According to Marianne Engle, Ph.D., sports psychologist and Clinical Assistant Professor at the NYU Child Study Center, sports reduce anxiety and depression in children. Sports instill a spirit of competition, teach children self-discipline, increase their self-esteem, and help them set--and accomplish--goals.
Sports provide proper exercise to the muscles and tendons of growing children. The exercise involved in sports help tackle the problem of child obesity. Children who are physically active grow up to be healthy adults and develop a better appreciation of a healthy body.
Team sports provide children with the opportunity to communicate and cooperate with each other. It helps them in building trust, developing respect for others and learning to play leadership roles. In fact, Marianne Engle at the NYU Child Study Center says that girls who actively participate in sports are more likely to assume leadership roles comfortably when in a group.
The SafeKids website lists head injury as the leading cause of sports-related deaths in children. When a child participates actively in competitive sports, he overuses his joints, tendons, ligaments and muscles. These tissues are not fully mature in a child and repetitive movement required by many sports can cause serious injuries. This may result in childhood arthritis, neck or back problems. Ensuring children use proper equipment and safety gear is a good way to help reduce risk of injury.
The downside of sports is that sometimes children take it too seriously, and winning becomes their sole aim of participation. Parents need to check the development of such lines of thought in their children and enforce the fact that competition should be healthy, and fun must be the main aim while playing a sport.
In the case of a talented child athlete, he may feel that it is through sports that he gets the adulation he wants. In this course of thought, he may start neglecting his grades and believe that excelling in sports will enable success in school. However, he may miss the point that both studies and sports are important for his all-round development.