Is your preteen or teenage daughter involved in sports? Does she play on a school or club team? Then you’re probably familiar with some of the benefits that sports involvement offer her. Teenage girls who are involved in sports are more likely to have good grades in school, a healthy self-esteem, a higher level of health and fitness as well as a lot of fun with their peers. Furthermore, they also experience the social benefits of working together as a team, they learn life-long skills and leadership skills that they will use in their college and work careers, and the experience of going to games and cheering her team on is a lot of fun for her parents to boot.
I speak from personal experience as I was at an all-day varsity volleyball tournament this past Saturday and will be headed to a weekend soccer tournament in Sacramento (a two-hour drive) in a couple of weeks. While other parents may get up on Saturdays ready to mow their lawns or fight the crowds at Costco, on tournament days I get up early to pour hot tea or coffee into thermoses, fill the cooler bag with containers of healthy food I prepared the evening before, and make sure my daughter gets something warm to eat for breakfast. I know one set of parents who bring a roll-along Coleman stove, a foldaway table, a tea kettle, as well as a couple containers of essentials that they have organized for their daughter’s tournaments: packets of instant coffee, teabags, hot cocoa, and a variety of snacks and utensils. It feels like a camping experience and sports event all rolled into one, and you couldn’t meet nicer or more dedicated parents.
The availability of school and club sports for girls has certainly increased since the seventies when I grew up. Back then my elementary school (which I attended through eighth grade) had the required physical education classes, basketball and baseball for boys, cheer-leading for girls, and bowling at the local bowling alley for everyone. We’ve certainly come a long way since then, but it is still important to encourage your daughter to participate in sports, for the benefits and the higher quality of life that sports have to offer.
My younger daughter (who is 15 years old) happens to be a natural athlete and I did not have to convince her to try out for team sports in middle school (that’s when most schools begin after school team sports programs). After school during elementary school, when other kids were running around the playground or waiting for their Moms to pick them up, I’d find her kicking or bouncing a ball against a wall, playing wall ball with an opponent beside her. Nine times out of ten that’s what she was doing. But if your child is less athletically inclined, a little encouragement will go a long way. You might want to sign her up for a team sport through the recreation department in your town…as early as is possible and ideally before she enters her middle school years. (Middle schools often have tryouts for some sports such as volleyball, soccer and basketball and not all who try out get picked to be on the team.)
Besides the obvious benefit of a fitter and healthier body, teenagers who are involved in sports are less likely to abuse substances such as tobacco, drugs and alcohol. By avoiding these substances, your daughter can stay better focused on her academics and other personal responsibilities. (For example, almost all, if not all, of the girls on her club soccer team have 4.0 or close to 4.0 grade point averages.)
Another benefit is higher self esteem. Your daughter will have a healthier body image, feel good about her strong and healthy body, and the feeling of accomplishment she will experience as an athlete will add up to a higher quality of life.
Finally, by participating in competitive sports, she will learn leadership skills and she will learn how to work as a team player. She will learn to value the different roles and the different skill sets that team players bring. When it’s her turn to enter the workforce, she will have a higher capacity to succeed in a team environment. She will also have a higher capacity to be “coached” by a supervisor and not take criticism so personally.
According to the book, The Encyclopedia of Sports Parenting by Dan Doyle, a survey of 500 of the most successful career professionals in America revealed that 87% played competitive sports. Of those who played competitive sports, many remarked that sports taught them five essential qualities of good leadership:
1 Learning to deal with disappointment (sports helped them cultivate the ability to learn from disappointment, deal with it, and move forward without dwelling on it)
2 Competitive self-restraint (a mindset which involves remaining focused and resolute without overreacting or losing control)
3 Learning the value of teamwork and the importance of fostering a team atmosphere
4 Self-discipline (many successful leaders felt that their sports experience acted as a catalyst for their lifelong focus on self-discipline
5 Sports helped many leaders learn two key facets of responsibility:
- Taking responsibility for one’s own performance and actions
- Meeting one’s personal responsibility to the team
With all the benefits that participating in sports provides for your daughter, it is important that you encourage her to play and to compete. With the large variety of sports that are available these days, she is certain to find one that she will enjoy and the benefits of participating on a team will last throughout her lifetime.
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