The Importance Of Young Children In Sports

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Gail Devers, a three-time Olympic track and field champion, once said, “It is so important for young children to be fit. I think sports are the key to success, because the challenges you face in sports prepare you for the rest of your life”. Sports are life changing. The physical, social, and mental skills gained from sports can completely alter the lifestyle of a child, and push them in the right direction. These skills can prepare children to overcome obstacles later in life. Sports can create a lifetime of happiness that can’t be achieved in anything else. Despite the risk of injuries, children should be allowed to play sports to stay in shape, develop character, and build self-confidence.
To begin, sports allow children to stay healthy
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Children learn to interact not only with other children near their age, but also with adults, like coaches and referees. “Kids learn leadership skills, team-building skills and communication skills that will help them in school, their future career and personal relationships.”(Davis 3). The author is basically saying that engaging a child in sports will teach them leadership, team-building, and communication skills that will help them in their future occupations, relationships and in school. An increase in social skills, allows a child to be more outgoing. In school, it has been found that athletes excel in academics as well. “They can apply the same principles of dedication and hard work learned through sports participation to their studies” (Davis 5). Basically describing, that athletes can use the skills learned in sports and apply them in the classroom. A statistic states that a student playing on a high school sports team’s chances of graduating from college are increased by 41 percent (Davis 5). As said before, the development of social skills from a young age is very important. If these skills are not developed, the child could be less likely to participate in class, do work outside of school, or even have the ability to make friends. In conclusion, a lack of communication skills could result in a child being less social and having trouble communicating with their peers. Sports can ensure these skills. Communication is a big part of sports, and this helps an athlete in more ways than

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