Sports
Introduction
When we hear the word sports, what comes into your mind? I know what comes into my mind. I visualize Christiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi on a soccer pitch doing incredible football skills and tricks while dribbling against opponents to score goals themselves or assist others in doing so. I visualize this because soccer is my favourite sport. Some of you visualize Tiger woods swinging a golf stick aiming to hit a golf ball to drive it as near as possible and eventually inside the target. Some of you visualize Lewis Hamilton in the back of a Mercedes Formula One car racing against other great drivers. Some of you feel like puking when we hear the word sport because we can stand them. The oxford dictionary defines sports as an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment. Today I am here not to tell you to start liking sports if you hate them but to talk about our children with sports and their future. I that there is no person here who would ask their child not to play. I believe that most of the things that define us were instilled in us while we were still children, and that is why I stand here telling you that we should instill sports culture in our children while they are still young. Remember when you were young and played a particular sport, now imagine had you followed through with it as a career, how different would your life be? This speech’s thesis statement is that sports should be made compulsory in early childhood education institutions and subsequent learning institutions. I will begin by explaining the reasons why introducing sports to people at an early age is great. I will then try and convince you of the benefits of introducing people to sports at an early age. I will then conclude by giving you suggestions of how best learning institutions can make children enroll in sports programs willingly without them feeling like they are being forced into sports.
Reasons
Remember the first day you were taken to school by your parents? I bet you were scared and wanted to keep to yourself. Some of you eventually found a friend or two, and some found it hard making friends. The thing that took you to school was strictly learning, and so long as you were learning, your parents would be happy and proud of you. There is a whole aspect which some parents never view, which affects their children very much—the aspect of friendship and companionship. Now imagine if back then when you were taken to school and playing some games was a requirement just like learning the various subjects in classes. I bet during the first day of playing the game, you would have made a friend or two, if not the whole team. Sports require communication, and communication enhances friendship. So sports would be a great channel that our children would use to get friends quickly without struggling.
The second reason is that children learn how to lose and accept defeat at an early age. Some of us view losing as a terrible thing, and we even refer to people who consistently lose as losers. What we seem to forget is that we cannot be winners every time. We will win at times, and there are times that we will lose, and that is the sad truth about life. Some adults get mad when they lose and even warn their children against associating themselves with losers. Imagine had those adults been taught at an early age that losing is part of life, they would raise their children in the right way, and they would be more mature when facing competition. If children learn to lose at an early age, they grow up knowing that losing is part of life and that sometimes you win, sometimes you do not, and in instances where we do not win, we learn to congratulate those who have won because we know that it is their time to win and that the next time maybe our time.
Through sports, children get to learn discipline and respect for authority. Let us take soccer as an example. Coaches usually instruct players, and within the teams, one of the players referred to as the captain leads the team. Whenever we see soccer on our television sets, we see players following the coach’s instructions, be it training sessions or game situations. Just like soccer, all other sports have some hierarchy. If a child is taught that he/she should do this and that and he/she should not do one two three, they grow up adhering to those rules. By playing sports, children learn how to respect those in charge and the elderly in general because those leading them are usually older than them.
Most sports personalities that we know are generally bold and confident. Confidence is not something that is taught in a class, but rather, it is something that is gained from learning from a series of events. Sports provides a channel where we speak our mind freely without fear of being ridiculed by others. Children playing sports generally have higher self-esteem compared to their counterparts. This is because sporting activities help children develop self-esteem. I believe all of us want our children to be bold and confident when facing different situations in their lives. If so, then we know how best we can cultivate self-esteem in our children.
Playing sports from an early age also plays a significant role in body composition and weight. Bone formation starts from when we are conceived, born, and vitamin D is vital in the process. The primary source of vitamin D is sunlight, and where else to get it if not in the field? Aside from that, frequent contraction and expansion of muscles aids in the formation of healthy bones. Whenever we engage our bodies in rigorous training activities, all the excess fats are metabolized and burnt in the process, which ensures that there are no excess body fats in our bodies. When the excess fats in our bodies are used, the chances of getting fat are very minimal. So sports come in handy in ensuring that children do not get obese and that they remain healthy.
Finally, when children play sports, they build a healthy heart without even knowing. Whenever we engage in sports, the oxygen levels required in our bodies during the event usually are very high, so the heart has to beat faster to supply the whole body with the oxygen it needs. When a child’s heart does this, it strengthens the tendons and muscles of the heart, making it very strong and healthy. The chances of such a child getting heart-related complications are minimal compared to children who do not play sports.
Benefits
Most great world leaders played sports from when they were kids. For example, the 44TH president of the United States of America, Barack Obama, played basketball from a very early age (nbcnews). Not only world leaders but also corporate leaders. Playing sports from a very young age instills all qualities of a leader within a person. When playing sports, there are instances where every individual has to be the greater man when solving issues or arguments that generally occur. These various instances make everyone a leader, depending on how they solve the disputes that may occur.
Sports also instill social skills in an individual. Social skills are the skills that we use to communicate and interact with each other, both verbally and non-verbally, through gestures, body language, and appearance (skills you need). Remember, I mentioned above that sports involve much communication. For example, in soccer, the ball cannot be passed to you unless you show that you are interested in receiving it. People with well-developed social skills have advantages such as; better relationships, better communication, excellent efficiency, and increased overall happiness.
The other benefit of sports is that it is also a career choice and passion. Talented athletes earn a living using their talents and abilities. For example, LeBron James plays basketball professionally, Floyd Manny Mayweather is a professional boxer, Justin Gatlin is a professional athlete. The above mentioned earning a living from sports. Now, try and imagine sports participation was mandatory in our institutions; how many talents would be identified, nurtured, and actualized? We are currently living in a world where there is stiff competition for the same job opportunities. Imagine if you had taken the sporting talent that you had in you seriously. Would you be in the same situation that you are in? We should lay a strong foundation for our children so that their futures can be significant.
The other benefit of sports is that sports help a lot in health and weight management. This, in turn, saves costs that would have been incurred while visiting hospitals, gyms. People who play sports are generally fit and healthy because sports burn all the excess calories stored in the body. These calories commonly cause cardiovascular conditions that usually come with their complications. People who partake in sports also have a longer life expectancy compared to people who do not.
Suggestions
The first way that learning institutions can make children view sports as an essential aspect of growing is by organizing ceremonies that reward sports. This would be a proper motivation for children to participate in sports. Generally, people like being rewarded for their hard work as it shows that they have been doing something that matters. So if schools promised to hold recognition and award ceremonies on matters sports, children would willingly join sports without being pushed to do it.
The second way to make children appreciate sports being compulsory is if there were scholarships associated with sports. Higher learning institutions usually do this, but it would be great if all institutions did it as it would make children participate in sports, it would also make them want to prove that they are the best in the sports they participate in to get scholarships. In turn, this would add a lot in shaping a child’s future; they would work hard in class and in the field, too, since the two work best if they are balanced.
The third and final way to make sure children embrace sports from an early age is if the institutions made created a policy that would make sports participation compulsory. That way, children would know that they have to participate in sports just like how they have to attend English or Math lessons. The goal would be to ensure that children participate in sports and not to ensure that children are great at sporting activities, which would not be a bad thing, but as we all know, we cannot be all good at one thing. Everybody has areas that he/she is good at and areas that he/she is inferior at.
Conclusion
I trust that we have learned why we should introduce sports to our children at an early age because I bet if it were done to us, maybe we would not even be here today, staring at each other laughing. The benefits are truly significant because every parent wants a healthy kid, and since very few of us possess the skills to guide our children in this field, schools should make sports involvement compulsory just like other learning activities that happen in schools.
References
(c) Copyright skillsyouneed.com 2011-2020. (n.d.). What are social skills? Skills You Need – Helping You Develop Life Skills. https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/social-skills.html
Obama’s high school basketball coaches and teammates remember ‘Barry.’ (2017). NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/president-obama-the-legacy/obama-s-high-school-basketball-coaches-teammates-remember-barry-n700986
Benefits of sports – Health, academic, social. (, 2020). SportsPlus Blog – Helping youth sports organizers. https://sportsplus.blog/benefits-of-sports/
Coaching, N. (2019). 10 important reasons why children should take up sports. Helping students, families, and individuals grow – Nobel Coaching & Tutoring. https://nobelcoaching.com/sports-benefits/
Winters, T. (2018). 10 benefits of sports for students. Interactive Health Technologies – Heart Rate Wellness Solutions for Schools. https://ihtusa.com/10-benefits-of-sports-for-students/