Sports as a Basis for Teaching Morals - Essay Sample

Introduction

Many people may perceive sports only as a purely recreational activity. However, it has many benefits to children, including developing a sense of friendliness, developing team spirit, shaping the body, and making it healthy and active. If children are engaged, they avoid unnecessary fatigue hence become active. However, the majority of people do not realize how significant sports are in instilling good morals traits in children. Among the characteristics include resilience, teamwork and collaboration, consistency, adherence to rules and regulations as highlighted in Dan's and Jay Bylsma's so your son wants to play in the NHL. Discussed below are the lessons and traits that can be instilled in children as they progress through sports.

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Lessons Learned

A person should give his best in whatever he does; no matter the results, he is obligated to do his best to achieve the set goals as indicated by the author in his flashback of the lessons learned from the father 'the lessons our parents taught us was that the results weren't as important as being able to say that you have done your best.' If, for instance, a child doesn't achieve that which he wanted but is sure that he gave his best in the whole process, then he should feel more encouraged to continue working towards the goal, rather than getting discouraged.

To succeed, someone needs to be all-around, but with much focus on the set goals. For example, in sports, the fact that a child is interested in hockey does not bar him from participating in other similar sporting activities, as noted by the author in the statement 'they didn't raise me to be a hockey player. My siblings and I were encouraged to participate in every sport offered by our school and in our community'. Participating in at least one type of game may help acquire different skills that can be applied in the main game of interest. In a nutshell, success in anything doesn't require narrow-mindedness, but a person should be determined to try anything it takes to succeed.

Fairness is essential for success, although not all circumstances will people be fair. In the games like hockey or athletics, an individual's success is pegged on his ability to adhere to the set rules up to the end. Failure to abide by the rules could lead to disqualifications. But even some of the rules could be applied irrationally as indicated by the author "Perhaps it was just flowers, but everyone likes to get flowers. It didn't seem fair, then not everything in sports or life is fair," about failure for Dan to be selected to Colorado Springs despite his qualifications. In life, these sentiments prepare a child for any eventuality that he may face in pursuing a career or talent.

Follow Directions

It is essential to follow directions, as is the case with players and referees on the playfield. In so your son wants to play in the NHL, the author attributes his daughter's success later in life, while in high school, to the training on following instructions that she received from him as she grew. "Over the three years that I coached girls' softball, they received instructions in the fundamentals, learned how to read signs from their third base coach, and got lessons in the rule of the game as well as life., quite a few of these girls became a good high school player and several went on to play college ball. Teaching a child on following instructions makes her grow into a responsible person."

Teamwork is very significant in the path to success. At all-times, a person must do away with everyone's mentality for himself if he is to succeed. Moreover, his success must not depend on another person's failure but instead should hold one another's hands in the journey to the top. The is depicted by the character Dan who is described as having a win-win attitude rather than a win-lose attitude, aimed at ensuring that everybody in the team succeeds. "Dan's attitude was to help anyone he could to make the team better. He went out of his way to make rookies or newcomers feel welcome and help them get settled. He seemed to have the attitude that if we win as a team, we all win."

It takes sacrifice to succeed in anything that a person does. One has to get out of the comfort zone and go the extra mile. A child should be made to understand that a mediocre is never an achiever. To explain this fact, Jay Bylsma refers to the character John whom he describes as zealous and enthusiastic about winning. However, sacrifice first begins in mind; the trick is to set up the mind to allow the body to do things beyond what other people may consider satisfactory. "It's working harder in practice that you have to, it's riding the bike longer than required. It's being able to call up reserves in a critical situation. It's willing to sacrifice yourself the team …being willing to put his body in front of slap shots."

Consistency

Consistency is paramount, and just because a person won last does not mean that he would win in the subsequent games or practices. Therefore at no point should a person become complacent due to past victories or any other reasons. To keep enjoying the achievements. It is essential always to practice even when someone thinks he has done enough, as indicated by Laird's comment on Dan "Also, Dan came to play every game and worked hard every shift. One guy like that in a team forces other players to step up their games by his examples. From the statements, consistency is such an admirable trait that if possessed by just one member of a team then, others would also be inspired."

One success should form a staircase to the other, even more significant. In this regard, a person should face any challenge encountered in the journey to success. Even when the targets are achieved, one should sit down, evaluate what was done to help succeed, assess the current situation, and work even harder than before to achieve higher than people can expect. In other words, there should be no limitation to success. Whenever there is an opportunity to do something that would help realize the goals, one must never hesitate to do so as the coach advised Dan, "I want to challenge you to take the next step, the step beyond just making it. I want you to evaluate what you saw, evaluate where you are now, and work harder."

Conclusion

In conclusion, as much as sports are always deemed only recreational, it can instill good morals in children and teach how to succeed in life. For instance, sports can teach values and traits such as hard work, consistency in doing work, the ability to follow instructions, and adhere to rules and regulations. In the book, so your son wants to play in the NHL, Dan and Jay Bylsma make the readers also appreciate the significance of sports in inculcating good morals such as determination, teamwork, resilience, and obedience.

Reference

Bylsma D. & Bylsma M. J. (1998). So Your Son Wants to Play in the NHL.