Importance of Sports in Education

“Dhoni finishes off in style. A magnificent strike into the crowd! India lift the World Cup after 28 years!”

Are you glued to your television when Mahi hits sixes around the ground or Novak Djokovic bags another Grand Slam? Do you love the idea of a stadium full of people cheering and rooting for you as you play? Well, whether or not you choose to build a career in sports, it helps you develop many skills. Isn’t that cool?

As amazing as it may sound, a career in sports requires a lot of dedication and you have to start young for that. Begins by choosing a sport that you already like and wish to get better at it. Even if you do not wish to make a career out of it, there are a lot of perks to playing sports. “Does it help me get better at academics?” you ask? Of course, it does! Do not underestimate the power of sports! Let’s look at some skills that sports help you develop.

Top Skills you can Learn from Sports

Did you know that according to research, studying right after you are back home from playing on the field can really help you with efficiency? Playing sports is the best way to unwind from schoolwork and release pent-up energy. Here are some skills that you can develop by playing sports.

1. Communication Skills

Communication skills are essential for running a successful sports team. Working together in sports consists of expressing yourself through nonverbal cues for team plays and convincingly sharing winning ideas with your teammates while also being a good listener. This two-way process is encouraged only by playing sports.

2. Accepting Failures and Dealing with Negative Emotions

Channelling negative feelings can be difficult sometimes, and a good coach will help you understand how negative emotional stress can negatively impact your performance. Such wisdom ingrained early in life will assist you in dealing with other life challenges later in life. Accepting failures becomes easier because you might win every game, but you always learn something each time you take the field.  

3. Boosts Teamwork and Helps become Sociable

Teamwork is all about working together to achieve a common goal. You become more adaptable, persistent, and patient as a result of the diverse pairing of personalities and scenarios. Team sports also instill a sense of collective and individual responsibility.

It also gives you a sense of belonging, aids in the formation of new friendships, and expands your social circle outside of school. These are people you may only see when you play together, or they may become life-long friends you see frequently. Playing on a team fosters meaningful relationships, which can enhance your social and communication abilities. When you’re feeling stressed or under pressure, call a teammate and go to the gym to talk it out.

4. Time Management and Discipline 

Sports allow you to develop winning strategies, which may include focusing on specific skills and allowing others to take a back seat. Athletes must learn to juggle practice, team meetings, work, and life all at the same time. This translates directly into achieving a work-life balance.

It also aids in the development of self-discipline. This can include anything from perfecting a batting stance to increasing endurance. Each skill requires a head-on effort to improve.

5. Strengthens Memory

Physical activity has been shown to activate brain chemicals that make you feel better. As a result, participating in sports on a regular basis improves your overall emotional well-being. It also enhances memory capacity and strength, which means you may start to score higher.

Physical activities on a daily basis help students enhance their memory and refresh their minds. Students can learn more effectively if sports are part of their daily routine.

It also helps you become more independent and less selfish. Even improves self-esteem and focus. These skills directly make you a better student and a better person. These are just some reasons why you should take up a sport! Now let’s take a look at:

Let’s have a look at some popular sports and what they help with!

There are some common sports that are included in the Indian education system. These are some of the many reasons why more sports should be made a part of the curriculum.

1. Cricket: India’s favourite sport! 

Cricket is a sport that helps you with hand-eye coordination. It helps you build stamina and endurance, there is also a large part of the teamwork that comes with it. Your reflexes get better because of this sport.

2. Badminton

To return the speeding shuttlecock coming from your opponent’s side, you must be quick on your feet. You not only become physically faster but also mentally faster, as you must think quickly. Badminton, as an aerobic sport, improves an individual’s overall physical health. 

Playing against an opponent not only helps you improve your game but also allows you to learn and practice good values like fair play and sportsmanship.

3. Basketball

Basketball is a great place to start if you aren’t used to this level of physical activity or if you get tired easily. Basketball promotes teamwork and also brings patience.Despite the fact that it is a physically active sport with many fast movements, aiming for the right shot, understanding when to pass, and perfecting the ins and outs of the sport all require patience.

4. Tennis

Trusting yourself and your instincts is one of the first things you learn in tennis practice. Tennis teaches you to pause, assess the situation, and then propose a new strategy to win. Because it is a sport based on angles, geometry, and physics, you must develop a mental game in order to compete, which will only improve your mental strength off the court.

5. Football

Individuals don’t win football games. Teams do. To be a member of a team, you must learn to be accountable to those around you. Football as a sport teaches discipline, and teambuilding and makes you value hard work because it requires rigorous practice.

Career Options In Sports

You do not necessarily have to play a sport to make a career in sports. If you are just interested and have knowledge about the game then you can easily get into this field. There are a number of things you can do. Some of them are:

1. Sportsperson

As a sportsperson, you can receive training from various Sports Authority of India institutions. In India, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) runs a number of institutes and academies that train young athletes to become talented athletes. Aside from SAI, there are numerous state and private organisations that provide assistance to sports enthusiasts. 

The salary of a sportsperson is entirely dependent on the sport that he has chosen. A sportsperson’s starting salary ranges between Rs. 3 lac and Rs. 5 lac per year. When you become a star athlete, you can earn crores of rupees per year. Your salary is also determined by your job profile.

2. Coach

Coaches teach amateur and professional athletes the skills necessary to excel in their sport. Scouts assess athletes as potential recruits. A bachelor’s degree is typically required for coaches and scouts. Educational requirements, on the other hand, can range from no formal educational credential to a bachelor’s or higher degree.

Sports Coach Salary in India ranges from 0.3 Lakhs to 6.0 Lakhs, with an annual salary of 3.0 Lakhs being the average.

3. Team Manager

A sports manager is an expert who works in a variety of roles in the sports industry. You will most likely manage a sports team as a sports manager. Managing a sports team entails taking care of a team’s non-sporting needs such as equipment, training schedule, grounds, and practice fields upkeep, jerseys, advertising, travel plan, meals and hospitality arrangements, and so on. 

Students can pursue either a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) degree with a Sports Management specialisation. Some universities also hold entrance exams for master’s degrees in sports administration.

In India, the average starting salary for a Sports Manager is around 2.7 Lakhs per year.

4. Sports Writer

Your job will be to keep readers and viewers up to date on the latest sports news by presenting it in a way that is not only catchy but also precise. A student can choose to pursue a three-year bachelor’s degree in journalism through one of several institutions. Only a few colleges offer a master’s degree in sports journalism.

In India, the national average salary for a Sports Journalist is 35,485 rupees.

5. Sports Consultant

Sports consultants collaborate with a wide range of clients and organisations, including sports leagues, teams, affiliated companies, content distributors, promoters, venue operators, service providers, and investors. Consultants assist in the finalisation of sports business transactions, which can range from corporate sponsorship of major sporting events to assisting individual players in profiting from endorsement deals.

Most sports agents must have at least a Bachelor’s degree. Marketing and business management are the most favourable courses to take if you want to become a sports agent.

The average annual salary for a sports consultant in India ranges from 6.8 Lakhs to 9.3 Lakhs.

Know Your True Potential!

Even if you are just ‘interested’ in sports and take up a career in something else, you can still merge the two! Do the research and keep yourself updated.

Still confused about whether you should take up a career in sports or not? Sign up for Mentoria– ‌India’s‌ ‌Most‌ ‌Reliable‌ ‌Career‌ ‌Discovery‌ ‌Platform‌ ‌and get clarity about all your career-related questions!