Research indicates the economic, social and personal value of“investing”in the lives of children in a positive and constructive manner avoids the social and penal system costs that may later result. To meet this need, All4Sports offers an experience that serves as a per- sonal“sports reference”for participants throughout their lives. These important benefits

Youth sports have lately been increasing in the intensity amount and practice hours. Coaches have also been making youth teams play more competitively rather than playing for fun. Imagine if you were being forced into two or more hour long practices and are playing for competetion rather than fun, as well as being yelled at by your coach. It would most likely make you very tired and not want to play sports anymore. The benefits of participating in competitive youth sports are not worth the drawbacks, mainly because they should not be very intense nor should kids be getting yelled at angrily.

Since the creation of man, sports have had a tremendous role in the way people live their lives. From the time we are born, until our elderly age, most of us are involved in some way with sports. Whether it is a scrimmage game of soccer at recess in elementary school, playing on the varsity athletic team or simply watching the Olympics or sporting events on television, sports have an influential role in our everyday lives. The outstanding popularity of the sports industry has profoundly affected youth sports organizations that an estimated twenty-six million children ages six through eighteen participate in at least one school or community based athletic program (Smith & Smoll, 1997). Well structured sport programs can provide youths with

First of all, sports could make kids healthy. According to the article “Sports Activity and Children” by The Aspen Institute stated, “A wide-ranging study and analysis of existing research found that free-time physical activity is associated with reduced risk of 13 different types of cancer. (National Institutes of Health, 2016).” In fact, even do that there is a lot of kids that have cancer, sports could help make sure you don’t even get cancer. Also, the text also says, “Adolescents who play sports are eight times as likely to be active at age 24 as adolescents who do not play sports (Sports Participation as Predictors of Participation in Sports and Physical Fitness Activities in Young Adulthood, Perkins, 2004).” Although, when you get older, you get kinda lazy when you grow up, sports could help your body in the future. Even though that when kids get very old,

Sports have generated a lot of public interest. Some of this interest being good and some not being so great. There are many concussions and TBI in children who play sports but there are also some benefits to playing sports. Some of these benefits are very helpful to a student. Youth sports are very popular in the United States even though there are some injuries associated with sports. Everyone has to choice to play sports and it’s not a required thing to do. Don’t ban sports from schools but don’t force children to play them

Sports may not be all that good for children. Some people might say that sports can cause injury, children won’t get a chance to play if they are not very good, or children may be made fun of for lacking skill in that particular sport. I believe that participating in sports has a much more positive impact on children. Sports can help children’s health approve, help them develop new friends, and can help improve the children’s self confidence.