The Importance of Sport for Children

The Importance of Sport for Children

Academics aside, Sport and Fitness are some of the most vital lessons taught in school, from starting Primary at age four to leaving Secondary school at sixteen.

There are a series of benefits that children gain from being taught and involved in sports.

Maintaining good health and activity levels

The most obvious and arguably most important reason to encourage sport is to help children stay active and boost their chance of living a healthy lifestyle. Not only does it help their physical health such as weight and prevention of certain health conditions, but it also improves their mood and can improve quality of sleep.

Reduces and relieves stress

It is easy to forget that even from a young age, children can experience high levels of stress which can result in mental and physical health issues. From friendship issues, bullying and exam pressure, growing up can provide an immense amount of stress in children and can present itself in so many ways.

Exercise is proven to activate the release of neurotransmitters also known as feel good hormones so it is an excellent way to relieve any stress a child may be suffering from.

Learn teamwork and make friends

Teamwork is often an extremely important and helpful skill to possess and one of the best ways to pick it up is through sports. There are plenty of sports that require teams and can help children learn valuable life lessons and are a brilliant chance for young people to make friends.

By partaking in a team sport they enjoy, they are learning skills such as working together and valued friendships. In addition, experience of teamwork is looked up highly in the workplace making team sport a great addition to their CV later in life.

Enhance academic achievements

Involvement in sports and exercise has been shown in many studies to have a strong connection to success of learning inside the classroom. Studies proved more accomplishments in exams, improved attitudes and manners and a better attention span than those who are less active and involved in sport.

Acquiring discipline and resilience

Along with the many other lessons sport teaches, respect for leaders, referees plus other teammates rank highly on the list. Knowing when to do as you have been told and not argue back to authorities is key knowledge to have in school, in the workplace and beyond.

Furthermore, learning to lose in sport is inevitable and a great way to teach children that they can’t always win and losing is okay and a part of life. This can be helpful for when they come to make mistakes or don’t do as well on a test because they will know to not give up and keep fighting and working hard.