Pressure in competitive sports is hotly contested because some think that too much pressure can cause kids to “burn out” or lose their interest while others believe that the life lessons learned outway the cons. I believe that too much pressure can be bad but if there is reasonable amounts of pressure it can teach lessons like how to deal with stressful situations, improvement of skills and developing better focus in life.
When kids experience moderate amounts pressure they can find themselves in stressful situations. While some argue that this is bad, it can help kids learn how to deal with stress and pressure. According to ausports.gov “The way your athletes deal with pressure is the key to using pressure situations positively. Learning to respond well in a pressure situation will be an invaluable tool for your athletes.” This is important because it teaches that pressure and stress can be dealt with and when kids feel pressured or stressed in life they can know how to
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When kids are in pressuring situations they can have two outcomes, they step up and play better or they don’t. Either way there is potential for improvement in their sport. If they step up and play well they become better in game situations. If they play poorly in a pressuring situation they can become driven to improve their skills so that the next time they can be the difference maker. As I write this my basketball team is coming off a tough loss, I had a bad game and I feel like I could have done more to contribute to the team, I think this is the feeling that drives kids to become better when they have bad games. What I am going at is that when kids have a poor performance they feel they let down the team. It is this feeling of a team mentality that drives them to be better the next time. It really shows how pressure in sports can lead to skill
In the article, “Get Off That Couch and Play”, it states, “Students learn important life skills such as how to accept criticism, how to handle oneself under the pressure of competition, how to work hard toward a goal, how to win and lose graciously” (“Get Off That Couch and Play” 1). In sports, teens can learn how to accept criticism from their coaches, athletes have to learn that they do not do everything right and at some point they will get corrected by a coach and have to learn how to deal with that and accept it. Also, during middle school sports children learn how to handle themselves under pressure. A teammate may be pressuring them to work harder, or to score a goal and an athlete needs to learn how to stay calm while the pressure is riding on them. Furthermore, working hard towards a goal is taught throughout middle school sports because setting a goal you want to achieve is important to how you perform while competing.
Kids just want to have fun. In a bygone era, parents wanted kids to play sports for fun and camaraderie. However, a new attitude is developing among coaches and parents, which is mopping-up fun from youth sports. Now it's all about the team and the game. The team must win the game at any cost.
According to Thomas Tutko, the children under the age of 14 are most likely to be concerned about “self-preservation”. Children who have sometimes achieved an injury hesitate to step back onto the field and because of this fear of getting hurt most of the students quit. The certain values should be taught to children about good sportsmanship, teamwork, and healthy competition. Children nowadays will make every excuse to get out of playing sports because of the fear they have of getting beaten up and or getting hurt again.
The main point Epstein is trying to discuss is the heightened pressure on children to become star athletes is becoming counter productive. The
Being involved in a school sports team can help students develop skills like teamwork. When Junior made the basketball team, Junior said, “My coach and the other players wanted me to be good. They needed me to be good. They expected me to be good. And so I became good.”(180). Alexie is trying to show that playing a sport and working with a team
When the coach turned his head, the seven-year-old stuck a finger down his throat and made himself vomit. When the coach fumed back, the boy pointed to the ground and told him, “Yes, there it is, Coach. See?” (Tosches A33).It emphasizes the fact that if a child gets hurt once, they will fear the possibility of getting hurt again ,so they try to find excuses to prevent themselves from playing the game.Second,Statsky states how competitive adults have drained the fun out of children's sports and made the game unappealing for children.She cites Martin Rablovsky, a former sports editor for the New York Times says that in all his years of watching young children play organized sports, he has noticed very few of them smiling. “I’ve seen children enjoying a spontaneous pre-practice scrimmage become somber and serious when the coach’s whistle blows,” Rablovsky says. “The spirit of play suddenly disappears, and sport becomes job-like” (qtd in Coakley 94). It shows the fact that competitive adults are oblivious to their actions and don't notice that what they are doing can really affect a child mentally.Third, Statsky is concerned that competitive sports will lower a child's self-esteem and make them lack confidence.’’Like adults, children fear failure, and so even those with good physical skills may stay away because they lack
The movie we watched showed all the emotions that can come from sport. Whether it would be a gratifying moment with a win for your team, or a devastating moment with a loss. That is what makes you grow when you are a younger kid growing up. A kid who can handle a loss in his life with the same dignity as a win will become a better person in the future.
In elementary school is where children are put on different sport teams so they can build team work and just get the new experience of playing that sport. In these recreational games for the elementary kids, everyone is considered winners no matter who actually won or lost. The kids who participated in this event all get a reward. As these kids get older and are in middle and high school, they start to see who are the real winners and losers. They see that everyone cannot be a winner; someone has to win and someone has to lose. School shows that everyone cannot win all the time. If someone happens to lose they just have to see it as minor setbacks for a major come back. This lost should make them want to go out and do better so the next time they can be better prepared to win. These win or lose scenarios just do not happen in sports but also in real life situations and they have to be able to understand and not let a lost keep them down. Having a winner or loser also creates
In today's world all a child has to do is show up to practice, go through the motions, and then show up to the game and at the end of the season they get the same trophy as everyone else. In life if someone has a job if all they do is show up to work and do half the stuff they are expected they will be fired. Going to work and giving your best is not something you get a reward for it is an expectation. In the real world you get rewarded for going the extra mile and for being the best at what you do. The youth today is being taught the opposite of
I agree with the point that the focus of sports has shifted just to winning the game as the world has turned into a big rat race where everyone is trying to bring the others down. These types of sports should not be a part of children’s life. They have a hazardous effect on the development of a child’s body and personality. Due to the demanding nature, the children are affected mentally and physically. Their bodies are not developed to take this much of pressure. Jessica puts it rightly when she says that the inability to perform physically leads the children to develop mental health
A Study of Sport Performance Under Pressure”, took two hundred and forty-three participants in order to test a model in order to predict performances in sports under pressure. The test found that self-focus did not improve performance under pressure. However, the feeling of self-reported
Confucius once said, "he who does not do well is less guilty than he who pushes too hard." People found that competitive sports are often physically straining and it is detrimental to proper emotional development. This blows away the misconception that competitive sports create a healthy and engaging atmosphere for kids. This and an overly strong obsession with winning create a toxic mix for the child’s wellbeing. People have begun to realize the world of competitive may be doing more harm than good for their children. Parents have also begun to notice that competitive sports often injure their children severely and also make the child feel left out, which in turn is detrimental to the child 's emotional health. Therefore, competitive sports
The championship game loss helps the audience, especially young adults with high, aspiring dreams, to understand, that even if you do work-hard and aren’t awarded with winning your goal, this isn’t the end of your journey. It only means you have to work harder in the future, if you want to succeed at your goal. This conclusion shows young children how to lose properly and how to be grateful for what they have, since being good a winning is a much easier task. For like a quote from Colin Powell, “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” The under-class, basketball players learned from the mistakes in the title game, so they could go farther and win next year’s championship, because failure should never be your excuse to not attempt something.
Children who participate in sports are developing rapidly in sports skills, sportsmanship, and psychologically, but does this come from organized sports are just nature’s process. Children develop emotional and social benefits from participating in sports. Children experience character and leadership development through peer relations leading to an increase in self-esteem and a decrease in anxiety levels. Children will get opportunities to experience positive and negative emotions throughout their practice and games trials. It is important for the coach to understand the “psychology of youth sports and physical activity participation” (Weinberg & Gould, 2011 p.516).
Jeff Kemp, a retired professional NFL quarterback, once stated, “Sports teach positive lessons that enrich America even while revealing its flaws” (Kemp). Athletics offer so much more than the joy of game day and the thrill of a win. Being involved in sports holds the key to a world filled with passion, excitement, and once in a lifetime opportunities. There is nothing better than seeing the student section arrive in full force or hearing the school fight song chanted before kickoff. However, when life moves on and leaves sports behind, the lessons it has instilled in athletes never disappears. The play calls may be foggy and the jersey will be too tight, but what was innocently learned in the jersey shines out at an older age. Although life lessons can be learned through everyday activities, lessons such as teamwork, self-confidence, and dealing with failure are only truly learned through sports by young athletes.