Sports Offer Great Benefits for Teenage Girls
Young women excel at team sports such as volleyball, soccer, basketball, and lacrosse. Some excel competing for their team individually in swimming, tennis, golf, and track events. They are proud to be athletes!
Thanks to Title IX legislation, there has been almost a 100 percent increase in girls involved in sports during middle and high school. Title IX is part of the 1972 civil rights legislation that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex against any educational program, including sports. Schools receiving federal funding must make sports programs available to girls as well as boys. Private middle and high schools in New York, including the Harvey School, offer many team opportunities for girls in sports at ages 12 to 16.
Sports Build Teamwork
Students on sports teams learn how to work together for a common goal: winning! This was always taught to boys in the past, but girls in sports teams were often sidelined and told not to be competitive.
Today, teenage girls in middle and high schools learn how to work together as a team in major sports. They train together and develop a sense of belonging to something that is important. They also learn "sports person ship" (in place of sportsmanship), which includes how to lose gracefully.
They learn how to support each other in playing the sport. Part of the team training program usually includes helping girls who are not proficient at improving their skills. Team members learn how to help each other become better players. They also develop leadership skills, according to the Women's Sports Foundation.
Team sports encourages girls to build confidence on and off the court!
Psychological Benefits
Sports teams also help young women in sports build confidence in their athletic and academic abilities. This self-confidence helps to prevent feelings of depression and inadequacies that often plague teenage girls. Popular professional women in sports can become role models for teenage girls.
Most girls in sports consider themselves to be healthy, and they develop better organizational skills. They learn how to manage academic work with their sports activities, developing self-reliance and self-discipline.
Studies have shown that girls in sports and exercise programs have improved their skills in science and math. They are not afraid to compete in fields that have been dominated by males.
Health Benefits
Sports involve physical activities that are beneficial for everyone. Girls in sports have the benefit of weight control as well as overall fitness. Girls who are athletes are made aware of the importance of healthy eating and how to avoid or impose limits on junk foods.
They build strong muscle and bone tissue during the teenage growth period when their bodies change. They reduce the risk of obesity, and they have high body esteem from their sports participation.
Teenage girls may also have shorter menstrual periods, less cramping, fewer chronic illnesses and better immunity to the flu. Exercise from sports activities can help to reduce osteoporosis in women and other illnesses later in life.
Girls involved in sports are less likely to smoke, use drugs and participate in sexual activity.
"For girls, athletic participation was directly related to reduced frequency of sexual behavior and, indirectly, to pregnancy risk," according to the National Library of Medicine.
Long-term Benefits
Young girls who participate in sports are more likely to go to college. Many of them attend on athletic scholarships that were once offered only to men. Young women have become fully aware of the necessity for gender equality in college sports, professional sports, and the workplace.
Studies have shown that female executives are likely to have played team sports in high school and college. Leadership skills in sports can set the foundation for similar skills in business.
