Playing sports competitively at a young age is good for a child’s progression in development and physical shape, as well as, their social and psychological health. Teaching self discipline, building confidence, strengthening commitment and learning the art of teamwork makes competition a necessary step in a child’s growth. Aside from the of the character traits that are acquired from competition, there are also many obvious health benefits of starting children at a younger age in sports, especially competitive.
Jessica Staysky wrote an essay discussing the effects of competitive sports on children’s mental health and physical health which was published in The Concise St. Martin’s Guide To Writing (152-157). Her writing …show more content…
That first week that you get a membership or start jogging is the worst. Your body aches and your legs always feel like gelatin after. Most people give up shortly after a month of starting to exercise. Because our bodies are not kept in shape even from a younger age it is harder for us to get “in shape.” If we allow our kids to compete in sports even at a younger age it will help them stay fit and healthy. As I was talking about before, it’s hard to get back in the swing of things once you put your tennis shoes away for a few years and try to get back on that running schedule.
When your kids are involved young they will learn new traits and have a new level of motivation to stay in shape and then are more likely to avoid the “getting back in shape” stage. There are benefits that are earned for every system of the body when it comes to sports in general especially from a young age. Starting younger is a huge benefit by itself because as you get older it becomes harder to maintain body strength and health. Doing athletics at a young age reduce the risk of developing things such as type two diabetes or a type of metabolic …show more content…
While playing, a child learns major characteristics such as how to cope with winning and losing, because they will not always win. This teaches them that they have to work hard and stay focused if they want to get the next win. With winning comes teamwork. Teamwork is essential to competitive sports along with many other things in the real world. Teammates learn that they have to work together and communicate in order to get the get the points needed to win. It also teaches them commitment by making them show up to their practices and putting in their full effort toward the team. Another point that Statsky made was that the coaches “impose adult standard’s on the children’s sports,” which they do want them to put effort toward the sport and try their best, but coaches are teaching their athletes to have goals and to exceed them. To do that they teach determination and responsibility by giving them the right mindset to be successful in their sport. Sometimes it may come off as if the coach is being hard on them, but it’s only because he sees their potential and he knows what they are capable