Sports

Importance of Sports

Sports is fun and exciting to watch as well as play. Read the following article to know more about the importance of sports for kids, society, and life in general.

Introducing children to sports is very important. Sports is essential not only for the physical fitness and growth of a child, but also for his mental growth. The importance of sports in education can be gauged by the way it helps in inculcating values such as dedication, discipline and responsibility in children, at the same time teaching them many relevant life lessons. Even for adults, playing sports such as tennis or golf or the various extreme sports, has its own set of advantages.

Physical fitness
Sports such as football or baseball involve lots of physical activities. Sports and exercises help in strengthening and toning the muscles and bones in the body. In short, the importance and benefit of sports for kids is that it keeps them in an excellent shape.

Team Spirit
When children or adults plays team sports, be it cricket or hockey, they learn to work in groups. They learn that if the team wins, they win and if the team loses, they lose. This way they learn how to work in groups. Thus, the importance of sports for kids is that they understand what is team spirit and thus, when they grow and actually start working, it will help them immensely in building relationships with their co-workers, and also to work in harmony with others.

Mental Strength
Sports makes people mentally strong. Success and failure are both parts of sports as well as life. A sportsman knows that there will be times when he will win matches, there will also be times when he will lose them. A sportsperson knows how to handle defeat and thus, treats success and failure equally. This is an important life lesson too, which sports can teach a person. Besides this, another importance of sports for children or for adults is that it teaches them how to handle competition, and be fearless when facing the adversaries.

Constructive Use of Time
Children and adolescents ooze with physical energy. When they are involved in sports, their physical energies are used up in a constructive way. Teenage is such an impressionable age, if adolescents are given free time they might get involved in wrong activities or may fall in bad company or may also display anti-social behavior. Thus, the importance of sports in society is that it keeps adolescents from becoming anti-social elements, who might otherwise disturb the delicate fabric of society.

Health
Regularly indulging in sports helps in keeping the immune system strong and hence, prevents any kind of disease from occurring. It also increases the appetite of the person. Thus, sports promotes good health.

Confidence
Sports inculcates self-confidence in a person. When a child or a person excels in a particular sports, he becomes very self confident. Sports inculcates discipline, dedication and responsibility in a person, which he is able to apply in other areas of life as well. This makes him achieve success in every sphere of life, thus, making him even more confident.

Decision Making
In sports, a person has to make quick decisions depending upon the situation that he is in. Thus, a person who is involved in sports is able to make wise and quick decisions in other areas of life as well.

Besides being important for kids, taking up a sports career in adult life, has its own benefits. A sportsperson often travels to other countries to play matches and in the process, learns a great deal about the cultures of these countries. Even the spectators or TV viewers are thoroughly entertained while watching professional sports, making it an excellent recreational activity.

By Aastha Dogra
Last Updated: 10/10/2011