The Importance Of Sports In Sports

Many children that are actively involved in sports are looking to have fun and ensure a sense of belonging with peers. The youth of a community are able to gain new friendships in an exciting and pleasurable atmosphere, in the mean time improving skills and enjoying an active lifestyle. Children have the need to feel wanted and appreciated by others, whether it being a teammate, a coach, a friend, or family members. A positive atmosphere is needed for a child have a successful experience in a sport or activity. Without all these attributes a child may feel neglected and believe they have little or no value to a team. Over a course of time children drop out of an activity because there is no excitement left in the sport. This is because sports now focus on competition and winning rather than enjoyment of an activity. “[Throughout] childhood, boys overwhelmingly identify athletic ability as a determinant of social status among their peers, while girls tend to focus on appearance for peer acceptance.” (Adler, Kless, & Adler, 1992, p.170) The sport then becomes more stressful and uninteresting to youth members, as there is now pressure to be the best. Youth find it easier to give up on a sport rather than to try. The negativity that a sport projects can cause a child to no longer resume participating in other dynamic activities, children will feel unsuccessful and incompetent with all other activities. The majority of children and youth drop out of active sports and recreation because of a loss of fun, lack of success and/or excessive pressure from parents and coaches.

When children are involved in organized sports where there is a loss of fun, winning and structure seems to be the largest issues. Once sports involve strict rules an...

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...ad to a child becoming overwhelmed and underappreciated; a child cannot handle harsh criticism when learning new skills. When a child choses a sport the child should be in a positive atmosphere, surrounded by support and encouragement, allowing the child to set goals for themselves to achieve. A child who is burdened with the responsibilities of keeping sore, competing and unrealistic dreams creates sports as being an negative experience and as a result disconnects themselves from physical activities. Children should be able to discover themselves in sport and physical activity, be able to form social skills by having the capability to build relationships and learn how to be a part of a team. “Young athletes [should have] more input and control in decision making, thereby lessening their sense of powerlessness or their perception of themselves.” (Brady, 2004, p. 37)