Encouraging physical fitness and teaching healthy habits for life are obvious benefits of youth sports. But youth sports, especially participating in tournaments and traveling with a team, are teaching many more valuable lessons beyond the physical aspect.
Read on to learn what your children are really getting out of participating in sports. You might even appreciate all the time you and your family have dedicated more!
Exposure
The popularity of youth sports has been growing significantly in recent years. As participation grows, so does exposure for your student-athlete. It’s a great opportunity for your child to get comfortable in front of and interact with different groups of people, display their skills, learn to market themselves as an athlete, and even get recognition for their athletic skills with awards or scholarships to put towards their future education.
Sportsmanship
Win or lose, sportsmanship is one of the most important lessons a student-athlete can learn. Winning with grace and humility is just as important as losing gracefully. Traveling for athletics puts your child’s team against a much larger variety of opponents, meaning they’ll likely face many chances to both win and lose, teaching valuable sportsmanship skills along the way.
Cultural and Travel Experiences
Whether your athlete is traveling across town, across the country, or across the world, just like travel itself, important skills and lessons can be learned from tournaments. Experiencing different types of people, cultural customs, languages, and foods will set your child up to become a well-rounded adult who values differences instead of fears them. It might not be easy, but any seasoned traveler will tell you that the struggles and barriers they encounter along the way often become the most memorable and educational parts of a trip. If pushing your child outside their comfort zone and sparking a lifelong love of travel are goals of yours, look at tournaments as an opportunity to begin instilling these values.
Organizational Skills
The older your athlete is, the more involved in the organizational and planning process of their tournament they can become. Younger kids can be responsible for gathering their necessary uniforms and equipment and being on time. Older kids can do everything from washing and packing their uniform and clothing to helping plan the schedule of the trip. Being responsible for larger aspects of planning will arm them with organizational skills that will be invaluable in their education and future careers.
Networking
Especially for reserved children, the opportunity to meet and socialize with other kids, coaches, and parents is a good introduction to networking. Spending time with different groups beyond family will get kids used to speaking to both peers and adults and may help eliminate nerves. Plus, expanding their social circle to students and coaches from other schools and parts of the country can benefit them in countless ways down the road by opening up new opportunities.
Respect
Respect is a huge part of youth sports. Respecting opponents and officials, whether the outcome is a win or a loss, is a key characteristic of a student-athlete. As with many of the other benefits discussed, this skill transfers far beyond youth sports. What parents don’t want to raise a respectful child? Real-life experience and practice are always valuable.
The benefits of youth sports go far beyond the physical and entertaining aspects. When tournament travel feels like a lot to take on, remind yourself of the valuable lifelong skills your student-athlete is developing.
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