Sports has long remained a part of the education system, for recreation or in the national curriculum. Today the sports field is growing, and whilst many students join sports to have a hobby or for love of the sport, there are significant benefits from having these extracurricular activities. Here are a few ways that sports may help students in education – some which students and parents may not even know.

Group Representation

Participating in sports, be that on a football team or being a dancer, affiliates a person with a club or group. Doing so ensures a person has the benefit of doing a sport that they love, whilst representing their community on and off the playing field. Learning team rivalry as well as being part of a team prepares an individual for the later years as well as in school, thriving as an individual whilst in a collective atmosphere.

Fitness

Children’s abilities in sports are in their peak, and if continued to their later years will build on skills and ensure improvement. Exercise helps individuals get fresh air and helps them relax from their studies, taking in various forms of information rather than sedentary activities such as playing video games or watching television after a 2 hour study session. Moving the body, getting out and about, even if its for 30 minutes a day is much better than sitting behind the desk. Exercise increases serotonin levels, fundamental to building a happy mind. By making the brain happy it is able to switch between working hard and having a break.

 

 

Balance

Whilst good revision is aided by a good nights sleep, and a balanced diet, a healthy body promotes increased concentration levels, as well as increasing metabolism. Exercise also prompts individuals to make decisions about their actions. Using exercise sharpens the body’s most valuable tool – the brain. A healthy and fully functioning brain ensures increased productivity, as well as improved test scores!

Teamwork and cooperation

Sports also ensures discipline and commitment, crucial to all areas of life, such as employment, play as well as studies. Whilst parents want the best for their children, sports also teaches children to have respect for others – as an individual and in a team. Its easy for a child to behave differently in school or outside the home, but being part of a sports team or doing a sport exposes children to various role models and figures of authority, which is excellent preparation for the classroom, and the working world in the future.

 

Discipline, routine and commitment

Getting into a routine, incorporating a sport into a child’s routine forces students to become more organised and time efficient, as well as practitioners of future planning. Committing one’s self to sport serves as a foundation for improved grades and wellbeing. Future planning, discipline and commitment increases the stamina of students when studying – fundamental to improvement. Routine and habit improves characteristics  of a person, such as reliability if part of a team, discipline in terms of punctuality as well as focus on the tasks at hand. Psychologically, being part of a sports team is a nice way to escape from the atmosphere of books, equations or timelines, and is a softer environment to have opposed to scrolling through the internet.  It is important to remember that whilst athletics and sprinters complete their races in 10 seconds or less, there is an enormous amount of training that is involved. Education is a marathon, not a sprint! Having a sport integrates discipline, focus and commitment in an individual – helping them be the best they can be.

The 3 P’s

Sports integrates the “3 P’s”. Student athletes learn that there is more beyond the classroom and to improve they must practice. Revision, study sessions as well as choosing to learn something because they want to perform well. Students learn that the harder they work, the sharper their skills become as well as they persevere in what they want to achieve. Gareth Bale wouldn’t be as successful as he is today if he didn’t put in the extra hours outside the football field! He perseveres with what he wants to do, practices constantly, training his mind with the tasks at hand in order to perform to high levels in order to see results.

 

 

By Stephanie K, private tutor