6 Benefits of playing High School Sports

Maddie Weaver, Senior Sports Writer

Many young high school athletes are finding that sports have a beneficial impact on both their time and experience while attending high school. Sports are not for everyone and there are other extracurricular activities that are available to get involved in, but here are six good reasons why playing sports for our school is something to consider.

 

  1. Representing your school and the community

 While enjoying the game and school rivalry, you can also represent the best of your region. Not only are you representing your school through this sport- you are representing your community. This gives you the chance to compete against other communities and schools, and allows you to show off your skills and the effort that you put into the game.

  1. Recognition of your achievements

 Local newspapers love covering their high school sports teams, so you’ll quickly learn that it’s not unusual for you or your team to show up on the sports front page in The Enterprise. At the same time, you and your teammates work together to reach a certain goal every game and season. This bonding and achievement will not go unnoticed, and this coverage will let your community know how great your team plays together.

  1. Making close relations with teammates

 Being on a sports team gives you the opportunity to make close friends and feel like you’re a part of something bigger than yourself. Your coaches and teammates will be able to serve as a great support system throughout the length of your high school career. Most of the time, your teammates have your back on and off the field because you will end up forming a close bond with most of them.

 Your coaches will also have a big impact on you through high school, giving you the chance to have someone to look up to and someone who pushes you to actually achieve and meet goals.

  1. Time management skills come easier

 When playing a high school sport, you automatically learn to better prioritize your time. While sports do take up a significant amount of your free time and there are pros and cons to them, overall sports will keep you focused. Having too much free time can cause you to get sidetracked and potentially lead you to make bad choices. Time management skills are a major factor in high school, and sports will force you to stay on a schedule.

  1. Development of leadership roles

You will develop an understanding of which leadership qualities and styles best suit you. While finding new strategies as a team, some players will learn to step up and help others to be better. As you mature throughout the sports program, you have underclassmen and new upcoming players looking up to you for leadership.

  1.     Looks good to colleges

 In addition to high academic scores, colleges like the looks of a sport or extracurricular activity you’ve participated in. It shows them that you were involved and took full advantage of the programs that were available to you, which they will also want you to do while you attend their schools.

 

 Overall, Leonardtown High school has a great athletic program, along with many others that would have a huge impact on many aspects of your life and future. This fall season, if you are not a part of a program, try your best to go out and show your support for the teams. It’s definitely a fun experience watching Leonardtown’s games, so don’t miss out!