Summer is coming to an end and fall is fast approaching. This week my boys start their 7-week soccer season. Unfortunately, since they are related to me, they have likely inherited the clumsy, non-athletic gene. Though I certainly hope that this gene is a recessive trait when combined with the athletic alleles inherited from their mother. But aptitude or not, as my wife and I have talked about how we want to fill our kids’ limited time, we have both agreed that we want to have them engage in sports. We want to pass along the Arete tradition to our kids. Here are 5 reasons why we believe this is important.
Sports Teach Fitness Being a part of sports most obviously teaches the necessity and importance of fitness. Fitness is an important part of life. Since you never know what situations life throws at you it is important to be prepared both physically and mentally. Too many kids spend too much time sedentarily in front of screens with detrimental consequences not only to their mental creativity but also to their physical fitness. Engaging in sports demonstrates the necessity to condition your body to meet the demands of life.
Sports Teach Competition Sports teach competition. The dictionary defines the word compete as a striving to gain or win something. There are many things in life that involve competition and at times the outcome of the competition can have significant consequences - either positively or negatively. Sports teach that while all players participate, there is only one winner. When you play, run, compete, you do so to win. Victory is the goal.
Sports Teach the Importance of Practice We have all heard that practice makes perfect. Well, in a sense it does. But more accurately perfect practice makes perfect. To be good at sports, an athlete needs to practice… a lot! Malcolm Gladwell writes that people who are truly masters at what they do, have practiced over 10,000 times. There are no shortcuts. There is no way around putting in the reps. It may not be glamorous, and it is certainly not as thrilling as scoring the game winning goal or deadlifting a PR. But each rep counts, in sports and in life.
Sports Teach How to Endure Adversity Adversity is a part of life. This is famously stated in the movie “The Princess Bride” where Wesley says to Buttercup, “Life is pain, highness. Anyone who says differently is selling you something.” Life is full of challenges, adversity, pain and disappointments. In order to be successful in life you need to develop a sense of resilience and fortitude to push through the pain, embrace the hardship in the pursuit of a higher goal. Any reward is ultimately obtained by overcoming adversity. Sports is a small microcosm of this broader principle. In order to be successful in sports, to score the critical goal, to win the game, you need to push through long hours of conditioning, practicing and challenging play.
Sports Teach Teamwork Finally, sports teach the importance of teamwork. Life is too hard, too complicated to do alone. The notion of a lone wolf or a maverick is only successful in fiction. We are incapable of knowing enough, being able to do enough, or be strong enough to encounter and overcome all of the circumstances that we face in life. We need other people around us, and more importantly we need to be of assistance to others. Furthermore, as creatures created to live in community, our greatest joy and satisfactions are not just found in achieving great things but doing it with others and helping others do the same. Sports is by nature a team events relying on the skills and assistance of others.
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