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Explain confidence in sport
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How Dance, Weightlifting, And the Sacramento Kings Define my Life
Introduction
Sports have always been a part of my life growing up. I still remember all the times I watched basketball with my dad growing up. He was a huge Sacramento Kings fan and turned me into the biggest Kings fan in the Bay area. I also feel like sports might have saved my life, being depressed throughout my life, sports was a way for me to escape the reality of things. Dance in particular was one of the biggest thing to get me out of depression. That alone is why sports or movement in general is a huge part of my life. Weightlifting is another thing that helped me get out of depression and made me a more confident person in general. These three things are some of the most important things in my life and defines the
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I still remember the moment I decided to go to the gym. Being 5’10 and 130 pounds at 20 years old meant that I was extremely underweight. I was playing video games and I looked at my forearm, it was literally all bones and that was the day that changed my life forever. That was the first day I ever went to the gym and I would say that out of everything in my life, weightlifting is the most important thing in my life. It has become my identity and I dedicated my life to it. “ If athletes enjoy what they are doing, then they will continue to participate”(Weiss 2013). I will continue doing it for the rest of my life, and try to help people become the strongest version of themselves through weight training. Everyone knows me as the “buff Asian guy” now and it has boosted my self esteem and confidence through the roof. It has made me realize what I was put on this earth for and helped me get rid of my anxiety and depression fully. “ It was found that among college students, more sport participation leads to greater self-esteem via peer acceptance and/or sport self-concept” (Wen-Ing 2012). Not only do people not bully me anymore, I feel like I am much more respected
As stated in “Investigating Coed Sports Ability to Encourage Inclusion and Equality”, “Females experienced increased self-confidence and pride.” Moreover, when athletes compete with the opposite sex, their skills are bettered. When players realize their skill set has increased as a result, their self-confidence is boosted. Self-confidence is one of the most important things needed to play sports. An athlete can be very talented but if he does not
High school sports are approached with clashing opinions. Some of these opinions are positive, and supportive of athletics. “Athleticism, among many activities, offers teens a physical outlet to exert their troubles, anger, emotions, and other feelings” (Chen 1). This can be observed in nearly all of the football players in Friday Night Lights. This can also be noticed in the world today. “Athletics help high school students understand their own abilities and talents” (Chen 1). This piece of evidence is very accurate when describing high school athletes. Sports can make a high school student humble. As can be seen by the preceding information, high school athletics can have a positive impact on a student’s life.
I can remember the first day I stepped foot into the weight room at William Horlick high school, I was instantly addicted. I was a little intimidated because everyone on the powerlifting team had been there for multiple years and were bigger and stronger than I was, but that later went away when I realized we all shared the same goal and everyone helped each other achieve it. Powerlifting is good because it builds your self-discipline, confidence, social skills, and allows you to set goals for yourself.
Growing up my parents ran a little lake on the outskirts of my hometown of Shelbina here in northeast Missouri. I was the "tough" one out of my family by the time I was in the ninth grade I could use two weed eaters at the same time and pick up the back end of a golf cart. At 5'3 and wearing size 16 I was big girl and was often made fun of by my peers. I wanted to be something other than the "fat girl" at school. So I became stronger than an ox and used that to my advantage. My high school coach seen me one day bench pressing a picnic table and begged me to join the weightlifting program. I excelled at the class and became known as "Pipes" I went from being the chunky girl to being the girl that was respected for my bench pressing and squats. My coach believed in me and that was all I needed to continue to do my best. That year I made a C average except for weightlifting where I got an A and earned the respect from my peers and my coach.
Fourteen years of my life. Fifty two weeks of my year. Five days of my week. Four hours of my day. This is what I have given to the sport of gymnastics. Friday night football games. After school clubs. Sleeping in on the weekend. This is what I have sacrificed in pursuit of my passion. Perseverance against adversity. Dedication throughout hardships. Discipline in body and mind. These are the qualities this sport has engraved into my being. There is not a time I can remember when I was not involved in gymnastics. When I reflect on the milestones of my life I don’t reminisce on the loss of my first tooth or a move to a new house, but instead I recall my first trip to nationals and mastering my back tuck. Gymnastics is the foundation of who I
Participation in sports has proven to increase self-discipline and self-esteem, and can teach athletes to learn from their mistakes and move on (Issitt). Athletes playing team sports also develop the ability to work well with others and use teamwork in their everyday lives. Teammates form relationships that are strengthened over a common passion and goal. These relationships can last long after high school is over (Chen). These social skills translate into better communication used with an athlete’s family, peers, and in the community. Likewise, “A 2006 study in Maryland found that student athletes are 15 percent more likely than non athletes to be involved in their communities and to take the time for civic engagements, including participating in voting and volunteer activities” (Issitt). The same study also concluded that athletes are far more likely to be comfortable with public speaking than non-athletes. This study provides concrete evidence that high school sports can help to gain mental and social skills that will be used later in life
“The Effects of Sport Participation on Student-Athletes’ and Non-Athlete Students’ Social Life and Identity.” Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics. College Sport Research Institute. 2010, 3, 176-193. Cosh, Suzanne. Tully, Phillip.
One of the many benefits of playing sports is the children will build character. Building character is important because with character they will obtain new friends and develop different skills. Playing sports at a young age can build character in many ways, “Playing sports at a young age enables children to participate in social interactions and build skills such as teamwork, leadership, and responsibility as they learn to work with others to achieve a common goal,” (Aspen Institute). This is a benefit because they will build character from learning how to deal with wins and losses from playing sports. Also, they will develop different skills. Developing different skills will build character because, “numerous positive developmental indicators have been associated with sport participation, including improved self-esteem, emotional regulation, problem-solving, goal attainment, social skills, and academic performance,” (Holt). This shows how when children play sports that some of them acquire different skills than others. Lastly, some of the benefits that the children will receive from playing the sports are obtaining new friends and developing different
Sports play a very important role in my life ever since I could walk. My interests in playing sports began at the age of three as my parents signed me up for soccer, flag football, basketball, and lacrosse. First grade started my competitive edge as I began to play for travel teams in various sport tournaments. This competitive edge transferred from the sports field to the classroom having teachers and coaches helping me be the best I can be. Sports have continually well-shaped and defined my character by teaching me how to accept a win from working hard, also how a loss is an opportunity to learn and fix mistakes.
Sports play an important role in American culture, with the top four most popular being football, baseball, basketball and ice hockey. These professional athletes make millions of dollars through their annual salaries and endorsements. Many wonder how they got to where they are today and was it worth it. There are mixed messages about participating in sports as a child and how it affects their development. Some believe that sports will help their child develop better communication skills, self-confidence and build character, while others believe that young athletes will develop aggression traits such as bullying, competitiveness, and aggressiveness. Although some believe that sports participation as a child will lead to aggressive children, there is ample evidence through research that sports benefits a child’s cognitive, social, and, physical development.
People who have become involved in sports and recreation develop a larger group of friends, receive more social support, and are more likely to engage in conversation with o...
The type of sport adolescents choose to participate in can be considered masculine, feminine, or neutral which causes stereotypes among peers. Society has set the stereotypes for competitive sports based on gender. According to Alley & Hick (2005), “despite legal and social changes, sexist ideology still pervades sport” (p.273). Sports are seen as masculine, male dominated, and males receive higher media coverage and pay than the majority of female sports. The gender stereotype is learned through socialization and “for certain sports appear to be learned by grade school” (Alley & Hicks, 2005. p. 274). Gender role conflicts may appear in some athlete depending on the sport(s) one chooses to participate in, but this can alter by demonstrating acceptance for the opposite gender in sports. It is important to indentifying the social effects of sports participation in both genders and how beneficial it can be to the adolescent. Through sports participation adolescents learn those gender roles are based on self-perception, and not social interactions.
The gym where I train and workout, the Dubuque Martial Arts Group, is a place where I know who I am. It is a place I can go to escape my problems for a while and release some stress. It's not the actual physical building, but rather the events that have occurred there over the years. It's where I have formed some of my closest friendships. It is the place I have invested years of hard work for many of my accomplishments. To some it may seem odd that a place associated with sweat, blood and physical pain mean so much to someone. However, in my eyes it's almost like a second home.
It has been known a proven fact that participation in high school sports encourages better moods, self-esteem, and a higher level of academic achievement. This has been proven through various studies, one of them being a study done in New York. In 2006, the Carnegie Corporation of New York discovered that students benefited from participating in high school sports. An improvement in grades, confidence, and personal health and welfare were appreciably noted in ...
Since then I have continued to follow through with the same level of dedication to exercising. I find myself wondering at times where I would be in life if I had never picked up that first barbell and started lifting. It has been a difficult journey and I know that it is far from over, with so many things I still have to work on. Through all the mistakes and obstacles it took to get me here, I am now living a healthy lifestyle and I owe much of it to exercising.