Some of the most common high school team sports include basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer, and football. Each of these sports requires teamwork to win the game. Working together as a team for a common goal teaches life-long lessons that cannot really be learned any other way. It is a proven fact that participating in team sports during high school offers many benefits for young people.
The most obvious benefit is the physical benefits that participating in a sport offers. It is much less likely for a teenager who is involved in sports to become overweight or be inactive in other areas of his/her life. Team sports also encourage emotional development in self-confidence and self-esteem as well as improving problem-solving skills.
Participation in team sports leads to better social skills as well. Team players not only learn to be more social with peers but they develop better relationships with teachers, administrators, coaches, and other adults as well. Having a strong social network helps teens to become more involved in their academic careers as well and lead to a much lower likelihood of drop outs coming from students who participate in sports.
Unfortunately, because of the push over the years to get back to a more academic approach, many team and individual sports are being removed from the schools. This could be potentially detrimental to the overall functioning of our future generations. In a study published in 2007, statistics showed that participating in high school team sports increased a young woman’s chances of graduating from college by 41 percent.