Jesse Head

Mrs. Jankowski
English 12H
9 February 2016
Youth Sports Intensity
Sports arent just about aggression, they teach a type of camaraderie and companionship
that non-athletes, spend years trying to learn. Youth sports teach younger children the basis of
being able to pull together for a greater purpose. Extracurricular activity is defined as; used to
describe extra activities (such as sports) that can be done by the students in a school but that are
not part of the regular schedule of classes. Playing sports isnt about the yelling and trying to
beat up on the guys/girls on the other team; its about being a part of something that is a lot
bigger than one person, but part of a team. Some people argue that childrens sports are too
aggressive in todays society, but youth sport helps younger children to expand on basic
principles of life and provide them with a mental toughness to overcome obstacles encountered
in real life or later in life.
Youth sports teach children important life lessons at an early age, so they are less likely to
make the same mistakes or choices in the future. Every person on this earth, at one point or
another, will fail at something. What children need to learn is not only what it feels like to lose,
but to be able to learn from that failure and work to change the outcome during their next
obstacle. Chances are there will be multiple instances over their lifespan in which children will
fail, but it is imperative that young athletes are able to learn and take something away from this
failure. Life lessons are everywhere in youth sports, every day of practice can be a new lesson to
young people. Young children, in the process of winning, learn the meaning of teamwork,

leadership, and sportsmanship. All of these traits contribute to a child becoming a productive and
all around solid member of society. The goal is that when children enter the workforce they are
able to make it for themselves.
Youth sports can influence a childs life in ways that they may not understand at the time,
but in time they will understand the full meaning of the lessons that young athletes learn. Even in
younger extracurricular activities there are memories and moments that they will never forget.
Those moments, whether they be winning or failing, will follow the children forever. Sports
participants will strive for greatness in all things they do because they know how to compete and
give 110% to succeed in their lives. Marilyn Price-Mitchell wrote in an article, studies show
that youth who participate in organized sports during middle and high school do better
academically and are offered greater job prospects than children that do not partake in sports
activities (Price-Mitchel 3). There is nothing more important for developing children than their
academic achievement. Likewise, children that play youth sports are pushed harder to excel
academically simply because, if they do not make a certain GPA, they are not allowed to play the
sport either as a coach policy or even school policy. Even employers like to see that their
applicants were involved at early ages because it can show they know how to work as a part of a
moving team. Being a part of a team, lets employers know that they can work well with others
toward a common goal, just like trying to win the big game at the end of the season. Going to
team practice every day of the week also helps to enhance the youth's sport participants skills at
a higher rate. It also paints a picture on how committed they can be to going to a job every day of
the week. Which also keeps children healthy and energetic.
Youth sports helps to prevent childhood obesity. Getting a child up and active is very
important for their development. Enrolling children into sports tremendously improves the

chances of the child not becoming overweight; they will enjoy the sport, being around other kids,
and most of all enjoy staying active. Research says that teens who walked or rode a bike to
school more than three days a week had a 33% lower risk of becoming obese (NY Daily News
5). Staying active, in general, proves to be important for teens and younger children.. When a
child or teen participates in sports, he/she stay in better shape than those that normally would not
or that simply just dont. In the same Daily News article it stated, Other factors associated with
a lower risk of being overweight or obese included extracurricular activity and eating fruits and
vegetables (NY Daily News 7). Sports help children stay fit and active while their body is
developing around them. A child's body changes drastically while they are growing up and
adding an unhealthy aspect to this, can ultimately hurt the child more than the child being
enrolled into a sport would.
Professionals say that involving a child into a contact sport promotes aggressive
tendencies like bullying or domination on and off the field, court, or mat. While contact sports
are aggressive, they do not promote bullying. Most of the time a bully is created because of a
problem at the young boy/girls home, not because sports children participate in made them this
way. Another point made is, domination over someone else that is more of a trait that can be
corrected through a good coach not letting it happen on the field so the child doesnt think that it
is okay off the field and in a school setting. Moreover more than enough people have seen a
coach or parent, at a childs game that takes the situation over the top. It is true that, parents and
coaches sometimes lose their tempers, but most sport complexes have rules against such acts,
and at some point the violators of this rule are quietly asked to leave by the refs, or owners of the
complex. If they refuse they are escorted away immediately.

Sports provide children with a chance to learn outside of a classroom where they can be
more comfortable and they teach life lessons at a young age. In addition sports influence a
childs life greatly; they make a child want to succeed in all aspects. At the same time sports give
children a way to be healthy and happy, they prove to be almost imperative to a childs good
health to provide extra resistance against childhood obesity. For those that do not agree with this
stance, something to think about is how would a parent want their child to be taught important
lessons that they normally would learn much later, or whether the parent would want their child
to be healthy and strong. I would like to see more children enrolled into a sport or physical
activity of some kind so that they may learn and grow as human beings and stay in shape. I have
played sports since I was in kindergarten, and they have always kept me in shape. Sports helped
me be an honors student about to go to college. Sports have helped multiple children, including
myself, succeed in academics and the rest of their lives. They are definitely not too intense and
have never been too intense; they are just another place for children to learn and stay healthy.

Works Cited
Keener, Stephen. Sports Teach Kids Valuable Lessons. The Opinion Pages. 10 October 2013.
Web. 10 February 2016.

NY Daily News. Team Sports Seen as Key Factor in Preventing Childhood Obesity.Daily
News. 8 July 2012. Web. 10 February 2016.
Price-Mitchell, Marilyn. The Psychology of Youth Sports. Psychology Today. 8 January 2012.
Web. 10 February 2016.