Homeschool and the Benefits of Sports
Traditional team sports are not an option for many homeschooled families. This article discusses the benefits of having your child play sports before sending them off on their own.
By Hannah Renouard — February 22, 2023
"23 and a half," "23 and three quarters." We hated hearing our coach yelling those fractions at the end of the "30" second plank workout. Too close to the end to quit, but knowing that there were many more fractions he could add on if he felt like it. That's a moment, I remember thinking, teaching me perseverance. Perseverance, hard work, teamwork, confidence, and strength—just a few things playing sports can teach you.
Traditional team sports are not an option for many homeschooled families. How might they access the benefits of playing sports to teach their children essential life skills before sending them off on their own?
Why Get Into Sports?
Not having kids in sports might seem like a blessing in many ways. You get free weekends, have less shuttling to do, don't have to worry about cheering up your kid when the team loses, and save a lot of money. However, finding ways to substitute the sport experience for young adults is crucial. Being the best basketball or soccer player might not matter, but the personal development that comes from sports will reap benefits for life.
Sports are like "play" for young children. Play is essential to a child's development, teaching them how to be their person, do things on their own, problem solve, and use their imaginations. However, every person reaches a point where childhood play is not enough. Participating in a sport is the natural evolution of playing and is essential to a good education. It takes what you have been learning about yourself and the world through play and gives opportunities to practice applying those things to life. Use your imagination and problem-solving to devise ways to beat your opponent, and use your self-awareness to recognize your abilities and limits.
Practical Benefits
Physical activity has so many benefits. There are obvious ones like coordination, balance, weight regulation, and strength. There are also mental benefits. As our favorite blonde lawyer, Elle Woods says, "Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don't shoot their husbands, they just don't."
Although she may not be the most credible source, many studies show that exercise increases endorphins and makes you happier. Exercise also helps with stress management, boosts self-esteem, and helps with brain function, especially memory. Healthy brain function is such an important part of education. An article by Dr. llan Danan shows that not only does your brain get increased oxygen and blood flow due to exercise, but sports improve the brain's ability to focus and comprehend.
Sports give young people opportunities to develop and practice important personality traits that will be incredibly valuable throughout their lives and for the success of their chosen career paths. Self-knowledge, handling mistakes and failures, working through mental blocks, goal orientation, and emotional control can all be learned by dedicating some time to learning a sport. As a student, these are all essential traits to develop that will help you to get the most out of your education.
How to Incorporate Sports as a Homeschooler
This is all not to say that now joining a soccer or football team is the answer. There are so many options out there! The official definition of a sport is "An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment." Our definition shows that participating in a sport is not necessary to be part of a structured organization.
Many sports can be done on your own. Among them: tennis, golf, swimming, running, and biking, to name a few. Choosing something you will enjoy can make developing good habits seem effortless. Adding the element of competition can also be easy and fun. Ask a few friends to meet up for tennis, or swim races, time your runs or bike rides, download an exercise app, etc. Creating accountability mirrors that aspect of a team sport to teach life skills like self-discipline, commitment, and teamwork.
What Sports Have to Do with College
As a college student, discipline, self-assurance, the ability to recover from mistakes and failure, and sticking to your goals are all important to academic success. Stress about grades, piling up of assignments, deadlines, and tests—many things make college extremely difficult. Learning the skills necessary to conquer this high-stakes, high-stress environment will help students thrive. The habits built by playing sports in high school will help keep you in good mentally and physically while also providing an amazing stress reliever in college. Not every kid will be great or even good at sports. Giving them the experience will help form them into disciplined, successful adults. As homeschoolers, it is important to get creative when looking for ways to play sports and obtain all of the benefits of doing so.
Hannah Renouard
Hannah Renouard earned her B.A. in Liberal Arts from Wyoming Catholic College in 2020 and has worked as a freelance editor ever since. While earning her degree, Hannah minored in outdoor education and became a backpacking instructor. Hannah constantly looks for new places to adventure and travel to every chance she gets.
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