Developing life skills through sports

Sport is a way for your child to participate in physical activity and learn different physical skills. Playing organised sport can also be fun for your child, and can provide them with many benefits beyond physical fitness.

Organised sport has many benefits for your child's social, emotional and psychological wellbeing. It can help your child develop better ways to cope with the highs and lows of life.

Emotional and psychological benefits

Physical activity has been shown to change the release of brain chemicals (called neurotransmitters). This can make you feel better (Opens in new tab). So, playing sport supports children's emotional and mental wellbeing.

Sport can also help build your child's self-esteem. Your child can feel valued and build confidence through:

• support from their peers or team members
• encouragement from their coach
• praise for their efforts from you

Good self-esteem can help your child achieve their personal best in their sport and elsewhere in life.

When your child plays sport, sometimes they will win, and other times they will lose. Being a good loser takes maturity and practice. Losing teaches children to:

• overcome disappointment and frustration
• cope with unpleasant experiences
• become resilient

Playing sport also helps children:

• learn to control their emotions
• develop patience
• understand that it can take a lot of practice to improve different skills
• develop good sportsmanship and respect for others

These learnings can be applied in other areas of your child's life, including at school and with other hobbies.

Social benefits

Playing in a team helps children to develop many of the social skills they will need for life. It teaches them about teamwork and skills like:

• cooperation
• being considerate and less selfish
• listening to other children and sharing things with them

Sport also gives children a sense of belonging. It helps them make new friends and builds their social circle outside of school.

Playing a sport also helps your child to learn:

• how to follow rules, and understand why rules exist
• to take direction from authority, such as their coach or referee
• about consequences for bad behaviour or breaking rules

Parents play an important role in children's sport. You can help your child engage with sport:

• through support and positive involvement
• by helping them feel safe

Supporting your child

To keep your child interested and enjoying sport, try to make it a positive experience for them. Focus on having fun, giving it a try and being active, rather than winning or losing.

You can play a positive role in your child's sport and encourage good sportsmanship, by:

• praising your child and their teammates' efforts, even if they don't win
• encourage your child to try and do their best

Make sure comments from the sidelines are positive. Don't criticise children who make mistakes. Never abuse a player, coach, umpire or the other team.

Talking to your child about their safety

You can help to ensure that your child is playing sport in a safe environment. This will help to protect them from injury or harm. Teaching your child to be safe can help them throughout their life.

When playing sport, your child should feel safe, happy and included. It's a good idea to talk to your child about what to do if they feel unsafe. Feeling unsafe might also mean feeling:

• uncomfortable
• scared
• threatened

It's important that your child knows that they can set boundaries for the people around them. You can teach them:

• how to say "no" if something is not right
• that no one is allowed to touch them in a way they are not comfortable with
• that no one is allowed to touch their private parts

If your child is feeling unsafe, it's important that they know:

• they can speak to you or a trusted adult, like you, other friends or family members, their coach or other staff
• they will not be in trouble for saying that they feel unsafe

The Play by the Rules website (Opens in new tab) has a suite of resources to promote awareness of poor sideline behaviour (Opens in new tab). These resources are part of Let Kids be Kids (Opens in new tab), a national campaign that addresses poor sideline behaviour in junior sport.

They also have tips for parents on creating a positive sporting environment (Opens in new tab) for your child.

You can read more about child safety on the Sport Integrity Australia (Opens in new tab) website.

You can also call the healthdirect helpline on 1800 022 222 (known as NURSE-ON-CALL in Victoria). A registered nurse is available to speak with 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.