Sports
Physical activity is vital to the holistic development of young people, fostering their physical, social and emotional health. The benefits of sport reach beyond the impact on physical well-being and the value of the educational benefits of sport should not be under-estimated.
Sport and physical education is fundamental to the early development of children and youth and the skills learned during play, physical education and sport contribute to the holistic development of young people. Through participation in sport and physical education, young people learn about the importance of key values such as:
- Honesty
- Teamwork
- Fair play
- Respect for themselves and others
- Adherence to rules
It also provides a forum for young people to learn how to deal with competition and how to cope with both winning and losing. These learning aspects highlight the impact of physical education and sport on a child’s social and moral development in addition to physical skills and abilities.
In terms of physical and health aspects of child and youth development, there is an overwhelming amount of evidence that focuses on the (mostly positive) effects of sport and exercise on physical health, growth and development.
Long-term involvement in physical activity
Physical education and sport also build health activity habits that encourage life-long participation in physical activity. This extends the impact of physical education beyond the schoolyard and highlights the potential impact of physical education on public health.
To achieve broader goals in education and development, sports programmes must focus on the development of the individual and not only on the development of technical sports skills.
While the physical benefits of participation in sport are well known and supported by large volumes of empirical evidence, sport and physical activity can also have positive benefits on education.
Sport as a 'hook'
Sport is an attractive activity for young people, and is often used as a draw card to recruit children and young people to health and education programmes. Sport and development projects that focus on educational outcomes use sport as a means to deliver educational messages to participants, and spectators in some cases.