4 Ways that Sports Prepare Kids for the Real World

Getting kids involved in sports is a great way to teach them so many things that they’ll use out in the real world. It doesn’t matter if they are on a youth cheer pom poms team or playing basketball or doing gymnastics, something about these team activities that require the children to be active and engaged really preps them for things they’ll have to face later on. Here are some ways that kids benefit from sports be it cheerleading, football or golf.

They’ll learn how to properly deal with difficult people.
In youth cheer pom poms teams and swimming teams alike, the kids are going to encounter coaches and teammates that are hard to get along with. This could be due to arrogance, it could be pride, it could be insecurities- whatever the reason, these people exist. And they don’t just stop being difficult in high school. They go on to the work place. They could be your kids’ future neighbors or in laws. Learning to get along with their teammates for the greater good of meeting their goal will give your kids the ability to see past the negative behavior and be able to still work with these kinds of people and even eventually get along with them. They won’t be shocked by the lack of team spirit in the work place because they know the types of people that weaken it from doing sports.

They’ll learn how to continue working under pressure.
If you are the captain of the youth cheer pom poms team or the quarterback of the football team, then you will have to learn how to stay calm during stressful situations. You have to be able to make snap decisions and choices under pressure and time limits. This is not all that different from the work force. Especially if your child gets into a high powered firm or company, they are going to be under a lot of pressure due to the nature of the work and competition. They will have learned how to stay calm in the midst of the storm when playing sports.

They’ll learn how to handle a disappointment.
Losing games is hard for the kids. But, in reality, that’s just what happens sometimes and it’s not even necessarily anything that they could have done differently. Or perhaps your kids were at a youth cheer pom poms competition and didn’t even place. It happens, unfortunately. But, as they grow up, there are still going to be disappointments. They might not get the promotion they wanted, or the offer that they put on a house falls through. Whatever the setback is, they will have learned how to properly process these kinds of things by losing games or not winning competitions.

They’ll learn how to stick it out when the going gets tough.
In sports, the kids are encouraged to work towards a final goal even when it seems like they won’t ever be able to make it. They are taught to hold on to hope and always keep in mind that things can change on a dime. There’s no need to explain how that will help them as they get older! No one can live without hope. Hope for a brighter future, hope for a bigger house, hope for a pay raise; the persistence that is learned during the tough times is what births hope and vision for the future.

As the parents, it’s difficult to watch your kids be so severely disappointed by something or to go through setbacks or have to make difficult decisions. However, keep in mind that this is not just going to help them grow stronger for and as a team, it’s going to help to shape them because the person that they need to be as an adult. Being able to deal with the hard parts of life is what determines the strength of a person whether they are a kid or an adult. So let your kids shake their cheer poms and do back flips off the cough and bounce a basketball in the house or tackle one another; it’s all part of the process that gets them into sports which gets them into the real world with a positive mental attitude.