5 Things That You Can Learn From Sports

There was a time when it was believed that playing sports does not matter at all in life and studies are the only path to success. And in India, there is a famous Hindi quote “Padhoge, likhoge banoge nawab, kheloge, kudoge hoge kharab”. It means that if you study you will be successful and achieve higher positions in life and if you play sports, your life will not have any meaning. With the passage of time, attitudes have changed and today, society grants equal respect to sports and studies in a person’s life. Especially for children, parents have become far more encouraging for them to play sports. This is because they learn a lot from sports, beyond exercise and enjoyment, as do the adults. Sports also help the sports stars to get rich - like Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the highest-paid footballers, and he earns $663,000 per week. There are numerous other rich and famous superstars like Virat Kohli, Roger Federer, Tiger Woods, etc. who are icons and idols for people.

Some of the good things that we can learn from sports-

Leadership qualities- You develop leadership skills by playing sports because when you assist your team in basketball, cricket, baseball, etc, and make decisions that contribute to the team and also benefit you in skills like decision making, planning, support fellow teammates, building unity in the team.

Goal setting- In every sport, one must set a goal or chase a goal. Sports like archery, basketball, and football players are good examples. In basketball the goal of the player is to put the ball in the basket, in archery, the goal is to shoot the arrow at the target, and in football, the ball must cross the goal post. So, the player develops the skill of setting goals.

Practice makes a man perfect- If you are new at playing one sport you may not excel it for the first time but after playing for a few times you must find yourself better at it. Do you know why? It is because you have already tried and practiced it. The same happens with life - as much as you practice it the better you become in that aspect of life. And this teaches you that you can excel in anything if you practice it a few times.

Teamwork-The sports played in teams are often found very interesting and engaging like basketball, cricket, football, etc. Team sports are challenging and surprising.  When the players do teamwork together with respect for each player the team becomes stronger. Sports involving teamwork teach us how to co-operate with others with patience and friendship.

Time Management-In nearly all sports you need to be very disciplined and about time, like in athletics or even football. Time is the most important key element because if a player runs out of time, she loses. So, in sports, you learn how to manage time without wasting time. Also, time management is key to success.

Thus, it is important for everyone to play sports to build stamina and to make themselves fit and learn new things and values which are important for those who seek to rise above ordinary, like Mr. Imran Khan. He was previously a Pakistani cricketer which helped him to gain popularity. But more importantly, being a cricketer and sportsperson, he developed leadership skills which have helped him a lot. So, Sports has contributed towards becoming such an important person- the PM of Pakistan and to serve his nation.

By: Shreya Pandit

Class 7

Delhi Public School, GBN