Billie Jean King once said, “Sports teaches you character, it teaches you to play by the rules, it teaches you to know what it feels like to win and lose- it teaches you about life.” The experiences gained and lessons learned through playing competitive sports at a young age greatly benefit children as they mature, no matter if they win or lose. They learn important life skills and values, like hard work, that are imperative to have a successful future. Because sports teach players that winning is not everything and the importance of hard work, children should participate in competitive sports.

Through playing competitive sports, children learn that winning is not everything, an outlook necessary for success. Players will compete in countless events throughout their sports careers, so they will most likely be defeated, therefore encouraging humility. According to Statistic Brain, ninety percent of children participating in sports would rather be on a losing team and play rather than warm the bench on a winning team. Experiencing a loss, which may be uncommon for some children, teaches young players to accept their shortcomings and be humble in their wins because they have faced both outcomes. Similarly, children who compete in sports are able to learn from their mistakes after realizing the little importance of winning. Playing competitive sports teaches young athletes to take advantage of their blunders by using them as motivation to do better. Playing sports competitively shows children that winning is not always essential, but humility and learning from mistakes are.
In addition, children learn the value of hard work through playing competitive sports. A hard work ethic is instilled in every player who desires to succeed because they must practice to improve their skills. Practicing with determination and the goal to improve shows children that they must put in time and concentrated efforts to succeed in sports: They must work hard. As reported by USA Football, forty-two percent of children that play sports competitively develop self discipline, which comes from a hard work ethic. Children also learn the importance of hard work through their victories and losses. From losing, young players realize that winning is a result of hard work; henceforth, they are driven to improve their performance. A hard work ethic is an invaluable quality that sports provide young athletes with.

Alternately, some parents and physicians think that participating in sports at a young age puts too much mental and physical stress on children. Intense practices may injure the players’ growing bodies and high expectations from coaches can leave them emotionally scarred. Demanding exercises that are performed while training can put a strain on and permanently injure the developing bodies of young athletes. The high standards that young athletes are sometimes held to can damage their mental healths by decreasing their self-esteems. However, playing competitive sports leads children to learn how to cope with and manage stressful situations and difficulties if they arise. Injured players learn to care for themselves and work through pain; these experiences will benefit them in the future. Though there are possible mental and physical threats for children playing sports competitively, they profit from managing difficulties and learning coping mechanisms that become useful as they mature.

Playing competitive sports teaches children many concepts, but it specifically teaches children fundamental lessons about life: winning is not important and hard work is valuable. Sports encourage humility and learning from mistakes, therefore, winning is not what is important. Through winning and losing, young athletes learn that hard work is necessary to thrive. Although some people disagree with children competing in sports, athletic competition prompts them to learn to manage stress. Sports teaches kids how to be individuals, how to play by the rules, how to win and lose, and how to live. There are limitless reasons as to why children should participate in competitive sports, but it is truly because they gain valuable insight into adult life, which prepares them to guide the futures of others.