If you want to help your children grow into stronger, more capable adults, it’s smart to get them involved in team sports. Team sports like rowing, volleyball, basketball, football, and hockey give young people the opportunity to push their own limits and develop into the amazing people you’ve always known they could be.

What exactly are the perks of getting involved in team sports?

And how can you get started?

New Friendships and Bonding Opportunities

One of the best perks of playing a team sport as a child is the opportunity to form new friendships and bond with other people. All members of the team have a similar passion and a similar focus, and they’re going to spend lots of time together practicing, training, preparing for big matches, and competing in those big matches. It’s only a matter of time before everyone feels a sense of connection to each other – and those bonds can extend far beyond the arena.

This is especially true in environments like team sport camps, where young people spend time not only training and competing with each other, but also resting, eating, and relaxing with each other. 

Rowing camps, for example, are the perfect opportunity for avid rowers to challenge each other, create new friendships, and walk away with greater physical abilities and stronger friendships.

Physical Fitness

Another benefit of participating in team sports is heightened physical fitness. Most of us intrinsically understand the value of physical fitness. Having better cardiovascular fitness, stronger muscles, greater agility, and more flexibility is useful on an everyday basis, helping us navigate our environments, allowing us to tackle physically demanding jobs, and reducing our risk of potential injury. On top of that, maintaining good fitness is good for our health, reducing the likelihood of health complications like diabetes and heart disease even at an early age.

Developing a passion for sports can also turn into a lifelong pursuit of physical fitness. If you develop good exercise habits in your youth, you may be more likely to continue those habits into adulthood.

Leadership and Teamwork

Team sports also foster an environment of leadership and teamwork. Team members are going to have to trust and follow leaders, including team captains and coaches. In many team sports, children will also have the opportunity to become leaders themselves, potentially giving them the experience of making quick decisions, directing others, and improving intra-team dynamics.

This experience is going to be indispensable in a number of future environments, including workplaces, colleges, and even family life.

Competition and Achievement

Many people appreciate team sports for the groundwork of competition and the pursuit of achievement. Having rivals and fiercely competing with other teams motivates people to do their absolute best, helping them develop a sense of internal motivation and ambition. It also gives people the experience of setting goals, failing to meet those goals, and eventually working hard enough to surpass those goals.

You can apply this experience to almost any conceivable application, pushing yourself to achieve your most ambitious goals with confidence.

Confidence

Speaking of confidence, many athletes involved in team sports naturally develop more confidence in themselves over time. They begin to recognize their own abilities, they share mutual trust with their teammates, and they have the perspective that occasional failures and losses aren’t the end of the world. With this new confidence, they feel better, they make better first impressions, and they’re more likely to succeed in a wide range of different areas.

College and Careers

Excelling in team sports, and sometimes just participating in the sports, can be good for a child’s future college plans, and potentially future career plans. Top athletes are frequently offered scholarships or other incentives to attend specific universities. Athletes that perform well at the college level might have a chance at going professional. And even if your athlete doesn’t become a professional, their experiences in the sport could lead them to find their true career passion (or network with future employers and colleagues).

So Many Sports to Choose From

There are dozens of team sports to choose from, meaning there’s something that can appeal to just about anyone. If you prefer upper body exercise, rowing might be the perfect fit. If you want something physically intense, you might choose football. If you love spending time in the water, you might choose water polo. The possibilities are practically endless.

Engaging in team sports is an unforgettable experience for most young people who pursue this route. On top of improving your physical fitness, developing your natural abilities, and making some of the best friendships you’ll ever have, this is an opportunity to establish a path to a brighter, happier future.