By Andrew Pack Photo by wyo92 via flickr

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 Involvement in team or independent sports influences children by creating confidence in social, mental and physical aspects of their lives.

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 Allow children to meet new people  Help children interact with teammates on a different level  Provide challenging activities that encourage children to work together  Teach children that they can rely on each other  Teach children social cues and how to cope with stressful situations

 Allow children to develop meaningful and influential relationships with other adults as well  Also help foster characteristics such as respect, responsibility, courtesy, integrity, a sense of civic engagement  Help children learn to resist the peer pressure to engage in risky behaviors and social acceptance

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 Also have a positive psychological impact on children  Girls involved in sports exhibit higher self-esteem and confidence than their peers who are not  Children of both genders also developed feelings of self-determination, autonomy and choice  Studies concluded that sports help develop a perceived physical competence and self-efficacy

 Provides stress relief  Secondary psychological benefits include higher grade point averages, lower dropout rates, and fewer antisocial behaviors  Participants showed improved cognitive functioning, favorable self-perceptions, and lower depression in at-risk youth  Any physical activity reap positive benefits on a large scale psychologically

ThePhysicalImpactofSports The Physical Impact of Sports CrossFit Kids Back Squat by r_e_e_d_y via flickr

 Often gain a physical advantage over those who do not  Exhibit higher motor skill competencies and movement literacy as well as gaining sport- specific competencies  Demonstrate more overall physical fitness

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Unfortunately, parents get caught in this trap all the time. It shows itself in the following ways:  Over-identification. You naturally identify with your child, but over-identification may lead you to ignoring your child’s feelings and focusing instead on your own.  Selfish dreaming. It is normal, as a parent, to dream of your child’s future, but sometimes parents get so attached to their own dreams that they lose sight of what the child wants.  Confusing investment with sacrifice. As a parent, you love your children so much that you are willing to make tremendous sacrifices on their behalf, spending money to support the child’s sport and taking the time to be there for the child. But parents may come to see these sacrifices as investments and then expect that the investments will pay off and yield tangible benefits.  Competing with other parents. You want your child to excel but it easy to get caught up in competing with other parents, pushing your child to succeed and hoping that the other children will fail, giving your child a chance to shine.

 nicknamed “The Ironman”  American former baseball shortstop and third baseman  played 21 years in Major League Baseball for the Baltimore Orioles.  Is a parent of three boys.

Within the first chapter of his book, Ripken identifies a question that each of us as parents should ask ourselves before enrolling our kids in sports. The question is: “What do you want him or her to get out of playing sports?”

“As parents, we all have expectations for our kids. It’s only natural. But in the world of youth sports, we have to be careful not to lay our expectations on our children. If we somehow suggest to our kids that if they advance in sports, then they will make us proud, we’re setting our kids and ourselves up for disappointment.”

 Give encouragement  Provide constructive criticism  Be a role model

Without fail, our children will experience the oddities, and challenges that elementary, middle school and even high school present. However, amidst all of the factors that influence our children’s confidence and perception of their self-worth that we have absolutely no control over, there is one that we do. That decision, the decision to involve one’s child in sports, will dramatically affect aspects of their social, psychological and physical well-being. In conclusion…

 Bibliography  American Heart Association. "Overweight In Children." American Heart Association: Learn and Live (2012): 1.   Bruen, Judy. "What Are the Benefits of Sports For Children?" 4 May LiveStrong.com. 11 October   Emler, Nicolas. "Self-Esteem: The Costs and Causes of Low Self-Worth." 7 November Joseph Rowntree Foundation. 11 October   Morgan, Lyndsey. " A Guide to Child Development Through Sports." 10 March Local Pages. 11 October   Weiss, Maureen R. "Promoting Positive Youth Development Through Physical Activity." Research Digest 10.3 (2009): 8.   Wolff, Rick. Parenting Young Athletes the Ripken Way: Ensuring the Best Experience for Your Kids in Any Sport. First. New York: Penguin Group, 2006.