Sports occupy a vital role in our lives. It keeps us fit, healthy and makes us active. The secret to having a healthy and positive lifestyle is to have a positive mind and body. Sport is one of the activities that help us maintain physical fitness and positive mental health.
Apart from keeping our body and mind healthy, sports also help us in alerting our senses, keep us aware of our surrounding and promotes a positive outlook on life. Hence, sports have a multi-faceted role in our lives. Students in schools are asked to write essays on the topic of sports for their exams and assignments.
Sports is can be taken up by anyone; at any age and point in life. Adults, children and alike elders can participate in sports. Many regard sports as a mere co-curricular or extra-curricular activity in schools. In reality, it plays an equally important role as education. To develop holistically in life, it’s essential to be well-versed in both sports and culture. While training sharpens the mind, sports sharpens the body and fitness. Thus, both are essential.
There are numerous advantages to taking part in sports. Above all, competitive sports promote physical fitness and contributes to building stable mental well-being. Various research has shown that people who practice sports daily in any form have better mental as well as physical health. Moreover, playing sports also heavily reduces the risk of disease.
Participating in sports activities boosts immunity and stamina
Sports can potentially extend life, increasing the chances of an average human being living a healthy and long life. We all come into contact with games in one form or another. While at school kids, are exposed to sports in various forms, but many institutions do not make it obligatory to pursue sports in higher academics. Therefore, some of us are dissociated from its practice. However, a lot of people do take up sports of their own accord, with some even opting to pursue it as a career option.
Many people take up various types of sporting activities such as outdoor sports, including cricket, badminton, football, hockey and volleyball. Indoor sports such as board games, table tennis and chess are also popular. There’s no end to choices! Outdoor sports lean heavily towards building physical fitness while indoor games have a positive psychological impact.
Sports activities instil a sense of confidence and enthusiasm. People who regularly participate in sports activities tend to display qualities of leadership, teamwork, and excellence in their personalities and behaviour. Sports promote healthy competition, help us to deal better with failure and enable us to work hard to achieve our goals.
These are just a few advantages to sports in our lives, but there are many others. Engaging in regular physical activity instils discipline, keep us active, gives us energy and boosts better mental, emotional and physical health. Hence, we should all take it upon ourselves to regularly take part in sports and other physical activities.
Article by B. Gwatiwa
(Teacher at Gaborone International School)
Images supplied by the school.
