THE BENEFITS OF SPORTS TO PERSONAL AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The role of sports to individual and national development cannot be over-emphasised. In Nigeria for instance, sports has being a uniting factor, as well as an economic booster. As a matter of fact, sport is an activity that has brought goodwill, national pride and economic prosperity to Nigeria. More importantly, sport is a vehicle to personal development to those that are involved in it.  It is an exhilarating activity and has many benefits on a person's life as well. Sports serve two main purpose; for entertainment purposes and for physical and mental exercise. There are many kinds of sport which includes; amateur, athletics, blood, demonstration, disabled and team sports. Other kinds of sports include; the fantasy, motor, extreme, individual, professional, underwater, and electronic sports. Among these types of sports, the football, athletics and some extreme sports such as boxing and wrestling, are the most popular. Tennis, polo, cycling and swimming are other sports that are well known. This article aims at highlighting some of the personal and national benefits of sports.

Living is a struggle filled with ups and downs. With the pace of life becoming ever-more rapid, people are constantly on the look-out for an outlet to divert their minds from the daily mundane tasks of life. Sports have emerged as a favorite avenue where people can take a break out of life’s many challenges. It has a wide range of benefits to offer and that is why it is a preferred activity that many people find interesting, and take solace in them. Sport is important in the formative years of a typical human being. Its role in education can be seen in the way it helps in bequeathing morals and values such as dedication, discipline and responsibility in children and adults alike; at the same time teaching these minors relevant tactics of surmounting some of life’s challenges. This writer will, in the proceeding paragraphs, highlight the benefits of sports to national and personal development.

One of the personal benefits of sports is that it helps to improve body fitness. Most sports such as athletics, football, basketball and so no are physically demanding; this helps the individual to foster bodily fitness and well-being. Sports and exercise are mutually inclusive, or in other words, they go hand-in hand. In sports, the persons playing them are required to have a good amount of energy, agility, alertness and endurance because of how physically tasking they are. Hence, people who do sports are usually fitter and healthier. Though many would argue that fitness and health can be achieved by dieting and using the gym on a regular basis; sports makes this process exciting, as the sportsperson would be carried away by the fun inherent in it, enjoying him or herself that he or she loses track of time and forgets the tasking aspect of the activity. A sportsperson hardly falls sick and is always in the right mentality as a result of the way the body is being tasked and exercised.  It is therefore not a surprise that most sports involving aerobic activities and a lot of exercise facilitates good mental state because in the course of it, the feel-good-hormones of the body, called endorphins, are released. Endorphins are natural stress relievers and induce a relaxing feeling. Also, exercising improves the condition of the skin and makes the individual look younger. It is obvious that many sportspersons look younger than their age, and also look attractive too. They are always trimmed and agile as a result of constant flexing of the muscle; they are not quick to fall ill because of their state of constant activity. Therefore sports improve fitness and the general well-being of the individual. Involving in sports on a regular basis helps to keep the body’s immune system strong, thereby helping to prevent all kinds of diseases and ailments from occurring. It also helps to increase appetite for food and water of the person’s body. Thus, sports promote good health.

Due to the fact that regular exercise improves the mental wellbeing of the person, the sportspersons makes decisions wisely and quickly too. In many sports, a person has to make quick decisions depending upon the situation that he or she is in. Many sports like football, basketball, hockey and so on, requires the person to take fast decisions in order to be able to outwit the opponent. Other sports like the chess game, draught, monopoly, scrabble and other mental games imbibe in the person the ability to make wise and accurate decisions. Thus, a person who is involved in sports is able to make wise and quick decisions in other areas of life’s endeavor as well.

Sports boost self-confidence in the person. When something is improving your health, making you
physically fitter, earning you respect among people and generally making you feel better about yourself, it is safe to say that such a thing does a whole lot of good to your self-confidence and self worth. Most professional sportspersons perform in an environment whereby a lot of spectators come around to watch them; many of them have overcome stage fright and anxiety thereby improving their self confidence and the can-do attitude.  So if you’ve not ventured into the world of sports, do not while away precious time in doubt. Make up your mind today on which of the sports to do because it is one of the few things out there that does not have any demerits. With sports, your self confidence and worth will be aiming at the sky.

Sports provide occupation to a lot of people. Many sportsmen and women eke out a living from doing what they know how to do best. Sports can turn around the live of the sportsperson. Getting better at a sport is a skill that may have an impact on the monetary and quality of an individual’s life. People respect those who show excellence in any field, and sport is no exception. If this
is turned into an expertise, then it can even lead to avenues for developing a career. Some of the richest and most accomplished people on earth today are sportspersons.

Sport bequeaths in the individual with the quality of leadership, cooperation, teamwork and participation. Many popular sports like soccer, basketball, volleyball, rugby etc., are played in teams. This inculcates values and skills like leadership, cooperation, communication, and sacrifice in the sportsperson. Not only does this benefit the person in developing a better game, but it
actually helps in other life’s endeavor, as these values and traits are indispensable if one is to lead a good life. Many sports persons have turned out to be good leaders in other walks of life. After retirement, many of them take up leadership jobs such as coaching, business, politics, and so on.

 Many sports, if not all of them, involves two or more people coming together to play it. This improves socialization and healthy relationships among sportspersons. Unless one is referring to playing chess against a computer, almost every sport involves interaction with other people, whether they are teammates or opponents. Therefore, sports serve as an avenue for meeting new people and making friends, as people of diverse cultures come together to achieve a common goal. For instance, thousands of sportspeople meet and become friends and acquaintances in continental and intercontinental competitions like the Olympics, the FIFA World cup and so on. This has fostered friendship and camaraderie. By so doing, sports enhances the social life of a person.  

Sport promotes maturity and character building in the person. It fosters the spirit of sportsmanship in the individual; this is because all sports have an outcome- you either win or lose. Winning and losing is an everyday thing for the sports person. Sportspersons are inculcated in them, the
lesson of life that sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Some people glide along as long as there are no hardships in life, but the moment the odds are against them, they find their emotional strength dwindling. This is not to say sport is a one-stop solution for this, but it definitely teaches a person how to take losses with grace and move on to achieve greater things in the face of difficulties and challenges.

Sports help the person to channel their energies into constructive ventures. Youths possess a great deal of physical energy. When they are involved in sports, their physical energies are used up in a
constructive way. If the youths are not allowed to channel their energies into productive ventures, they might get involved in wrong activities such as crime and other antisocial behaviours. Therefore, sports helps in keeping the society free from crime and unnecessary disturbances.

Many countries have also benefitted from the good omen of sports. It has improved the national pride of many countries, and also has shot them into limelight. For example, a country like Brazil is known for its excellent performances of their national football teams in intercontinental competitions. They have won the FIFA world cup severally, and a force to reckon with in international football. This has helped to uplift the fortunes of the country and improved its revenues too. Therefore, sport is an avenue to improve the global awareness of a country.

It behoves on us all to make the best of the benefits that sports provides for the betterment of ourselves and our nation. Take up interest in a sport today and begin to benefit from the largesse therein.