Contribution of Sports in Development of Child’s Personality

Rita Mae Brown, an author says, “Sports strips away personality, letting the white bone of character shine through. Sport gives players an opportunity to know and test themselves.”

Values:

“Sports is human life in microcosm,” said a sports broadcaster, Howard Cosell. Apart from benefiting their physical health, sports also play an important role in psychological development and social well-being of a child. Playing sports inculcate values like values like discipline, responsibility, self confidence, sacrifice, and accountability.

Sportsmanship:

By playing sports, children learn how to get along with their peers and interact positively with their coaches and elders. It builds sportsmanship spirits in them, whether they win or lose. The losing team shake hands with the winning one and pat on their shoulders as a gesture of appreciating them.

Releasing of stress:

Sports help one combat anxiety, depression and stress. Sports trains one to accept defeat gracefully and move one. They learn that winning and losing are parts of life, one should not feel depressed and dishearten on losing, but move on and strive more for the next time. The children who play sports get more chance of meeting and interacting with people of similar interests and make new friends, this boosts their confidence. Sports inculcates the spirits of sportsmanship and sharing. Children playing together as a team, share and celebrate their victory together. This has a positive affect on a child’s psychology and behavior. Players are less likely to become selfish when they grow up; they are caring and readily to work as a team and get along better with others.

Contentment and Satisfection:

Dr. Keith Zullig and Rebecca White from West Virginia University, USA, conducted a research which reveals that middle-school teenagers who are physically active and play sports are more contented with their lives and feel healthier than those who do not participate in sports and physical activities. “Our study demonstrates the benefits of youth sports participation on self-rated health and life satisfaction among young youth at a critical juncture in adolescent development. Our findings suggest that sports team participation may enhance school connectedness, social support and bonding among friends and teammates,” says Dr. Zullig and Rebecca White

To develop the personality of Pakistani Children, Haris Afridi has initiated sports coaching program in Pakistan’s schools, which will educated children on what sports has to offer to them and how they can become successful athletes.

Researched and Written by
Samia Adnan

 

Why Playing Sports is good for Girls?

Do you know that most of the parents in Pakistan discourage their daughters from participating in sports and physical activities at school? This is mainly because they fear that their daughter’s complexion would become dark/tan and they will become unattractive.

Lets tell you some reasons why girls should play sports:

• Playing makes girls look Younger and attractive
  Girls should be urged to participate in sports and physical activities, as this will make them look younger and healthier than those who do not play sports. Yes, that’s true. Playing sports slow down the aging process and make one’s skin healthy, glowing and attractive. Yet many girls are unaware of this.
• Health and Physical fitness
  Girls who play sports are less likely to become over-weight. Sports make girls physically fit, attractive, and energetic.A recent research reveals that Physical activity can help to prevent hip fractures among females and reduce the affects of osteoporosis.
• Sports help girls become confident and social
  A research has found that girls who play sports have positive physical image and high self-esteem They are found to interact better with others as compared to the girls who do not play sports or exercise.

Use Sunblock – but do not avoid Sports!

If you are not allowing  your girls to participate in out door games and sports then think again. Avoiding spiorts is not at al a good option, as they can prevent their skin from becoming dark, tan or sunburn by using a sun-block before they go out for playing.

In Pakistan, Green Grass Element is initiating sports coaching in schools to educate masses about benefits of sports on children’s well-being and train them to play Cricket and other sports so that they can excel in their lives.

 

Do children only need a Bag full of Books?

Its time to replace a TV remote with a Cricket bat or ball and introduce a healthy and active lifestyle to children in Pakistan,

Many of us have become so lazy and inactive that we hardly step outside to play sports. Gone are the good old days when youngsters and elders, alike, used to spend their leisure time by playing Cricket, either in playgrounds or the street. Now, things have changed immensely. Whenever people get some time they spend it by watching TV, playing PlayStation, X-BOX, video games, surfing the internet or simply chatting with friends on Facebook! This is also setting a negative example for children – as they do what they see.

Children are becoming inactive

Children have become so lazy that they easily get tired if they have to walk a little. There are only a few schools in Pakistan which have proper playgrounds and sports facilities, rest of them are either located in residential areas with no playgrounds at all. All the emphases of the educators are on teaching subjects like History, Geography, Mathematics, Science, Literature, language, and many others. Sports education is not even any importance at all.

Most of the children suffer shoulder pain and backaches due to sitting continuously for long hours and carrying heavy bags filled with numerous books and notebooks. Sometimes, the children have to hold a few books in their hands as their bags are either too heavy to carry or become short of space. They get so much home work from school that they hardly get any free time, and when they get time they spent it on watching TV, playing TV games or sleeping, This is having adverse effects on their physical as well as psychological health.

Sports for active mind and body

No doubt, education is highly essential for achieving success, but apart from studying different subjects, the children also deserve time and place to play sports.Haris Afridi, a certified cricket coach who has worked with many schools in England is introducing LTAD in Pakistan, to revive sports and also educate people about the importance of playing sports for active mind and body.

Written by Samia Adnan