Benefits of Sports
Sports can be good for all children. One of the key factors is to help your child choose a sport that fits with their abilities and interests.
I grew up in a household that did not place any value on participation in sports. As a result, I remember feeling left out of my peer group because I was not participating in teams, and had not really developed the skills even for pickup games of soccer or basketball.
Most kids are not going to be professional athletes, or even High School or College stars. The statistics prove this. But your child can get a lot out of sports without the pressure of performing well enough to make a career of it or to get a scholarship.
Being involved in sports helps your child to meet friends that they might otherwise not meet. They will meet kids not just from their own school, but from other schools in your town. They may then meet up with their former teammates in middle school or high school.
Being involved in sports helps your child to learn about team work. These team skills will help your child when doing group projects in school, and later in work environments, where team-work skills are often called upon.
Being involved in sports will help your child to develop some skills and coordination. These abilities will help your child on the playground, in gym class, and in neighborhood games of kickball and soccer.
Being involved in sports will help your child develop good health, muscle and bone strength, and will give them the opportunity for aerobic and cardiovascular exercise. These all help to combat a growing national problem with such things as childhood obesity, diabetes, and asthma.
Being involved in sports can also contribute a positive aspect to your child's growing identity. As kids develop they begin to experiment with different pieces of their identity, often borrowing pieces from peers and older kids. Think of all the negative alternatives that they have to choose from. If a small part of your child's growing identity is that they are part of the Athletics Little League team, or that their soccer position is goalie, or that their favorite sport is football, that is usually a positive.