Why Sports are Critical for Young Girls

I have been involved with athletics since, well, before I can remember. If it wasn't kicking the ball, it was climbing trees, riding skateboard ramps, swinging on the playground bars, throwing the football, hitting homers over my neighbors' house, swimming in the neighbor's pool. And after all of this, some 34 years later, I still love to play. The pure joy, love, and passion have always been the underlying themes, albeit I didn't know that when I was six.

But now I have those same emotions for different reasons, and it is why I KNOW, not believe, sports are CRITICAL for young girls. I call them the 5 C's. Challenge, Communication, Competition, Community and Celebration. All these categories fulfill a life necessity.

One, Challenge. Learning to set goals, (short-, medium- and long-term) and figuring out ways to achieve them. Two, Communication. Becoming comfortable with your voice, and how to share it with others. Knowing that I can speak up no matter my environment, or how tough a situation. Three, Competition. Always hoping that the other team is tough, has its best players and putting myself up to the test to see what I am made of. Giving my all during training so that my teammates get better, and relying on them to do the same for me. Four, Community. Experiencing how teams work, succeed and fail. Teams are microcosms of real life (family, education, relationships, neighborhoods). Decisions, conflict, good times, and even bad happen in teams. Realizing that we all have to be leaders, workers, teachers, listeners so that we can all achieve. Five, Celebration. When we do something well (large or small), we should feel good about what we've done and cherish the moment -- we can express that without hesitation or embarrassment. A pump of the fist, a smile on our face, a leaping high five, or even a ripping off of the shirt. It should be a right, not a privilege.

Young boys and men have been experiencing these concepts almost from birth, perhaps since the beginning of time. The time has finally come that now encourages young girls and women to explore the depths of their psychological, physical and emotional components so they may too see how sports impact their person off the field. Dare to Dream is an amazing showcase how a group of women, over time, came together at just the most perfect era in history to explore, and express, all of the above. I hope everyone who watches, not only shares it with someone else, but uses it as a guide to all the could be possible in their own life.

Dare to Dream: The Story of the U.S. Women's Soccer Team is now available on DVD from HBO Video.

Comments

[kellygrrrl]

sports are great, yes, but NOT for everyone. Some kids are far more suited and gifted in other activities such as performing arts, science ...
parents need to be open to the possibility that their kid might not be a sports fan or they may even HATE sports. OR they may even be a GENIUS at something else. Let kids experiment with lots of stuff and find their own LOVE

[SeriousBlack]

Dare To Dream is fantastic! I caught it on cable (watched it twice, actually). Highly recommended - for anyone, I'm a middle-aged guy. I imagine it would be very inspiring for parents and young daughters to watch together.

[frozenskeeter]

My brother and sister in law are currently Freshman and Sophomores in High School. In order to compete in high school sports, they need to attain a certain grade point average. If this was not required and they did not love sports so much, then I think they would probably flunking out. The need(or want) for them to play sports is linked to doing good in school.

My children are young enough that they will play and try anything, so I will be happy if they pick at least one to focus on and get healthy. I don't care which they pick as long as they do something (even though I am partial to soccer).

[kellygrrrl]

will you be OK if your son picks dance?

[ImmanuelGoldstein]

Nice thought but only a small minority of either sex is going to participate in organized sports anyway.

[Pyrum]

I'm old. When I was young, girls were discouraged from participating in sports, for fear it would turn them lesbian or something. But it's never too late! I took up adult amateur ice hockey at age 39, and have been playing for six years now. Sports are for everyone!

[dunlow]

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This is my ad!

[CriminallySane]

Long ago, almost in a previous life, I had a girlfriend who disdained sports in school for anyone. I never understood this. When a kid, any kid, does something on the field/court/wherever, it's an accomplishment they did, and no one else can take it away.

Not to mention, kids learn to both win and lose, and work together for goals.

And a little exercise wouldn't hurt most American kids, either...

[loril]

Mixed emotions on this one. I have a daughter and I certainly hope her experiences in this realm are better than mine. I do not remember comaraderie, teamwork or friendship. I was not a skilled athlete (quite the opposite!) So, I remember getting ridiculed, chosen last, beaten with field hockey sticks and generally bullied. (The boys were actually nicer to me! The "jock girls" were very cruel.)

Yeah, I know. I'm a wimpy whiner...a 98 pound weakling with glasses. It made me very uninterested and negative about sports, though. And I do feel their prominence is over-emphasized in our educational system. Having said that, I know that so many others have had a completely opposite set of circumstances and they feel strongly that athletics builds all these wonderful character traits.

My goal is to keep my mouth shut about my appalling experiences and give my girl a chance to enjoy sports more. Hopefully the phys ed teachers are a bit more enlightened now and will work a bit harder with the less gifted athletes to build confidence and skills.

[CriminallySane]

Do what you can, and make progress. While not everyone can be the star, with honest effort and even minimal talent, everyone can finish a season better than they started it.

I was a slow, small, nerdy guy myself in HS. I had never played any organized basketball. By senior year, I could jump up and grab a ten foot rim (never quite got those last few inches to be able to jam...), and was pretty well known in the intramural league as someone who would play very, very hard even if I didn't win, and would go up against almost anyone, if only out of sheer desire.

I am now a graying older guy with bad eyesight. I look back on those years and know that what I did back then I did by effort rather than gifts.

That is a very valuable lesson for any kid.