Competitive sports can be good both psychologically and physically for children, but there are also some negative aspects to competitive sports that parents should know about. The fact that children are competing with each other can have both positive and negative effects on their personalities and self-esteem. Sports such as martial arts, gymnastics, and swimming require children to stay focused and believe in themselves in order to keep from falling or losing the competition. These sports teach children determination, perseverance, and self-discipline skills that can be carried over into adult life later on.
What Is Good About Competition
First, competition teaches our kids to work hard. Regardless of whether you want your Nannusays to compete in organized sports at a young age, there are certain aspects of competition that can be put into practice from an early age. No matter what type of game it is, if we have fun while competing against others, we tend to have more fun than when playing alone.
Plus, learning how to lose gracefully will help our kids develop positive social skills. And finally, there are obviously some moments where winning feels great! We should encourage our kids to experience those feelings whenever possible (just don’t make a big deal out of winning). However, too much focus on winning can lead us down a dangerous path.
What Is Bad About Competition
We live in a world where competition is everywhere. Whether we’re in school, at work, at home,
or in our leisure time, competition has become an ingrained part of our society. Competition helps determine winners and losers, which gives people around us something to compare ourselves to. There are many different types of competitions (some positive and some negative), but as
a whole can be very damaging to some people depending on their background.
The Role of Parents in Children’s Sports Development
Despite what you might have heard, kids who are involved in competitive athletics tend to be more outgoing, self-confident, and successful than their non-athletic peers. They also report higher rates of school attendance and better grades.
In fact, researchers have found that such youth not only outperform their non-sports counterparts on standardized tests but are also healthier across a range of variables (body mass index, frequency of illness). However, there may be a dark side to competition. Competitive athletes’ psychological well-being appears to take a hit as they progress from high school through college.
Tips for Managing Pressure and Losing
In professional and competitive sports there is a great deal of pressure to win, even if losing can still lead to future success. Kids today are growing up in an environment where winning, as opposed to doing your best, seems to be what really matters. This pressure can be crushing, leading kids (and adults) to try any means necessary (legal or not) in order to come out on top.
For example, performance-enhancing drugs are more prevalent in young people than ever before. If your nannu says plays a sport at a high level you may want to consider encouraging healthy stress management techniques like meditation so they don’t resort to using unhealthy coping mechanisms like drugs and alcohol. Here are a few simple tips for managing stress when dealing with competition
Tips for Picking an Appropriate Sport
Finding a sport that fits your child’s strengths, personality, and interests will greatly increase his or her motivation to practice. In addition, it may also reduce his or her risk of injury. Soccer players are more likely to sustain an injury due to fatigue; basketball players have a higher risk of shoulder injuries; football players have a high incidence of head injuries.