Senior Research Paper Sports

KaLee Schneider

Mr.Chambers

English 12b

22 May 2013

Pacifica Introduction

For my Pacifica Project my partners: Dani Sellars, Salma Tinoco and I hosted a soccer camp for grades kindergarten to 8th grade children. The camp lessons were split into two 3hour sessions a day for 5 days. Our camp taught skills such as ball handling, dribbling, passing and other fundamentals. The children were taught these skills through games like "Keep Away" to help them enjoy what they were learning. Mr. Matt Johnson, a science teacher at Seaside High School and also the Boy's head varsity soccer coach at the high school, acted as our mentor.

I chose this project because soccer is one of my favorite sports and has been a big part of my life since I was young. I know that this sport has taught many of the skills I use today on and off the field. It taught me leadership, team work, and perseverance. My hope for this project was that soccer could make as much of a difference in the childrens' lives as it did for mine.

I have written my Senior Research Paper on just this subject: Children participation in organized sports. It is argued that organized sports are necessary for child development and others argue that athletics are a danger to the well-being of children and competition compromises the enjoyment with the overwhelming pressure to succeed. I personally believe that sports only positively add to the childhood experience. With this paper I will show that organized sports are important to children's health and academics.

To Have Fun

January 31, 1919 Jackie Robinson was born. He is a perfect example of many things but most of all; he demonstrates just what sports can do for people. Jackie Robinson became the first African-American to play in baseball's major leagues. The youngest of five children, Robinson was raised in relative poverty by a single mother. He was an excellent athlete and played four sports: football, basketball, track, and baseball. He was named the region's Most Valuable Player in baseball in 1938. Jackie Robinson used sports to break out of poverty, put himself through school, break the color barrier, push forward the civil rights movement and bring blacks and whites together to support their teams. Never underestimate the power of organized sports. Sports are often the greatest factor in making the difference between children with potential and a successful adult in today's society. Sports are a necessity to childrens' development, health and future success.

The adults that positively contribute to society are often recipients of the benefits from childhood or adolescent athletics. Skills and characteristics that have made people often come from lessons they learned while being on a team or persevering when things became difficult. L.B. Blume, author of the article "Sports Participation" on education.com said that the benefits go beyond physical fitness. She writes "They also may gain feelings of competency and self-worth, higher levels of self-esteem and report enjoying themselves." The importance of self-worth and level of self-esteem cannot be stressed enough during child development. Blume goes on to say that other advantages to playing sports comes into play when needing to cooperate within a group or taking things from different perspectives (Blume 1). Tools and skills that can be gleaned from sports can be directly linked to those needed to become successful in sports and life.

Sports and academics are not the only things that show a strong correlation. Positive social behaviors can also be learned while participating on a sports team. An interview with Ginnie Hamer supports this. Hamer says

"Sports can give a student development and leadership roles. Sports also give students an opportunity to work with different coaches and be exposed to different philosophies and management styles. Physical activities can establish discipline and are a good way to relieve stress and reduce depression." (Hamer)

Leadership and discipline are needed in the future for every child and being a part of a team helps children gain these skills in life.

Before children enter into the "real world" though, they need to excel in academics, as well. The connection between academics and physical fitness has been heavily researched and the general conclusion is that children who participate in athletic activity show high grade point averages and test scores. The article "Fit Kids Finish First in the Classroom" supports this. A study done by Michigan State University first established the subject's (children's) fitness level using a program that included push-ups, shuttle runs, and other similar activities. The study then compared those scores to the student's grades in their four core classes throughout the year and their performance on standardized tests. The results showed that the students with the highest fitness scores were also the students with the best grades and highest test scores. It suggests that schools that are cutting sports and other exercises to focus on tested subjects like math, reading, and writing could very well be undermining their goals (Fit Kids 1). This study shows that sports encourage children to get better grades so they can continue play the sports they love. Success even at an early age stems from sports and other physical activities.

Needless to say, physical fitness is important to children's health, whether you are homeschooled or in public school. Sports offer a way to exercise without having to participate in activities in P.E. that they may not find enjoyable. The book Home Schooling a Family's Journey written by Gregory and Martine Millman said that sports were such a needed part of the children's lives that every year time and energy is put in to organize these leagues for home schooled students. The book agrees that playing any sport is beneficial. There are so many different kinds of sports that children these days can choose from, individual or team related. Many people find that things that they like are easier to commit to (Millman 2). By not excluding homeschooled children from sports it can change their lives in many different ways.

The power of choice over what sport the child plays has a huge effect on how much effort they put into the sport which relates to how much they get out of it. An article in the American Medical Athletic Association Journal says that participating in not just one sport but several increases a wide range of movements and reinforces techniques like speed,