The best, most valuable thing about sports is not sports. It’s everything else:
- Teamwork
- Communication
- Pushing yourself
- Self-discipline
- Nutrition
- Bonding with and supporting teammates
- Learning about failure
- Exercise
- Responsibility
- Scheduling
- Sportsmanship
- Honing a skill
The best lessons of sports participation can be applied to the rest of their lives, at work, home, and in the community. Most of life is not sport.
Parents who focus on winning and the individual sport miss the whole point and do a disservice to their kids.
Burnout in sport can occur due to…perfectionism, high expectations, or loss of love for sport, and external factors, which include physical exhaustion, excessive time commitments and even injury.
Women’s Sports Foundation
Planning for club sports to lead to college is a mistake and leads to injury and burnout. College is not about playing sports; it’s supposed to be about education. Sports scholarships are indentured servitude to the colleges and universities, making your child’s education take a backseat to mandatory team travel and practices. Don’t do that to your kids.
In addition to the above list, sports can encourage lifelong health and fitness. It is a way to remain whole and balanced despite what life throws at you.
Featured image from Pxhere.
Thought Ripples by Wendi 
[…] No, but sports is where you learn to get up and go again. With the right attitude, sport builds mental fortitude. […]
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