Sports: Childrens Games and A Path to Life Lesson Learning

Sports are so much more than a game in the lives of children; it is also a way to learn important life lessons. Children learn how to cooperate with a team and build positive relationships and communication skills. However, in order to take advantage of the positive power of sports, everyone must play their part.
When I was younger I competed in gymnastics for nine years and this is where I feel I learned most of my skills for life. The gym was where I felt free to be myself and where I learned how to overcome my fears. There are countless times I remember standing on the edge of the balance beam like a statue, trying to battle my fear. Many thoughts go through my head and I think to myself how crazy it is to be doing a back flip on a four inch wide beam four feet off the ground. But this is a thought I have to push past in order to reach my goals. Practicing this throughout my years of gymnastics has given me the confidence to be able to do it in other areas of my life. When I am faced with a challenge or fear, I am able to push it aside and focus on the goal.
Another skill I learned through gymnastics was how to fall and get back up. In order to learn a trick you have to fail at it many times, and this means falling . . . a lot and in many ways. I learned to be patient and to work hard even when success looks far away. Now, when I fail at something, I am able to pick myself up and try again without giving up.
I loved gymnastics so much because it was my sport. My parents loved watching me run and were big influences in my choice to run, however, gymnastics was my sport. Even though they weren’t as into gymnastics they were still very supportive and wanted me to have fun. I believe this is part of why I had more fun in gymnastics because I didn’t feel as much pressure from my parents. I was lucky to have sport parents like this; however, there were many girls on my team whose parents pushed them at young ages in gymnastics and this put pressure on them and made the sport not as much fun. Their parents would be upset when they didn’t do well or try to be their coach. These girls whose parents were too involved and put too much pressure on them tended to quit gymnastics at an earlier age. It is so important that parents are encouraging to their children and help their children have fun so that they will want to continue their sport and be able to gain life skills from it. A lot goes into the success of sports for young athletes and everyone (coaches, parents and athletes) must play their role.
Alexa Aragon, ND 2014
Social Foundations of Coaching