Whether it’s professional sports or college sports (and let us face it, college football and basketball are mostly semi-pro), I am a fan. Being a sports fan might not mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things, but it is one way that I move through life, looking forward to that Saturday soccer game, or that Mariners-Yankees rivalry I am getting tickets for next week.
Sports matter because they are useful opiates for low-IQ people. Sporting events allow fans to distract themselves from the bitter miseries of their lives and temporarily feel as though they are part of something bigger than themselves by identifying with a team. They also allow worthless people to feel like winners when their team wins.
Watching your favorite sport, whether it’s soccer, baseball, hockey, or basketball, can be an emotional experience. There is no question that spectator sports — football, baseball, basketball, ice hockey, you name it — have an integral role in contemporary society. Those with no interest in sports at all may be baffled at the continued enthusiasm that people have for watching teams play, let alone why the U.S. spends so much money on them. Since every single sport has been invented, people have come together to watch the games, and have formed a shared bond because of that.
Sports Are a Unifying Force
Sports have brought people together from different cultures and backgrounds, and indirectly they force people together to work as a team. In addition to understanding oneself as an individual through one’s athletic activities, individuals understand themselves as a member of the community by participating in sports. There are several beneficial life skills embedded within sports that contribute to individuals developing as social creatures.
The lessons from sports are more profound than simply practicing or playing games, they help to develop characteristics that prepare you for the many obstacles of life. Important life lessons can be learned from the trials and tribulations of sports in your younger, developing years. As the Positive Coaching Alliance says, youth sports are developmental zones, not just in terms of sports skills, but in terms of life.
Research has shown that coaching quality–providing direction, while offering encouragement and positive reinforcement–plays an important role in whether children will benefit from participating in youth sports. For children, having a coach, mentor, or role model that looks like themselves can be critical in keeping them involved with sports.
It is on most of us to ensure that our kids are exposed to sports environments that emphasize positivity, which keeps kids engaged. Sports are one of the only places our children are going to be able to learn about core positive values, take healthy risks, and learn life lessons, all while being in a safe environment. That is, neither allows kids to experience life’s highs and lows the way that youth sports do.
Sports Are a Great Socializer for Kids
According to Dan Gould of Michigan State University Institute for Youth Sports Studies, kids want to have fun, get better, and be around their friends. As parents, you sign your kids up for sports in hopes that they will enjoy them, even like them, and possibly make it into the pros (and provide a nice retirement opportunity?). Sports are important because they can be a single positive thing in a child’s otherwise shitty life. Sports matter because they might give a child a positive, influential role model in a life where he or she may not have any.
Sports can teach kids how to lead, how to follow, how to be responsible, how to work with others, how to be a good sportsman, and much, much more. Sports also teach about healthy competition, the importance of strategy, critical thinking under pressure, and teamwork. Sports teach your kids about teamwork and respect for one another’s abilities and opinions.
Sports will immediately immerse your child in the social landscape of friends sharing goals. Sports will also create social networks within your local community, as people who might not have crossed paths traditionally will meet one another. People who are not even involved with the physical aspects of sports are brought together nonetheless. Sports are open to people of all sexes, races, and backgrounds, and they are capable of creating lasting connections among people.
Sport plays an important role in the lives of many, from maintaining physical fitness and mental health to making unlikely friends, to contributing to their local communities. Going beyond the sport, engaging in activities outside of sport has mental health benefits, like going to a sports event as a spectator, where you can meet people and form friendships.
Sporting Events Evoke a Sense of Elevation
In that sense, engaging with sports represents a way to live with a sense of perfectionism. The same may apply to whether or not you have previously played a sport that you love on your own, or have developed friendships built on that. I am not talking about a sport that you played, but one you watched others play, ones where the players were good. I could go to any bar in the world and I could be talking sports with the majority of the guys there.
Well, even if you have never been in any particular type of sports before, watching them is just as compelling because your mirror neurons hook you by connecting to situations like those that you were in.
Sports are important to every child, from a star quarterback to the guy who barely manages to cover 10 yards without getting winded, yet has the guts to step into an arena, daring great things. Ask any high school soccer or football coach today, however, and he will likely tell you how sports teaches teamwork, leadership, discipline, and sportsmanship. Sports teach responsibility, accountability, effort, respect, work ethic, passion, and so much more. Sports break down barriers of gender stereotypes, allow youth to play any sport that they desire, and challenge themselves.
Numerous studies also point out the critical role sports play in keeping students from dropping out of high school. One study, entitled “Sports participation as a predictor of participation in sports and physical fitness activities as young adults,” found that adolescents who played sports were 8 times more likely to be active by the time they turned 24 than those who did not.
Beyond the obvious ones, such as physical health and developing teamwork, playing sports, says Grace Chen, also teaches time management, links students with mentors, and helps athletes build healthy social relationships. Major sporting events such as the World Cup and the Olympic Games bring together people around the world due to shared interests.