Sport is so positive for young adults, and creates such a great outcome for society that it is disheartening to see this statistic so high. In our everyday lives, there is always so much going on and it can be easy to lose sight of the big picture. When I read statistics like the above, I personally appreciate what a significant contribution sport has made to my life and how important the role all coaches make, not just to sport, but to our communities and individual lives as well.
When planning training session’s week in, week out, coaches may not be thinking about the important role they are playing in the lives of the young adults they are coaching, or how their guidance is shaping the next generation. Why you coach has a lot to do with your philosophy on coaching and sport, most coaches choose to coach for the love of the game. As a coach you do so much more than just teach technique or sports tactics.
Sport helps youths to become better contributors to society. Research shows a child’s involvement in sport helps them to improve their social interaction, increase their confidence, and improve their listening skills and health. Participation in sport is linked to higher grades, lower dropout rate, reduced truancy and lower crime rates. This manifests in some compelling statistics such as:
- 95% of Fortune 500 executives participated in high school athletics.
- 96% of dropouts in 14 school districts in seven regions of the nation were not participating in an athletic program.
But when kids are participating in sport, they are not thinking about how it will make them less likely to get involved with drugs. Young people have their own reasons for staying in sport.
Youths, play sport to have fun, belong to a group, find excitement and gain recognition. It allows them to improve their skills and learn new ones, become fit, and find “success” (which is not shown on the scoreboard alone).
When children are playing sport, they are learning how to interact with the world around them and the people in it. In sport, children learn how to contribute to something bigger than themselves.