Get Off That Couch And Play Competitive Sports

A topic that has recently come into great interest in the media is whether or not children and teens should play competitive sports. Some may say that they should because sports can teach valuable life lessons. Others believe the chance of injury is too great. While some children can sustain injuries from sports, studies have shown that children are more likely to injure themselves biking than playing football or any other sport. “Sports do not build character. They reveal it,” said John Wooden, an American basketball player and coach at the University of California. This shows how sports help reveal a person’s character and this is what sports are needed for and are all about. We believe that competitive sports are helpful for middle school

In the article, “Get Off That Couch and Play”, it states, “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” (“Get Off That Couch and Play” 1). In sports, teens can learn how to accept criticism from their coaches, athletes have to learn that they do not do everything right and at some point they will get corrected by a coach and have to learn how to deal with that and accept it. Also, during middle school sports children learn how to handle themselves under pressure. A teammate may be pressuring them to work harder, or to score a goal and an athlete needs to learn how to stay calm while the pressure is riding on them. Furthermore, working hard towards a goal is taught throughout middle school sports because setting a goal you want to achieve is important to how you perform while competing. Lastly, in youth competitive sports you can learn how to win and lose politely, which is important to the feelings of your competitors. Even though teens can learn these skills in school and in their household, competitive sports provide another way for children to interact and experience how to use life skills in the real world. Another example from the article, “ Pros and Cons of Sports Competition at the Highschool Level,” it

Athletes in times of difficulty can be important role models.” This shows that sports are in fact helpful because they can grow children into being important role models for the rest of society. Studies have shown time and time again that playing sports can be beneficial to children and we also believe this to be true. Many people still think that sports cause “too many injuries”, or coaches “are not fair enough”, but adolescents will experience these things all throughout their lives because injury can happen anywhere and they will not always be the best at what they are doing. Sports are beneficial to the youth because they can teach children and teens important life skills, help them maintain a fit and healthy lifestyle, all while improving their mental health. Is that not what we are working toward, as a society, to make sure that the children of our next generation can live happy, healthy, and fulfilling