Persuasive Essay Sports

Children who participate in sports are less likely to be overweight or obese, have higher self-esteem on average, and are generally more invested in their academics. Sports are oftentimes seen as a gateway to academic opportunity, particularly for kids with fewer resources. While this logic is inherently problematic, it is true that high schoolers who were involved with organized sport were more likely to be enrolled in college later on. Youth sports also give children a place to develop socially by teaching them about teamwork, leadership, and compromise. Team sports in particular can provide children with a sense of belonging to a group, and therefore increase their self-esteem and improve their social competence. There are dozens of reasons why youth sport is important and beneficial to a child’s development, and with millions of participants each year in the United States alone, it doesn’t look like youth sports will be going anywhere anytime

There are many fans and parents that like going to games to see their favorite players or kids play and they spend their game time watching their players make baskets or scoring touchdowns. But, there are also those fans that sit in the bleachers game after game whose players never seem make it off the bench. This happens more often in High School sports than college and professional sports. The coaches of any sports team usually put in the best players or maybe they have a favorite player that's the “star” player that gets more time in the game and more practice and help outside the games and practices. Certain players, however, should not get more attention from their coach or coach’s than others.

Many people argue that competitive sports raise numerous amounts of pressure on the youth making them distracted from things such as their education and because it can cause severe injuries, but some people argue that youth should play competitive sports because it teaches major life lessons that can help with many different aspects of their future such as college, getting a job, and many more. Playing competitive sports also improves your physical strength, another physical aspect of playing competitive sports is decreasing your chance of being obese or having disease. If you don't prefer to play competitive sports there are alternative options such as biking or walking to school. In an HT Health article “Sports Seen As Key Weapon in Fighting Teen Obesity” it says that in a study with 1,700 kids, ten percent walked or biked to school 3 ½ days a week,, in the study they found that biking or walking to school lowered the risk of being obese by 33%. I argue that kids should play competitive sports because of the important life skills taught through these sports and the physical benefit of playing sports. In this paper I will explain how communication, time management, and lowering the risk of being obese; supports my claim, “Kids should play competitive sports”

Competitive sports in some cases are becoming very unhealthy for children. Most children would rather play on a losing team than sit on the bench of a winning team. Youth sports are a great idea to get children up and active, as well as improve their social skills. Just like every other thing in life it is important to practice and work hard to achieve success. However it is unhealthy to push for results over the needs or wants of the child. Aside from the mental stress that young athletes may experience from intense training and physical play long lasting injures is now a growing concern. Fact is competitive sports is a double edge sword if done right it is the greatest thing world, but if done wrong it can be very unhealthy for a child.

Each year in the United States, more than 36 million school-aged children participate in an “organized sport” (“Youth Sports Statistics”). Especially over the past few years, many studies have proved or disproved the idea that sports are beneficial for young kids. Those studies have found that youth sports have both positive and negative effects on young children, and research shows parents and coaches have the greatest effect on a child’s experience.

Sports can be viewed as a learning environment that helps individuals learn life lessons, foster strong work habits and develop core values all the while learning a sport skill. Youth sports that truly benefit young athletes should be structured to emphasize participation more than just competition. Children enjoy a sport more when they are able to have fun (Humpries). Despite many excesses some sport programs still manage to promote important virtues like self- confidence, teamwork, personal responsibility, coping skills, and persistence. Through sports kids can learn to stay organized and learn how to prioritize (Ferguson). Sports enables development of physical skills and increasing proficiency makes kids feel good about themselves. It teaches kids that failure is something to overcome and and not to fear (Meyerhoff 8-9). Youth sports has many aspects that are truly benefiting for children, but these benefits are slowly being clouded by the negatives that are prominent in today's youth sports.

High school athletics are important to athletes that eat, sleep, and even dream sports. This is awesome for anyone that loves and has a passion for the game. What happens after a couple years of high school athletics if a player is really good at what they do? These athletes will start getting offers from colleges and if they are good enough then they may get offers from the NBA.

This proves that playing competitive sports is good for the youth and it can also benefit them by playing on a team. It also gives them a lot of life skills such as confidence that they will use later on in their life when they have a job. Lucy Calkins is an expert in writing and in her article “Get Off That Couch and Play!” she also says that, “Students learn important life skills such as how to accept criticism, how to handle oneself under the pressure of competition, how to work hard toward a goal, how to win and lose graciously” (2014). In addition, to Lucy Calkins article “Get Off That Couch and Play!” that later in life if an adult is at a job interview they will need confidence while they are being interviewed, otherwise they probably won’t get the job. Adults and Children also need to work hard to get towards a goal. Like if someone is at their job and their boss needs something right away, they must get it done and not day dream. In the article “Pros and Cons of Sports Competition at High School Level,” education researcher and writer Grace Chen says, “When children and teens participate in group competitions and activities, they learn skills that

Everyone is a nerd about something. Whether it be the more traditionally “nerdy” comic books and video games, movies, clothes, or, yes, sports. That guy that can rattle off every pitcher’s ERA from his favorite baseball team in the last ten seasons? He’s a nerd, too. Now that it’s 2017 and video games and superhero movies are for everyone, it’s time to stop feeling superior to people based on how they spend their personal time. It’s time to let everyone enjoy their hobbies in peace.

Sports help give people a chance to exercise in this technology-filled age. Sport also promotes many important life-skills that will help the kid in life. According to Essential Life Skills.com, “Playing sports helps much more than in the physical aspects. It builds character, teaches strategic thinking, analytical thinking, leadership skills, goal setting and risk taking to name a few” (Hereford n.d.). This explains that sports does give many important life skills to kids that are playing sports.

Colorado recently hosted the 2015 MLS All Star game. The popular event thrives on uniqueness. A trait that will never allow it to be taken seriously. MLS is often viewed as a third tier league by the Soccer world and this event is a major reason why. The sport has an opportunity to make an international splash with their signature event. Instead they've chosen to ignore the traditional template that has benefited Baseball and Basketball.

Some of the lifelong skills acquired, are the ability to compete against other teams, and cooperate with members on your own team. Other skills developed are self-control, risk taking, and commitment. These youths involved in sports also learn important attitudes in regards to authority, and persistence when faced with adversity. Two of the greatest lessons might be how to deal with success, and, perhaps more importantly, how to cope with failure (Smith p17). It is time that parents and coaches place emphasis on the deeper meaning behind playing sports. A team’s win-loss record is just a tiny piece of the larger picture, but yet, that is what most parents and coaches tunnel in on, and they force their children to focus solely on this as well. Please do not misunderstand. It is okay for the coach and athletes to have a competitive drive. This is not designed to discourage competitiveness at all. In fact, my personal views on things like participation trophies, is that they rob our youth of the ability to cope with losses and failures (when measured by wins and

I believe that sports have a positive impact on children. Sports can improve children’s health,

One thing that is a positive outcome in sports is the overflowing happiness people get when they participate in competitive sports. One example is that “children who were involved in sports were more assertive, had greater confidence in their skills and physical appearance, and reported more positive feelings than those who didn’t participate. (Merkal, Donna, Youth sport: positive and negative impact on young athletes, 201, May 31).” If children hold an extreme love for the sport they play, most children use that sport as an escape. Playing sports blows off steam and helps people relax. “Physical activity stimulates various brain chemicals that may leave you feeling happier and more relaxed. (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research ,Exercise: 7 benefits of regular physical activity, 1998).” Playing sports can help bring families or other kids together to build strong bonds. “It appears that US children are healthy and happy as they engage in this traditional pastime, and families report higher levels of satisfaction if their children participate. (Macdonald, Brian, Kids in Sports, Part 5: Can sports help shy kids to make friends?, 2009).” A pat on the back from a parental figure is enough to keep kids going and doing their best. Because sports make children happier, they are more prone to keep playing which all in all makes children happier and it teaches kids to do what makes them happy. With suicide being the second biggest fatality for adolescents doing what makes them happy can be a life or death situation.

Organized youth sports are extremely popular among youth and their families, with approximately 45 million children and adolescent participating in the US. There are many characteristics children can develop while playing youth sports such as confidence, self-esteem, leadership, respect, independence, assertiveness, and conflict resolution. Competition can help kids learn more, improve faster and reach a higher level of excellence than they would be able to without the ongoing challenge. Competitive sports can help keep kids active and health as they grow, and other distractions increase that may lead to an unhealthy lifestyle. People argue that it can destroy self-esteem and lead to resentment. Programs and coaches overemphasizing