Importance of sports for a child's overall development

13 Aug 2019 05:18 PM Article

Times are changing and even with it a natural balance is still required. Our daily lives overshadowed by work and pressure leaves us with very less time to focus on other things that we love. What cannot be done by us must not be left aside by our children. Sports acts as a vent of desire. Playing a team makes every ounce of your body work towards a goal that is only attainable together. Sport can teach kids various important life lessons that can be learnt with much more ease through fun games and competitions. Only one out of ten people go on to pursue a career in sports, at the national level or higher. Even though this drop is noticed, there does exist a reason why people pursue sport in the first place. It is a mix of enthusiasm and joy for the games. The benefits of sports are in abundance and are essential in shaping a child's life. Sports helps in inculcating in people the perfect choice of healthy exercises that not only benefits children, but also adults. Mentioned below is a list of ways highlighting the importance of sports for children and their overall growth and development, 1. Stronger physique - Participation in sports allows one to grow stronger muscles and bones. This allows greater resistance to injury. An increase bone mass and muscle allows scope for further growth and development of one's body. 2. Endurance booster - Initiating in sports allows one's heart to maintain a high efficiency level with its increasing energy need. Thousands of lives are lost due to heart conditions. Getting a child into sports will minimise that risk manyfolds. 3. Weight maintenance - Obesity is a growing problem in modern society and keeping active is a necessity to get rid of excessive weight. Fitter sports playing pupils decrease their risk of obesity caused diseases like diabetes and heart conditions. 4. Positive Self Esteem and Character Growth - Indulging in games enables people with similar goals to work together and fulfill them as a unit. Each contribution by a team member adds up to the result at the end of the match. It is how they work as a team that earns them the reward of a win or loss once the pitch is cleared. It is this assurance and trust brought upon each player and his teammates that gives each one of them a boosted self esteem that follows on into other activities of their lives as well. It allows one to view their body positively and develop mental and moral qualities necessary for life. Their surroundings on the playing field cause them to think differently towards each obstacle faced and progresses them to solving it or losing out. This continuous win and defeat mechanism in sports nurtures in one sportsmanship that leads to the understanding that winning and losing is just part and parcel of life. It builds character freely, and while your child enjoys him/herself. 5. Respect & Discipline - Mental, physical emotional and tactical readiness is a skill learnt through sport. Being disciplined and respecting one's opponent and teammates is of umteen importance to the morals of the game. This moral developed is used as one grows older and helps in keeping the ethical code of conduct at the business place. 6. Teamwork - Teamwork is one part of sports that is used throughout life. Working together allows spread of responsibility during any part of a game. The pressure of a victory gives one hope when his teammates are high on morale and benefits play. Sports allows children a comparison of strengths and weaknesses while working together to build a team that complements each weakness of one with a countering strength of another, thus helping improve team strength. 7. Healthy competition - Sports introduces you to two teams - the one you play for and they one you play against. Though sport is played with two teams rivaling one another, it introduces players to new styles and skills used during the play and widens their understood aspects of the game. This competitive nature makes children work harder and can be used during work situations later in life. A competitive environment at a young age, such as that in sports, teaches children how to face competition freely and with positivity rather than fearing negative results. Sports have been widely encouraged through the start, in various private and public schools in India, and goes on to a college level. MM school in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, is quite passionate about inculcating the best learning tools in their children, not only in the classrooms but also on the ground. The school has introduced a range of co-curricular activities for their students and had conducted its first MM Annual Day Sports Fiesta on 19th February, 2017. The school would hopefully be conducting another sports event in the coming months, providing a great opportunity to the students to take part in various games and showcase their talents. You can find more information about the upcoming events at mmschool.ac.in - The author of this post, Eva R Sachdeva, is a blogger for IOS Ignite and writes extensively on Education Technology and news.