Water Polo .:. Benefits Of Team Sports
Team sports are a fun outlet for anything ranging from stress to excess energy. Benefits of team sports for children are very similar to those for adults. Regardless of age, the benefits of team sports are easily categorized into social, psychological, and physical.
Social Benefits
Joining a team sport allows the participant to develop and strengthen their social skills. Team sports require the players involved to work with their teammates, follow directions, and develop friendships. Mannerisms are learned by children and reiterated to adults through team sports. Participants hold themselves to a “good sport” standard by not throwing tantrums during a loss and respecting the abilities of their competitors. They also exercise the ability to empathize with other competitors who may not be as successful and refrain from becoming boastful after a win. Additionally, mentors are one of the social benefits of team sports. When participants have a positive experience with coaches and referees, they continue to seek out mentors who can help further develop different skills in other settings.
Psychological Benefits
Team sports allow children to handle competition in a healthy way. The psychological benefits of team sports for children are the development of critical thinking and problem solving skills, patience, persistence, learning how to handle loss and disappointment in a healthy way, and becoming self-disciplined. For adults, the main benefits of team sports are sharpening different mental skills. Sports use directed thinking and requires players to strategize, whether it be deciding to take an offensive/defensive stand or how to counter an opponents’ next move.
Physical Benefits
For kids, physical benefits of participating in team sports are simply the prevention of adult health problems and the healthy development of their muscles and bones. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children who participate in regular physical activity like team sports have reduced risks of diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. For adults, the physical benefits are increased exercise and heart health, as well as learning a new physical skill that may have not been introduced to them in the past.
While participating in team sports yields so many perks, children and adults alike need to get involved. Visit our Registration page to start reaping the benefits of team sports by signing up with USA Water Polo and joining a club team today!
Sources: www.livestrong.com, www.education.com,
