POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF SPORT

Youth sports can offer positive and negative experiences for kids. For parents, it is important to focus on the positive benefits of youth sports so that the kids who participate get the most out of their experiences. These positive effects can help parents decide which program, if any, is right for their children. Having Fun One reason many parents allow their children to participate in sports, and why kids want to participate, is the chance to have fun. Sports teams allow kids another way to channel energy and to have that fun they desire. Parents should watch for signs that their children are no longer having fun and see if they may want to try a different sport.

Making Friends

Not only do kids want to have fun with sports, but they also want to make new friends and play with their current friends. When a child sees one of his friends playing a new sport, he may want to join that friend. The child also may want to try a new sport and end up making new friends as a result.

Learning New Skills

Youth sports programs give kids the opportunity to learn new skills related to the particular sport, as well as social skills. Kids also learn how to play by rules and respect decisions made by coaches and officials. Parents must remember that when the sport becomes more of a job than a play activity, kids can experience burnout. And when parents keep their child in only one sport, the child may not get to learn motor skills and social skills inherent in another sport or activity. Parents want their children to do well, but their sports experience needs to be well rounded.

Enhancing Self-Image

A better self-image, more confidence and more self-respect are other positive effects of youth sports. The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports says that developmental benefits of girls participating in sports are a higher self-esteem, higher self-confidence, a better body image and a reduced risk of chronic illness.

Getting Fit

Youth sports can also enhance the health and fitness of children who participate. Sports help to get kids out of the house, active and away from sedentary activities, such as video games. Youth sports give children the opportunity to start living a healthy and active life at a young age and helps to combat the rise in childhood obesity. When good habits like this are encouraged early, children are more likely to be healthy and fit adults.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/106591-positive-effects-youth-sports/#ixzz2OCTwpX3O

We think that it is important to understand both the benefits and drawbacks of sport.

For most of my sporting career, I have naively and narrowly focussed on the benefits. I understood that sports are associated with health benefits, and that they foster character development, but I failed to recognize the negative effects of sport. They exist as well.

When I was younger, I focussed on the physical benefits. I wanted to be “as big as him and as fast as her.” I understood that practice would make me faster, and stronger. However, as we transition into adulthood, this focus turns into other health-related factors such as low blood pressure and a healthy body composition. What about the psychological, social, and intellectual benefits

In the face of the happy, exciting, wonderful world of sport, it is common to turn a blind eye to the sports-related injuries, eating disorders, societies over-emphasis on outcome, and the aggressive behaviour of youth sport.

An article by Fraser-Thomas, et al. (2005) outlines the positive and negative experiences of sport with regards to four areas of development: physical health, psychological/emotional development, social development, and intellectual development. We believe in the importance of their findings, and summarize them here4:

Positive youth experiences through sport:

• Physical development: Physical activity develops motor skills, as well as strength and flexibility; important areas of normal growth and development

• Psychological/emotional development: Sport is an effective stress relief outlet, and is known to increase self-esteem. Sports present an opportunity for athletes to face and overcome challenges, and to have fun building new skills alongside new friends.

• Social development: Sports have been shown to develop a number of social skills, including: responsibility, cooperation, self-control, and assertion. Not only that, but sports have been shown to build citizenship, positive peer and adult relationships, and leadership skills.

• Intellectual development: Numerous studies show that involvement in physical activity is positively correlated with academic performance.

BUT, negative youth experiences and outcomes in sport:

• Physical development: Studies have found a link between sports and sport-related injuries, as well as eating disorders. Sports injuries are related to increased volume of training, and risk-taking behaviours expected of athletes. The literature also suggests that at increasingly younger ages, athletes, especially girls are becoming more concerned with their body image.

• Psychological /emotional development: As a society that places a lot of emphasis on outcome, there is excessive pressure to win. This emphasis on outcome can also result in the athletes perception of having poor abilities, a dis-attachment to their team, and a feeling of vulnerability in the presence of teammates.

• Social development: Due to the competitive nature of sports, and the social acceptance of aggressive behaviors in sport, acts of aggression are becoming more common in the youth sport setting.

The Positive Impact of Sports

Involvement in sports is an integral part of child development and teaches youth to lead active, healthy lives while developing many of the fundamental skills necessary for a child to succeed. Let Kids Play (LKP) offers parents and children the opportunity to overcome the barriers that may prevent youth involvement in sport. It is recognized that financial and systemic barriers can play an inhibiting role on the involvement of youth in sport.

LKP will provide low-income and underprivileged youth with the financial means to help alleviate these barriers and will work to facilitate the personal growth that is realized by youth through participation in sport.

A Canadian Council for Social Development study showed that participating in structured recreation positivelyinfluenced young people’s physical and social development, as well as their civic behaviour and skills.1

A 2003

Sport Canada survey of 1005 Canadian youth, aged 12 to 21, found that their involvement in sports:2

􀂃 Improved their health (99 per cent);

􀂃 Helped them make friends (87 per cent);

􀂃 Improved their feelings about themselves (85 per cent);

􀂃 Helped them succeed at school (58 per cent);

􀂃 Helped them become more active with their family (54 per cent).

Sport significantly enhances the quality of a child’s urban life.3 Numerous studies of social cohesion have found that sport and community recreation play a key role in life in a city, and that recreation and sports facilities contribute to a child’s integration into his or her community surroundings.

Sport provides pleasure for children and gives them the opportunity to meet new people and make new friendships, breaking the isolated mould many low income and underprivileged youth fall under. Children develop a sense of self-belonging and confidence through social cohesion. Participation in sport improves the development of peer relationships, establishes the notion of trust and builds teamwork skills. 2

Sports challenge children to excel physically and mentally, and teach valuable skills such as leadership, hard work and perseverance which translate beyond the playing field to all aspects of life, whether it be in the classroom, at work, or in the community.

The individual benefits of involving youth in sporting activities transcend into benefits for the community as awhole. Participants experience a high degree of interaction with other individuals within their community, whichnot only benefits the child, but such interactions also translate into the community's socio and economic development.4 Thus, in addition to the personal benefits for the child, youth involvement in sports also has abroader impact on the overall community. Participation in sport has a positive effect on reducing the involvement and exposure youths may have to violence and unethical activity. Sports offer children a positive alternative to idleness, which, if a child is consistently left without constructive activity, can often lead to violence. A lack of activity and idleness can lead to a lack of understanding between different ethnic groups.

Sports help to eliminate these racial and cultural barriers by removing the separation between such groups through healthy competition and the realization of shared goals.

1

Playing organized sports can be one of the best experiences for any young person with an interest in sports. A player can improve his skills, make friends and learn how to be part of a team. But the experience is not always beneficial. Young athletes can get hooked up with a coach who is more interested in his ego than helping a young person. Instead of forming friendships, a young person might feel isolated. Injuries can also result from tough competition.