Friends. Rivals. A friendly rivalry. This picture says a lot about the high-school sports experience. I am going to list some thoughts on why it is good to encourage your kids to participate in sports at school.
- It's fun...when you don't take it TOO seriously, of course.
- It's exercise. Need I say more?!
- The kid learns about being committed to something, and to someone--their team.
- You win some, you lose some. That's life, kid. Teaching kids how to deal with heartbreak on a small scale will help them when it happens on a bigger scale.
- It develops a social support system. In the above picture, I stand with 3 of my closest school friends and with 3 friends I played sports with since age 6.
- Discipline...and not only the obvious way of training and working hard physically, but often times student athletes end up being better students because they are more disciplined with their time.
Here's the thing: balance is key. There is more to life than sports, so we need to make sure kids realize that. There is more to a person than being a good athlete, and many struggle to find their identity once the "glory days" are over. Make sure kids know they are loved even when they disappoint on the field.
