Does Youth Sports Play a Part in Character Formation?

 

The process of character development remains one of the most important topics studied by modern psychologists as it defines the future life of children and adolescents and the way that they will be likely to deal with problems related to work and personal relationships. Despite the seeming simplicity of the question, factors that have an impact on the process of character development in children and adolescents have not been thoroughly studied yet. Nowadays, there is a range of factors that are regarded as things capable of shaping people’s characters. Among them, there are youth sports that include a variety of sports events for adolescents and children. The positive impact of youth sports on physical and emotional condition of children and adolescents has been discussed by numerous researchers, but the particular ways that youth sports impact character development still need to be studied.


The fact that the impact of youth sports on character formation is still considered to be an open problem has an impact on numerous groups of people. In general, there are three groups of people that are influenced by the problem: parents, children and adolescents, and physical education professionals. The study will focus on the way that young people and their coaches see character development with the help of sport.

The problem of sports and character development impacts common people from various social groups. There are adult people who want their underage daughters and sons to engage in youth athletics because they remember that being an athlete means being respected by classmates and younger children. With that in mind, these people use this model to encourage their children to participate in sports because they are sure that it will strengthen their children’s social status. The same can be true for those people who had significant communication problems when they were school students. Some people are too shy to enter school sports teams because they feel that they do not have enough talent to become successful in this sphere of life. Due to that, when they grow up, such people are likely to transfer their dreams of being popular among peers onto their children, and it becomes the primary reason why they want their daughters and sons to attend sports classes on a regular basis (Brummelman et al. 1).

Another reason that makes parents want their children to become athletes lies in the bad physical condition of their children and the lack of physical endurance that may cause diseases and other problems. Finally, when it comes to the link that exists between youth sports and character formation, it needs to be said that the lack of knowledge on the topic has a significant impact on those people whose children have communication problems or demonstrate the undisciplined behavior. Unfortunately, considering that psychological problems that can be manifested in children are unique, it is not right when parents choose sports sections for their children without discussing the matter with the latter and sports teachers. Teachers, for instance, can provide valuable advice helping to use youth sports to address the specific needs of a child.

Even though the opinions of parents have a significant impact on final decisions concerning sports classes that their children will attend, the group that is the most impacted by the present state of knowledge concerning the interplay between youth sports and character formation is presented by teachers and coaches. The work of the latter is highly impacted by the discussed topic due to numerous factors. The knowledge on the interconnection between youth sports and character formation is extremely important for coaches and teachers because they, together with their students’ parents, should be good at analyzing children’s physical and psychological needs and problems.