Some parents do not want their children playing sports due to various reasons, however, there are many reasons why sports are beneficial.

1. Teamwork

Sports are not an individual activity, so you must work as a team in order to be successful. Teamwork is also used throughout life in jobs and other settings, so learning to work together at an earlier age will pay off in the future.

2. Friendships

Since you must work as a team in sports, you build friendships that will continue forever. For instance, in fifth grade I played on a travel softball team named Broadway Blitz, and I am still friends with all of the players. Although each player will go their separate ways, you still have the team memories. A couple months ago, I played in a Breast Cancer Awareness tournament, and I saw many of my old teammates and I realized how much I missed playing with them.

3. Physical Activity

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, teens should do an hour of physical activity three days a week. Some students are not taking physical education, so they’re not getting as much exercise as they should be. High school sports usually practice for two hours a day, five days a week, so student athletes will be getting way more exercise than those who do not play sports.

4. Time Management

Both school and sports require dedication to be successful which means sometimes it can be hard to find a balance between the two. By participating in sports, students learn time management skills that will help them in the future.

5. Stress Reliever

While attending school and playing a sport, you have less time to complete assignments, so often times you’re stressed out. Furthermore, when you step on the field, court, or other sport setting, the school stress goes away.

6. Sportsmanship

In everyday life we try to be better than others, however, if someone else does something better than us or gets a higher grade than us, we don’t always act in a good way. Sports teach players that you’re not always going to be the best, but you need to respect the ones who come out on top of you.

From teamwork to sportsmanship, sports are beneficial for all participants.