Team sport is a great way to push yourself and maintain motivation. Training with teammates motivates you and helps you achieve goals that would be difficult alone, as well as provides a sense of community and belonging. It also benefits your health in numerous ways such as increasing cardiovascular fitness, improved sleep quality and duration, lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol, stronger muscles and bones, and more.
Team sports provide valuable life lessons that can’t be learned in the classroom, including:
1. Cooperation: Team members communicate with one another constantly throughout matches. This helps improve communication skills, a skill that can be transferred to the workplace or school setting.
2. Discipline: Team athletes learn to follow their coaches’ instructions, even when they are not entirely comfortable with them. This is a valuable lesson that will help them later in life when they encounter more challenging situations such as college exams or work presentations.
3. Patience: Athletes learn to be patient and wait for their opportunity to contribute to the team. This teaches them to value their time, something that will help them in their career or personal life when they face more stressful circumstances such as a big job interview.
4. Leadership: Being part of a team sport teaches children to respect and be responsible for the decisions made by their coach and other team leaders. It also teaches them how to be effective in a group and how to work with different personalities, which will benefit them in the future workplace or social interactions.