Benefits of Team Sports with Dr. Cassidy Preston, Mental Performance Coach
With warm weather rolling in, kids are itching to get outside and back to their favourite sports. We know that participating in team sports can positively impact children’s health and provide social benefits.
Dr. Cassidy Preston
We spoke with Dr. Cassidy Preston, Mental Performance Coach who has partnered with Sport Chek to share his insights on character-building benefits, like teamwork, resilience and leadership, that go beyond the sport for kids that parents should know about.
Q: Why is it important for kids to participate in team sports, and for families to prioritize playing together?
Benefits of Team Sports with Dr. Cassidy Preston
A: Prioritizing team sports as a kid can provide health, social and character-building benefits that go beyond the sport itself. Some of those skills include:
- Building social connections and communication skills
- Working with team members and leadership skills
- Developing healthy habits around exercise, sleep, and nutrition
- Fostering life skills such as confidence, resilience, and focus
Q: What are the psychological benefits of participating in team sports programs?
A: Research shows it can have a positive impact on people outside of the traditional sense of the sport. Psychological benefits of team sports may include:
- Stress reliever and a sense of purpose
- Social connections and a sense of belonging
- Feeling of competence and confidence as they develop
Q: What are the life-long values and habits that sports teach children, that they can take into adulthood?
Benefits of Team Sports with Dr. Cassidy Preston
A: Team sports provide life-long values that you can bring well into adulthood, from leadership and communication to teamwork and physical health. I’ve partnered with Sport Chek because they believe in the valuable life lessons kids learn beyond the field. Lessons like sportsmanship, communication, resilience, determination and leadership – all skills you can take beyond a sports game and into your everyday. Other examples include:
- Social Connections
- Character-building skills
- Time management skills
Q: How can parents help prepare their kids for team sports?
A: As parents prepare for the upcoming sports season this summer, whether it be baseball or soccer, there are a few ways to help prepare your kids:
- Don’t over-focus on the external results like winning and rankings, instead, prioritize the mental skills sport that your child can develop through sport
- Help manage expectations about the range of results and develop a growth mindset by encouraging effort and normalizing failure as part of the development process
- Make sure fun is not tied to just the results, but rather focus on the enjoyment of the game itself; the teamwork, the relationships, the challenge, the growth, and the experience – all as great sources of enjoyment