Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Individual vs. Team Sports

Sports are a fun way to keep children active without them even realizing it. Sports reduce obesity risks, increase cardiovascular fitness, and help grow healthy muscles, bones, ligaments and tendons. 

Playing sports not only present its obvious physical benefits but also social and academic benefits. A study by the Center for Disease Control shows that those in sports tend to have higher grade point averages as well as a better chance of going to college. Young athletes also are less likely to do drugs and stay out of trouble. 

Playing sports create a lot of different benefits but what kind of sport is best for your child? Below are some key benefits to playing an individual sport versus a team sport. 

Individual Sports
  • Self reliability- In individual sports, your child will be solely responsible for their own successes as well as failures. 
  • Be in the spotlight- Without a team, all eyes are on the individual athlete. There is no team to blend in to on a football field. This later helps children overcome stage fright and have more confidence when in front of a crowd.
  • Individually a team- In many individual sports like gymnastics or swimming, individual competitors add their scores up to compete with a team score, still giving your child an opportunity to socialize. 


Team sports
  • Social skills- Working in a team requires children to learn to work with others towards a common goal. Teamwork encourages cooperation and friendships. 
  • Communication skills- Teamwork also helps develop communication skills. Letting your teammates know what is needed from them and they let you know what is needed of you helps the team reach their common goal.
  • Humbleness- Group successes and failures keeps egos in check. A success belongs to the group effort, no one person is responsible. As the saying goes, "There is no I in team."
All children are different, let us know what worked best for your child at training4recess@gmail.com.

No comments:

Post a Comment