It goes without saying that involving kids in almost any team sport has some strong benefits to the child's psyche and physical health. With this in mind we've put together a list of 5 benefits that we believe to be crucial and readily attainable when being part of a soccer team.
1) Learning Leadership Skills: Whether it’s from observing the coach, from being the captain of a team, or even just being an active team member, acquired leadership skills through practice or observation will strongly benefit children in their adult lives. Soccer is one low-cost sport that is guaranteed to shine a light on leadership shrewdness.
2) Learning about respect, courtesy, and consideration: Coaches, more often than not, demand respect from their players, but also for the opposing team, for parents, and for fellow payers. There are some important life lessons to learn here for both kids and adults on how to build and preserve one’s reputation and on how to express one’s attitude properly.
3) Making friends and feeling a sense of belonging: Friendship is essential for one’s early life. Friendship built through struggles, losses and success will last a lifetime. Winning as a team and losing as a team has a strong impact on interpersonal relations and influences kids’ emotional intelligence.
4) Staying active: Needless to say, remaining active is very important for one’s health. Staying active, as an adult, can be a real challenge. Habits developed early-on can greatly influence our choices in the future. If a kid is motivated to stay active from a young age while doing something he or she likes, this habit will be hard to break, and he or she can grow up to be a healthy, balanced person who overcame obesity in childhood and adulthood.
5) Improving their communications skills: Whether its school or work, communication is a key skill for success in any professional environment. Like many sports, communication is quintessential to soccer. Players that learn these skills at a young age will not only have a better chance of success in sports, but in their adult relationships as well.
Let us know what you think of this list in the comments below and keep enjoying the beautiful game!
