The Importance of Teamwork in Youth Sports

Amabelle Montemayor Lapira

Teamwork is one of the fundamental skills learned from young students from playing sports. It allows them to experience success or failure in a safe environment. However, with every failure comes a lesson, and with every success comes confidence.

But, teamwork skills are not limited to the four corners of the school. Teamwork is a life skill that young students can bring when they become professionals. In the real world, coaches become bosses, teammates become coworkers, the game as the job, and a position as the player’s role, youth sports provide an age-appropriate challenge and environment to develop teamwork skills in a fun and enjoyable way.

Here are some ways to develop teamwork skills in youth sports:

Leadership roles should be fluid with players stepping in and out of them depending on the game situation.While performance may vary, effort should remain constant. Everyone giving 100 percent would be more than enough.Develop ways to strengthen communication throughout your team rather than just hoping that players talk to each other.Being internally motivated to achieve something as opposed to being motivated by something external like a medal molds self-discipline in a young athlete. Parents and coaches should try and facilitate this discipline by praising internal values over the external ones.With teamwork comes accountability, and team members are accountable to each other for their actions, effort, and performance.

Aside from physical activity and camaraderie, sports provide youth athletes opportunities to learn life lessons and what it means to be part of something greater than themselves.

The author is Teacher

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III at Becuran High School, Sta Rita, Pampanga