Why Organized Sports Are Beneficial

25 million American children can not be wrong. Even though at least 20 million of these

kids will suffer injury by the age of 15, only 10% of the injuries are serious enough to require

more than one visit to the doctor. I have been playing baseball as well as other organized sports

for almost 15 years; and in my opinion, sports develop friendship and self-esteem. I believe that

coaches should take a "how-to" class on what a coach should and should not do.

Injuries occur for three main reasons. First, because parents push their children past their

natural ability level, thus it causes injury to the over worked body parts. Second, an accident

occurs such as a turned ankle or a ball taking a bad bounce and hitting a player. The third, and

most common reason, a coach teaches a player the wrong way to perform specific task. For

example, when I was 12 years old, my baseball coach taught me the wrong way to throw a curve

ball. After repeatedly throwing the wrong way, I tore a ligament in my right elbow. If my coach

at that time, would have taken some kind of class, he would have known the proper way to teach

the technique.

Nevertheless, I feel that sports should greatly benefit a child's self-esteem. Competition

also builds self-esteem because children grow both emotionally and physically and sports help to

develop a positive view of both themselves and their athletic skills. As long as children feel that

they are beneficial to the team, they are developing self-esteem because they see their personal

role in the team as important to the whole cause. If a child is not athletically gifted, he can

always take up a more non-competitive sport such as jogging or weight-training. This will also

build self-esteem because the child can see his improvement and relate to others at the same