Take Me Out to the Ballgame: Let Your Child Play Their Way to Success

I vividly remember standing over home plate. My bat slumped over my shoulder. It was a crisp spring night; not quite warm, but our biggest fans no longer huddled under blankets in a futile attempt to stay warm. My best friend stood at the mound, grinning slyly as he began his pitching motion. We both knew that the stakes of this pitch were much greater than the resulting scribbles in the score-book. Whoever prevailed here would have recess bragging rights for the next week, if not longer. Little did we know we would still be talking about that pitch today, 14 years later. The ball came in fast and over the outside of the plate. I whipped my bat through the zone and punched the ball to the opposite field for a double. It was my first Little League hit. As I stood on second base, sheepishly hiding my grin in a feeble attempt at nonchalance, I felt as though I could take on the world. I might not remember who won that game, but I’ll cherish the memory of my first Little League forever.

Youth sports might have a reputation for over-exuberant parents and over-extended children, but it is undue. Playing sports as a child can not only leave your child with a lifetime of memories such as the one I shared above, but also have long term impacts of their overall health and well-being. These benefits include, but are not limited to:

1. Sports promote an active and physically fit life style.

In the last thirty years, childhood obesity rates have tripled and adolescent obesity rates have quadrupled. With more and more schools cutting funding and focusing on standardized testing, schools have either shortened or cut completely both phys-ed and recess. Children are becoming less and less active, even though according to Let’s Move!, “physical activity helps control weight, builds lean muscle, reduces fat, promotes strong bone, muscle and joint development, and decreases the risk of obesity”. Playing a sport, or sports, can help supplement the overall lack of physical activity, allowing children to lead a healthier life.

2. Sports reduce stress and risk of depression

Studies have shown that children who play sports while growing up are less stressed than their peers, as well as at less of a risk to experience depression. Not only can sports help you live a physically healthier life, it can also help you live a happier one as well.

3. Athletes experience higher levels of academic success

High school students who play sports had significantly higher GPA’s, on average, than their non-sports playing peers. They are also much more likely to attend college. High school athletes also received less demerits and detentions than the general student population.

Sports are not just about winning or losing. They’re about growing as a player and as a person through organized competition. Youth sports don’t just provide memories to last a lifetime, they provide benefits that last a last a lifetime as well. Allow your child to live a happier, healthier life; enroll them in youth sports today.