Unity

I've been a sports fan since I could remember. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I've enjoyed watching legends such as Ken Griffey Jr, Shaun Alexander, Clyde Drexler, and Gary Payton to name a few. Basketball and football are my absolute favorite. I recently got my 9-year-old into a basketball program and he loves it, just as I did when I was his age. Parents put their kids into sports for many reasons. I'm going to go over their reasons and cover many of the great benefits that sports and athletes bring to our children.

The Children

Physical Benefits

One of the main benefits of children playing sports is its physical benefits. There are many physical benefits, including promoting healthy growth and development, strengthening bones and muscles, boosting the immune system, and decreasing the risk of developing certain diseases and illnesses.

Mental Benefits

Being physically active, and playing team sports especially, have been shown to help improve mental health by decreasing stress, anxiety, and depression, while also improving self-esteem. Additionally, playing sports can help children perform better academically by helping them focus, giving them breaks, and boosting their energy.

Social Benefits

There are also social benefits that kids experience when they play sports. Playing sports, especially when it’s on a team, allows them to meet other kids, bond with others, create new friendships, and actively develop social skills through those interactions.

Lessons

Sports also benefit children by teaching them important life lessons. Playing sports teaches the importance of hard work, and that no matter who you are, you work hard to be the very best you can be. It also teaches you to respect and accept others, including your teammates, your opponents, the officials, your coaches, and everyone involved in the sport. One of the key lessons sports teach is teamwork, which is an invaluable life skill.

The Fans

Community Unity

People around the world of all ages and backgrounds enjoy sports. From cheering on teams in the World Cup to celebrating our favorite athletic heroes in the Olympics, sports create an atmosphere of pride, an appreciation for athleticism, and a togetherness that’s hard to top. Sports bring schools and workplaces together, building a sense of community between strangers.

Sports are a way for people to unite. Whether you’re cheering on a team from a stadium or at home, joined together via social media, there’s one ultimate goal — winning.

Differences are set aside. Race, religion, sexual orientation, and political views are all a non-factor, while fans and athletes prepare for battle with their brothers and sisters.

The Athletes

Charity

Most teams and leagues have community-relations departments or charitable arms. This means that professional and collegiate athletes often spend time performing service in their communities. Charity work can happen in the form of donations to specific organizations. Many top athletes start their non-profit charity to help fundraise a cause that has meaning to them or their hometown.

Service

This is one of my personal favorites. Especially during the cold winter months and the holiday season, many athletes or coaches volunteer their time to help people in need. Food and toy drives are popular athletic community services. Others would give out turkeys and help serve dinner for those less fortunate. Other ways of providing services include children hospital visits to our very ill children. They play board games with them, talk, and sign autographs.

Conclusion

If life was more like a locker room, or if everyone was able to experience what it’s like to be joined together with people from different backgrounds to fight towards the same goal, the world would be a better place right now.

In life and in sports, we should all be pushing each other to be the best person we can be.

Teammates, like friends, practice together, sweat together, learn together, bleed together, and cry together. After spending time with these folks, your outlooks on things can change. You gain more of an understanding from a different perspective, and learn how different situations make others feel.