How Sports Help Develop Students

Girl in field
Student considering sport

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Do you remember your high school gym class? We do, it was only fun when we got to play team sports. There is, however a science behind budding students and sports.

Team sports, like Dragon Boat, can be invaluable for the healthy development of a student’s wellbeing and academic prowess.

We're not suggesting that sports will turn you into a genius, but they can help you focus, enhance your memory and more.

The Science Behind Sports

Activity will increase your blood flow. Increased blood flow leads to better nerve connections, enhanced memory and strengthened concentration. 

This seems rather obvious, so how does participation in a sport like Dragon Boat help develop a student, scientifically?

Consider school, you are learning new things, you are expected to demonstrate your knowledge through exams, presentations and white papers.

If you regularly practice a sport, getting your blood pumping, your nerves firing and increasing your body’s well being; you are in turn working out your brain.

The better memory and faster nerve connections your brain has, the better you will be at retaining new information.

Want to read more about a student’s perspective on sports, check out Amir Ianis’s post from University of Rochester.

Academics are not the only aspect of student life that can benefit from participation in sports. Those of us who have already been through it know that self care is crucial to a successful academic life.

How Sport Helps Improve Your Self-Being

Too many people become flustered during school, be it high school or college/university.

Team sports, can help students of all ages with stress relief, self-confidence and as a coping mechanism if grades or papers become overwhelming.

Sports help everyone build their better self

The 2014 Psychology Today paper by Richard Bailey, PhD, outlines some of the key benefits of sports in a person’s self-esteem development.

Becoming part of something that makes you happy is an immense benefit to your academic life, but more importantly to your well-being. 

If you are looking to read more about sports and academic achievement, check out this post by Stratford School.

Countless people have joined Dragon Boat as a means to find stress-relief and as a way to meet new people in a new city.

The Social Skills Benefits of Sports

If your scholastic struggles lie in social skills, then team sports are going to help you out of your shell and develop those social skills. 

Sports can help you expand your social skills

Communication is a key component of team sports. If you and your team are falling short in talking with each other then you all suffer (meaning you’ll lose that race and won’t get to nationals).

Developing strong communication skills will also help you with your social skills. After all, it’s hard to meet new people if you can’t talk to them. 

Younger children benefit most from sports for the development of their social skills, they’re still learning the world. However, that is not to say that adults can’t ameliorate their social skills via sports – they can and do.

Some students can find it difficult to break into a new group of friends at a new school, team sports can be the perfect means of making new introductions and finding people who share the love of sport.

Live About has a wonderful post, about making new friends through sports. 

If you are about to embark on a new adventure to a new school, consider joining a team sport! 

We suggest Dragon Boat 😉

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