Sitting beside my window with my morning cup of coffee, I am doing my task sheet for the day! I need that caffeine kick to kick-start the day!! Pop comes a notification from my beloved google-don’t know how I would survive without it- “Movies to watch during the Covid-19 shutdown.” Hmmmm, Interesting. So as I began to slowly and conveniently ditch my task sheet and browse through the suggestions, there-it was right there! One of my favourites, “Rudy”. The minute I read it, the track was playing in my head. What was it that made this film so special? It was the celebration of sheer unadulterated power of human spirit. And what brings that power- A sport!
Sport is undoubtedly one of the greatest things that man has ever made, owing to its immense scope, unprecedented popularity and bedrock of positive values. It's also a strong weapon that breaks down all the walls and makes us feel comfortable both physically and emotionally about ourselves. It is a little disturbing to learn that although most adolescents aged 13-17 are physically capable, only about 40% of them are engaged in any competitive or recreational sporting activity. However, the downward trend is likely to continue as the centennials are being drawn into "activities" that only involve a sport that requires only the movement of the hand, such as video games, social media or web surfing.
Most parents want to inspire kids to play sports so they feel appreciated. Each child can be successful in one or the other sport. It takes time, however, to find the sport that suits the child. We should also be careful in choosing the sports, because it is a method that will pay off in the long run. If you have a pre-teen or teenager at home and they haven't played a sport yet, now is the best time to try it! There are many other good reasons to enter a sport, besides the simple pleasure of playing. Some of them are listed below:
1. Healthy body, healthy mind:
Sports allow you to move it, move it, and the fact that exercise is good for your health is a widely accepted fact. Physical exercise helps regulate weight, battles health problems and infections, enhances mood, increases strength and encourages healthy sleep, the Mayo Clinic reports. The safety benefits of engaging in a sport far outweigh the real injury risks.
2. Mind over matter:
Several studies show that in reality playing sports will improve your brain capacity. A study from the Institute of Medicine stated: children who are more active gain more attention, have a higher rate of cognitive development and do better on standardized academic assessments than children who are less involved. Maybe you start playing a sport before your next SAT exam!!
3. Teamwork and Sportsmanship-Major Life lessons:
Though this no brainer-teamwork is one of the basic skills that sports can teach our children. As parents, we want our children to excel and to succeed and win! What we don’t teach them is how to handle failure. Worry not! Any sport teaches one to accept failure and to move on. Resilience shows you that you cannot always succeed. Yet it also encourages you to get back up and continue; not to let something or anything stand in your way. Moving over the anxiety and moving into unpredictable scenarios is an ability that can be applied to everyday life unceasingly.
4. Discipline:
One of the most important things in life is learning how to educate yourself in understanding your own limits and goals. Getting discipline helps you achieve results, better and quicker, not only in sports but also in life. This also shows you that not everything is going to be a win and next time, you have to work harder.
5. Total BFF zone:
You are bound to make friends when you're on a sports team. Since teammates share so many fun and exciting experiences, after you have finished playing, your friendships will last long. There's another perk too: most teams usually go out after a game to eat!
There's no question that as children learn meaningful life lessons through sports, they will become trustworthy, responsible adults who will try to support those in need at any moment. We cannot emphasize enough the importance of NOT placing unreasonable expectations and hard-to-realize goals on children from the outset. Children should engage in sports to improve their physical and mental skills rather than for immediate gratification and performance. Otherwise putting unwanted pressure on the child to play any sports may have a counter-effect and thus cause them to develop an aversion to sports in general. Instead, let your kid get used to sports first, tolerate it and get to know it so that it can become part of his and her everyday life. Performance, promotions, medals and awards can come later, but they require much hard work, dedication and sacrifice.
The world celebrates 6 April as the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace. Be active physically, and inspire your child to play sports. Time to move it, move it!
Sport is undoubtedly one of the greatest things that man has ever made, owing to its immense scope, unprecedented popularity and bedrock of positive values. It's also a strong weapon that breaks down all the walls and makes us feel comfortable both physically and emotionally about ourselves. It is a little disturbing to learn that although most adolescents aged 13-17 are physically capable, only about 40% of them are engaged in any competitive or recreational sporting activity. However, the downward trend is likely to continue as the centennials are being drawn into "activities" that only involve a sport that requires only the movement of the hand, such as video games, social media or web surfing.
Most parents want to inspire kids to play sports so they feel appreciated. Each child can be successful in one or the other sport. It takes time, however, to find the sport that suits the child. We should also be careful in choosing the sports, because it is a method that will pay off in the long run. If you have a pre-teen or teenager at home and they haven't played a sport yet, now is the best time to try it! There are many other good reasons to enter a sport, besides the simple pleasure of playing. Some of them are listed below:
1. Healthy body, healthy mind:
Sports allow you to move it, move it, and the fact that exercise is good for your health is a widely accepted fact. Physical exercise helps regulate weight, battles health problems and infections, enhances mood, increases strength and encourages healthy sleep, the Mayo Clinic reports. The safety benefits of engaging in a sport far outweigh the real injury risks.
2. Mind over matter:
Several studies show that in reality playing sports will improve your brain capacity. A study from the Institute of Medicine stated: children who are more active gain more attention, have a higher rate of cognitive development and do better on standardized academic assessments than children who are less involved. Maybe you start playing a sport before your next SAT exam!!
3. Teamwork and Sportsmanship-Major Life lessons:
Though this no brainer-teamwork is one of the basic skills that sports can teach our children. As parents, we want our children to excel and to succeed and win! What we don’t teach them is how to handle failure. Worry not! Any sport teaches one to accept failure and to move on. Resilience shows you that you cannot always succeed. Yet it also encourages you to get back up and continue; not to let something or anything stand in your way. Moving over the anxiety and moving into unpredictable scenarios is an ability that can be applied to everyday life unceasingly.
4. Discipline:
One of the most important things in life is learning how to educate yourself in understanding your own limits and goals. Getting discipline helps you achieve results, better and quicker, not only in sports but also in life. This also shows you that not everything is going to be a win and next time, you have to work harder.
5. Total BFF zone:
You are bound to make friends when you're on a sports team. Since teammates share so many fun and exciting experiences, after you have finished playing, your friendships will last long. There's another perk too: most teams usually go out after a game to eat!
There's no question that as children learn meaningful life lessons through sports, they will become trustworthy, responsible adults who will try to support those in need at any moment. We cannot emphasize enough the importance of NOT placing unreasonable expectations and hard-to-realize goals on children from the outset. Children should engage in sports to improve their physical and mental skills rather than for immediate gratification and performance. Otherwise putting unwanted pressure on the child to play any sports may have a counter-effect and thus cause them to develop an aversion to sports in general. Instead, let your kid get used to sports first, tolerate it and get to know it so that it can become part of his and her everyday life. Performance, promotions, medals and awards can come later, but they require much hard work, dedication and sacrifice.
The world celebrates 6 April as the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace. Be active physically, and inspire your child to play sports. Time to move it, move it!
Image source-freepik
