The Huffington Post – Anne Josephson
“Parent brawls, coaches who belittle athletes and the kids who are suffering from injuries, eating disorders or stress and exhaustion. It can leave a parent wondering: why is it valuable for my child to play youth sports? As a former athlete, parent to four and owner of a gymnastics club for the past ten years, I can assure you that there are many, many reasons why participating in sports is good for kids. Those reasons can be separated into three categories: fun, fitness and the fostering good character. Playing sports can be fun. Fun is often thought of as a superfluous, silly non-essential of life. Like frosting, it’s fluffy and delicious but lacks any nutritional punch and actually has the lesser-desired effect of rotting your teeth. In fact, the word just so often predicates the word ‘fun’ that we dismiss the significance of fun in our lives.”(more)