Welcome back to Koa’s Field Hockey blog. In today’s blog, we will discuss the importance of female empowerment gained through participating in sports.
It’s no secret that sports greatly aid in improving one’s physical health. But as some may or may not know, participating in sports also greatly improves one’s mental health! Mental health is extremely important because it helps to build strong character. Having strong character is demonstrated in a multitude of ways—some of the most notable include: high levels of inner confidence, the ability to develop reliable friendships, exercising a team-oriented mindset and maintaining beneficial academic habits.
Confidence: Joining a sports team, creating goals and accomplishing tasks are fantastic ways for girls to gain confidence. With positive reinforcement from coaches and parents, girls can be given the power to excel and become confident in their own skin.
Teamwork/Friendships: Girls who participate in sports learn to work together with their teammates to accomplish shared goals. Being a team player and actively engaging in productive teamwork is beneficial in all parts of life whether it be on the field, in a classroom or at work.
When learning the importance of working together as a team, girls also build valuable foundations that support long-lasting friendships. Some of the best friendships are developed on sports teams. Between practices and games, you spend hours upon hours with your team each week—it would almost be impossible not to develop powerful relationships with your teammates under such circumstances.
Excelling in the Classroom: Numerous experiments have been proven that girls who participate in sports perform better in the classroom than their female counterparts who don’t participate in athletic endeavors. Some may think that being involved in sports detracts from time potentially spent on homework or studying, however, participation in sports does just the opposite! Weekly practices and games help to focus one’s attention on time management, which often manifests itself in diligent studying habits. Being in a team atmosphere also encourages girls to speak up in groups and to solve problems in unique ways; these qualities carry over into the classroom where girls feel confident to participate in all projects and speak their minds while in the presence of others.
