Where Have the Sports Gone

                                  Where Have the Sports Gone and Why Do Children Need Them?

     



            As a child, there is always that one sport that people remember that they enjoyed and played until their body got sore and unfortunately, for many of today’s children, the chance to find what their ideal sport is is less likely to occur. Many of our children’s physical activity classes are cancelled and schools do not have a variety of sports equipment. In addition, research has shown that schools provide less than 1 hour of physical education per week, just enough to fulfill a one day requirement of physical activity for children (Waterman, 2010, p.79). Like school, home does not always offer the benefits of physical activity either. Some children cannot afford classes for sports or their equipment or simply have no time due to work or school (Thomas & Irwin, 2009). Only about 54% of Canada’s children are involved in sports yearly, a shocking statistic considering how important physical health is (Bloom, Loughead, & Newin, 2008). Since physical activity has benefits for children academically, socially and physically and due to so much time spent at school, it is logical to say that children should have time to experience sports. Further, by introducing children to varieties of sports or physical activity, children can see what sport engages them so that they will want to continue the physical activities both inside and outside of the school. For the reasons listed above, schools should promote and provide the opportunities for children to try different sports into their curricula.



          Academics are an important part of a child’s life and contribute to their future careers when they are adults. Parents place strong emphasis on children’s schooling, encourage, and push their children to do well. These pressures place a huge stress on children, not including the child’s social and emotional stresses, and children need an outlet for this stress to reduce stress levels. An effective way to reduce stress levels is through physical activity. Physical activity increases endorphins (the hormones that improve mood) and allows people to handle stress better both emotionally and physically (Waterman, 2010, pg 78). When I had participated in badminton during the school year, I found that my levels of stress about my academics decreased dramatically and that my increase in energy gave me the boost I needed to feel ready to tackle my homework or other schools tasks more efficiently. The energy I previously mentioned is a part of most of my students, whom I tutor, who engage in sports more than 3 times a week. They have an interest in learning and doing well and it shows in the work they complete. In addition, due to having such a packed schedule with tutoring, school, sports and home life, they have learned how to manage their time well leading to much lower levels of stress and last minute deadlines. Dealing with academic stresses is an important part of school that carries from elementary school to university and by learning how to destress through sports, children are better able to handle them emotionally and physically.



          In addition to physical activity reducing school related stress, it also improves academic performance. The link between physical activity and cognitive function is not one to be dismissed especially with research relating the two in humans of all ages (studies are mainly done for information on seniors and youths). Dr. Mark Tremblay states, "We've always known that physical activity is essential for kids' health and their long-term well-being. Now we know that it also improves school performance. A workout for your body is a workout for your brain (Anonymous, 2009)." Through studies conducted as of late, we can see how physical activity specifically affects the brain and its functioning. Physical activity is connected to increased academic performance mainly based on aerobic exercise increasing the speed of cognitive processing and neuroelectric responsiveness (Ploughman, 2008). By increasing levels of activity in youths, youths can reap the benefits of higher academic standing due to the improvement of neuroelectric response (Ploughman, 2008). Children learning what activities they enjoy and by performing them often will provide more of these responses which, over time, will lead to better speed in cognitive processing and it’s functions (Ploughman, 2008).





        Sports are an easy way for children to meet each other through a common interest and a great way to stay fit. Children can develop social skills through sports such as build up their self-esteem, view him or herself as a team member, realize new interests or concepts about themselves, and make friendships that can last a lifetime. When I was fourteen, I had found my sport and it was badminton. That year, my life had changed drastically because I had met new people (this was my first year of high school) and these people became my close friends until today. Badminton introduced me to a new way of feeling too. I felt confident in my abilities at doing things again, something I lost quickly when I was bullied in elementary school but due to badminton, regained slowly. Situations such as mine happen to many children throughout their childhood years until they find an activity that allows them to let themselves feel confident in their abilities. This may take years to build through many friendships and accomplishments.





        As a society, we have become a group of people that what we are is defined by what we do. Children are like this as well and identify themselves through their achievements or statuses. I had asked one of my children one day a reflection question to practice their writing and I asked, “Who are you?” A ten year old child named Anthony told me that he was a math genius and a good soccer player because he got straight A’s in his math courses and scored 15 goals this season (A.Paparo, personal communication, March 2010). This type of confidence in his answer and the way he described why he called himself under those titles told me two things: he believed in his abilities and these abilities for him, defined who he believed himself to be. This confidence carried through into his studies and his interpersonal relationships with others. Anthony had started to smile more, laugh more, talk more, have an air of confidence in the way he carried himself and the level of energy and enthusiasm he had towards his life had increased tremendously. Seeing results like this in a child because of their achievements and love of a sport encourages parents to involve their children in sports. By providing the resources for the children at the school to explore different sports to find their interest, parents can see the positive influence and would be more willing to enroll children in sports programs.



        Sports do come with some degree of negativity from parents of athletic children. Sports of all types can be competitive, sometimes to large extremes like the case of Michael Costin, a hockey dad killed during a hockey game by another parent in 2002 (Robinson, 2002). Though sports can create competitive issues between its players, the parents are the main concern in sports with unruly conduct more from parents then players. Deterring children from sports is not as much a concern as preventing parents who are taking children’s play too seriously. This issue has become so important; Calgary has begun a program for parents to complete a course before the parent can sign their child up for a hockey team (Wood, 2010).  Though there are issues with parent competitiveness, children having some competition is not a bad thing and along with playing for the love of the game, gives children motivation to improve their game. Sports mainly have the goal of working as a team in mind through the type of plays and decisions that the members make to advance them as a group, though competitive nature to win is a factor. Competitive sports are also used as a fun outlet for children and the main motivation to play, not competition.





          The work of a coach can improve the state of the team and the idea of cooperative work through a healthy environment (Bloom et al., 2008). Working with coaches and children together provides children ways to express their ideas with others and teaches them to work with both adults and children. Cooperative work, in addition, involves communicating with different types of viewpoints in mind, language and understanding. Learning how to communicate effectively with both adults and children in different contexts is an important part of children’s social development when they are between the ages of six and twelve.  Sports and the work with other children and coaches provide children with innumerable opportunities to learn more about how to work with others and improve interpersonal skills.





            Academic and social skills are not the only improvement of sports; physical health in children increases drastically with physical activity. Children’s health is one of the main focuses for why parents and governments want to enroll children in sports or provide incentives for sport participation respectively. Toronto Public Health’s website states that physical activity “helps them (children) to build strong bones and strengthen muscles, maintain flexibility, achieve a healthy weight, improve fitness, improve self-esteem, meet new friends and increase relaxation (Toronto Public Health, 2010).” Knowing how important a healthy lifestyle is and the benefits it has to offer (longer life expectancy, quality of life, etc) makes physical activity an appealing idea. Consequently, living active and healthy lives also saves the government money as well. Approximately 5.3 billion dollars are spent just on physical inactivity health related issues yearly, which directly affect the costs of taxes related to health care (Toronto Public Health,2010). Reasons such as these are why the government does give tax breaks for people who place their children in recreational sports activities; to promote healthy active living and further prevent costs related to physical inactivity and obesity in the public. Encouragement for children to participate in sports and providing the materials to do so will greatly decrease health related problems plaguing many of Canada’s youths and their families.





            In summation, Canada needs to implement, encourage and provide resources for children related to sports in their schools and curricula. The benefits provided in the realms of academia and social and physical health are too large to ignore, something Canada is realizing slowly and trying to correct through its programs. This needs to be spread to the schools that our children are in and children need the motivation to try sports and be interested. Providing multiple options for physical activity in schools allows teachers to build curricula that can spread to other realms of teaching such as cultural diversity, cooperation, team building and communication. With a wide variety, children will be able to find a niche in the type of activity they want to do and expand on it by encountering it in non school related activities such as joining a team in the community or taking classes to become more advanced. Sports are a valuable way for our children to grow and if we do not introduce them to this, they will suffer not learning more about the world and about themselves.





















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