Generally, team sports involve teammates facilitating the movement of a ball or similar object in accordance with a set of rules to score points. Examples of team sports include baseball, basketball, football, hockey, water polo, tennis and volleyball. Team sports have a wide variety of pedagogical benefits and offer kids the opportunity to develop many skills including social skills, self confidence and a sense of belonging.
Team sport also teaches children how to work together with other people that may have different opinions and beliefs. This is a critical life skill that will help kids in their professional and personal lives. Teamwork is also an essential part of team sport and teaches kids how to deal with conflict in a healthy manner.
A big part of being a good team player is learning to take criticism and use it to improve your game. This is an important life lesson that will teach kids how to be a more effective leader. It’s a competitive world and being able to work well with others is an invaluable skill in the workplace as well as in other areas of your life.
Participation in team sport is also associated with better mental health, greater resilience to the challenges of everyday living and a lower risk-taking behaviour such as substance abuse. However, participation among girls in team sport is less than optimal, and interventions to increase participation of young girls in team sport are required.