Indulging young children in sports from a tender age is always a good idea. Organized sports are games played in the form of tournaments, with a coach leading the games and helping children play solo or in the form of teams. In the 20th century, children in schools were taught to play organized sports as a compulsion and almost every student was found playing a specific game for their school. Where on the one hand, organized sports are important for discipline and other long-term benefits for a young child, they can also have negative impacts on the child’s early development.
Looking at the benefits of organized sports, there are numerous benefits. The first one is the benefits it has on the physical health and safety of children. Organization when playing is a complete process in itself because it allows for children to form teams, learn various concepts of choosing the right people for the game, captaincy and leadership (Lawrence). Young children are taught rules and regulations which they are required to follow and remember. Therefore, as far as mental development is concerned, children become sharper and stronger as they learn that things have to be earned by one’s own hard work (Lawrence). When made team captain, a sense of responsibility comes over a young child, and he knows he has to keep the team together. This sense of leadership goes a long way, and it trains children for future management and control. Organized sports put forward a very positive and encouraging environment for young children as they learn about winning and losing in sports (Lawrence).
The other positive benefit is the safety requirement. Rules in organized sports encourage children to play safe, and they enforce limitations on them before they play extremely. These include safety rules against headfirst sliding while playing baseball or body-checking when playing hockey. There are also other safety benefits such as making softer baseballs for younger children, keeping children on opposing teams equal to the weight size of the other team in football and making an adjustment when the match or the practice is during acute climatic conditions. Therefore, the safety aspect is beneficial because children are prevented from getting badly injured in sports or falling sick; however instead of it all they learn to play well and get trained in their sport of interest, only persevering harder in that sport in the future.
Other physical health benefits include the amount of exercise that a child receives through organized sports. Organized sport, unlike a free play, requires to be played on a fixed number of days, for a fixed amount of time and needs the players to remain prepared and active. Therefore playing organized sports is extremely beneficial for the physical wellbeing of young children (Merkel 151). Obesity is becoming common in young children because of the lack of physical activity, hence playing sports on a regular basis helps to reduce weight and activate the metabolism in young children, making them healthy and active (Merkel 152). This instills the habit of exercise, therefore even as adults children will be prone to exercise and physical activity.
Although there are benefits to organized sports such as increased motivation, commitment to the game and the team and a self-check on discipline and exercise, there are several disadvantages for playing organized sports at a very young age (Merkel 158). The first is the dejection and frustration caused by the failure. Children who are quite young of age are at times, unable to realize the importance or the objective of playing a certain game. As far as their minds go, they are either playing because their parents want them to or because they find a particular game fun to play. However when the concept of getting that trophy is concerned, children get obsessed with winning (Pediatrics). This is unhealthy because it may cause them to break the rules, become rude and angry and at times, frustrated. Winning and losing is part of the game, yet they don’t understand because they are too young for absorbing this concept (Pediatrics). The relation between their maturation and the involvement in the game is of major concern. If the demands of the coach or the parents become excessive for the child, and the child is unable to fulfill them, he may become frustrated, and it can affect his cognitive development negatively (Pediatrics).
There are many coaches who are unaware of the fact that at times basic motor skills like catching a ball, throwing a ball, running fast enough, kicking or hitting the ball are skills that are not learned by practice rather they develop with age (Pediatrics). If a child is unable to perform any of these with perfection, it is not because the child is a failure, rather it is because of the child’s inability to do so because of his respective age. Thus, the lack of encouragement and the criticism enforced on a child can lead to constant reckoning oneself as incompetent, and it can cause a child to think lowly of himself. Moreover, the over-involvement of adults in a child’s game is more pressurizing and negative (Pediatrics). Children are constantly told they ‘need’ to win, and the trophy or medal is all they are playing the game for. If the child is unable to win, he may hate the game and give up on playing as a whole (Pediatrics).
Therefore, the organized sport is positive and negative for children. Benefits included safety and health benefits, a more active life and decreased the risk of obesity. It also instills self-discipline and motivation. Negatives include excess pressure, immaturity and lack of understanding, frustration and lack of motivation to play again on failure. A balance between the two can help children enjoy organized sports and reap their benefits, without the disadvantages.
Works Cited
Lawrence, Clarissa. The impact of sports in young children. Livestrong. 2015. Web. 17 April,
2016.
< http://www.livestrong.com/article/71395-impact-sports-young-children/>
Merkel, L. Donna. Youth sport: Positive and negative impact on young athletes. NCBI. 151-160.
2013. Web. 17 April 2016.
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3871410/>
Pediatrics. Organized sports for children and preadolescents. 2001. Web. 17 April 2016.
<http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/107/6/1459>
