Why Play Sports?

I was listening to a podcast the other day and the physical therapist speaking made the statement that "the vast majority of ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) injuries occur in sports."  Keep in mind, he was talking about my world.  Sports.   ACL's.  Injuries.

I had never really stopped to consider that without sports, we wouldn't have near as many ACL tears.  And then I thought about concussions.  As I write this, I've got three football players on the team that I serve that are being held out because of concussions. 

Without football, we wouldn't have as many concussions.  As much as I hate to admit it, those are truths that I have to deal with.  Which leads to the obvious question, why play sports?

Anyone that knows me knows where I stand on this.  Sports are Life Lessons.  But out of respect to my athletes, my patients, my community, and to sports, it is a question that still has to be asked.

So here goes my answer. I'm going to try and avoid clichés and I bet I offer some reasons you might not have thought about.

Sports are fun.   Well, at least they should be.    With my own kids, there were dad's three rules for school:  Be happy, be smart, play something.  And when it stops being fun, do something else.

Sports builds relationships.  Some of the best friends you'll ever have are your teammates.  Under the duress of competition, you also discover what being a friend is all about.  I've said in a variety of contexts "if you want a friend, be a friend." 

Active teens become active adults.  That one is well proven.  And since we live in the 3rd most obese state in America, producing active adults should be among our highest priorities.

Sports teach us how to perform under pressure.  Welcome to the real world.  Deadlines, cut-off dates, quotas, productivity...all those things are factors of the every day work world.  

Sports brings families together.  Some of my family's fondest memories are some of those AAU basketball trips.  It goes back to that relationship thing.  

Ask any family with kids about getting to all the practices, games, events, and everything else that goes along with playing a sport.  It takes an efficient family effort to get it all in.  You've got to work together to make it work--learning family dynamic lessons along the way.

Sports teach youngsters dedication, persistence, and respect.  Hard to argue with those.

Sports teach us how to deal with a boss.  That's something that they will definitely need some day.  It's different than dealing with parents.  Learning to deal with a boss early is a good Life Skill.

Sports help us develop leadership skills.  Growing up, two things gave me lessons in leadership:  Football and Boy Scouts.   Most anybody can lead subordinates.  How good do you lead peers?

Sports give us the opportunity to be part of a team.  Any successful team has parts that work well together.  One of the best lessons often learned is that you sometimes have to sacrifice personal goals for the good of the team.  If you learn the lessons of sports well, you become  a good teammate and that is another extraordinarily valuable Life Skill.

So, do the risks of injury warrant sports participation?  For our children to become successful, productive adults, I believe they do.  I believe that sports provide us with Life Lessons so essential to all that.  In few other places do we learn those lessons so completely.