Youth Sports

Darren Pendergrass

30 September 2015

English

Professor Hurchen

Youth sports provide many advantages to a child, but the most important benefit, I believe, would be to a child’s physical and psychological health. A child’s health is something that is drastically needed in order for proper development and even as the base of the child’s future. Being involved in youth sports has been proven to control weight and maintain healthy bones. In our society today, obesity rates are skyrocketing and something as simple as getting children involved in youth sports can lower the number of obese children. Psychologically, youth sports provide children with greater self esteem, higher grades and even more frequent interactions with parents. These are all things that are important in a child’s life and the more we get our children involved in youth sports, the more our society will see the big difference it can make in a child’s life.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2012, more than one third of children and adolescence were overweight or obese. This is a very sad statistic that our younger generations face. The involvement of youth sports can change this. Today, many of our children are caught up with the distractions of technological advances and engage in video games rather than physical activity. Youth Sports, unlike video games, provide a means for children to get up and be active. Being involved in sports will allow a child to receive the adequate amount of exercise while also allowing them to interact with other children their age and even improve their social skills.

As children begin to get more involved with youth sports, their bones will begin to get stronger which, in domino effect, will cause muscles to get stronger as well. Engaging in weight bearing exercises, such as youth sports is the way to do this. This will cause children to have healthy bones and muscles and in return, children will begin to do better in their sports activities.

When thinking of youth sports, psychological health does not really come to mind. Although this does not immediately come to mind, psychological health is just another thing that improves when playing youth sports.  When researching about this topic, I was shocked when I learned that children who play youth sports get higher grades. The reason behind this is because when playing a sport; many of the things taught while learning a specific sport can be transferred into academics and to the real world. According to TrueSport, “other studies have shown that children and youth participating in sports, when compared to peers who do not play sports, exhibit higher grades, expectations, and attainment.” This is a very interesting point and yet another reason why children should be involved in youth sports.

Self-esteem is something that is easily deteriorated in children due to the constant changes going on around them during this time period. This time in their life is extremely critical to make sure that child’s self worth is taught to them. Youth sports provide a means for building and raising self-esteem. Being part of a team gives individuals a sense of belonging, usefulness and even confidence. Learning a new skill comes with failing at first but with the encouragement of teammates and coaches, self-confidence builds up to overcome obstacles. Constructive criticism and positive reinforcement is a great way to build this. Another form of raising self-esteem is during the actual game itself.  After making an excellent play and hearing the crowd cheering the team on, it creates a feeling of satisfaction and achievement. This definitely is a confidence booster and many times will serve as encouragement to the team to keep doing well.