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Heads in the game
Author: Nick Galvin
                         Publication: Sydney Morning Herald

Sport is not just about ability and fitness; it also builds social skills and self-esteem, writes Nick Galvin.

T DOESN’T take a rocket scientist to know that playing sport and exercising is a vital part of staying physically fit and healthy.

What is less known is that taking part in sport - whether that’s a team game such as football or hockey or a solo pursuit such as tennis or swimming - has many mental and psychological benefits, too.

In short, sport is as good for the head as it is for the body.

One of the biggest benefits to be enjoyed from playing sport, according to the manager of the Education Department’s school sports unit, Ross Morrison, is the ability to overcome setbacks such as injury or losing a game.

It’s called resilience and experts are increasingly recognising it as a vital life skill.

"You can go through times where you play great and still lose, or you can go through times where you play poorly and win," Morrison says.

"Learning about the ups and downs is vitally important to understanding resilience.

"Kids are under a lot of pressure these days in relation to academics and achieving and yet we are not always going to be successful and we’re not always going to be mistake-free."

Jorge Knijnik is a senior lecturer in personal development, health and physical education at the University of Western Sydney. He points out that playing sport also helps develop thinking processes in a different way from sitting in a classroom or lecture theatre.

"When you are playing sport you are not only doing physical things, you are also constantly making decisions," he says.

"In team sports in particular, you are thinking all the time about where to move to and what to do. This is one of the important things - you have to think in different ways instead of just sitting in front of a screen. You are in a whole social situation and you have problems to solve in a few seconds."

Also, psychology and sports experts agree regular involvement in sport is an effective way for young people to build self-esteem and to improve their body image. "It’s great if you can do exercise or physical activity or sport where you are able to judge yourself in some form and see that you are improving in some way," says a sports psychologist at the Australian Catholic University, Justine Stynes.

"You know: ’I was able to run around the block twice last week but now I can do it three times."’

Initially, Stynes says, for younger players most of that boost in self-esteem comes via praise from parents and coaches.

Gradually, this reliance on external sources to feel good about ourselves is replaced by an internal, or intrinsic, sense of self-esteem that is an essential part of becoming a happy, well-adjusted adult.

Researchers have long found a link between physical activity and reduced depression and anxiety. At the same time, immune system chemicals that can deepen depression are suppressed. Other spinoff benefits include improved sleeping patterns simply because you are more tired, as well as being distracted from whatever is worrying you - you tend to forget about a coming exam while you’re in the middle of a game of hockey or cricket. And then there is the great social benefit of just getting to hang around with other people at training, during a game or in a club setting.

"When you take part in sports you are not just playing but also participating in lots of other social and volunteer activities like refereeing or umpiring, raising funds, training and so on," Knijnik says.

But, for Knijnik, the most important thing is not to overdo things when it comes to young people’s sport. It shouldn’t be too serious or obsessive.

"Lots of the international research on this asks [young people] why they took up sport and the answer is, ’To have fun’," he says.

"Then ask why they have left the sport and the answer is, ’Lack of fun and being pushed by coaches’.

Visit heraldeducation.com.au/healthy to download Herald Education’s free classroom activity based on this article. Suitable for stage 3.

FACT FILE

It is thought that 30 minutes or more of exercise three to five days a week releases chemicals in the brain, called endorphins, that make us feel happier.

CASE STUDY CHIFLEY COLLEGE

For the head teacher of PDHPE at Chifley College Mount Druitt Campus, Alison Healy, there is nothing better than seeing students enjoying playing sport.

"Literacy and numeracy are important, of course, but it’s also important to have kids out in the fresh air," she says.

The school offers a wide range of sporting opportunities, from gym class and rugby league to volleyball and a running club.

The benefits to the students of taking part go way beyond the obvious positives of increased fitness and weight control, Healy says.

"Taking part in sport helps increase the supply of blood to the brain for thinking," she says. "You also sleep better, so you can think more clearly."

Healy also lists team building, communication skills and resilience as benefits, as well as the boost to self-esteem students feel when they succeed at their sport  or simply play well.

"Goal setting is another bonus," she says. "When those kids come to, say, gym lesson or running club and set goals around increasing fitness or losing weight by a certain date, they are practising something that we hope will remain with them long after they leave school."

Nick Galvin      FONTE: Sydney Morning Herald

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