Millions of kids play football every year. While they’re having fun playing this sport, they are also learning valuable life lessons. Here are five of the most valuable lessons your players will learn while playing football:
1. Teamwork
When your players are competing in a rectangle of grass over 6,000 square yards in size against 11 opponents at a time, they simply can’t do it all. If teammates don’t trust each other, receivers run incorrect routes and quarterbacks throw interceptions, defenses would fail chaotically and running backs would run to the wrong side of the pulling lineman. When your team is awful, nobody cares about how skilled and talented you are individually. This knowledge reinforces the value of working with others to achieve a goal.
2. Discipline
Your athletes simply cannot become great players just by showing up. Even the most physically gifted players must develop their skills, get stronger and learn the playbook. These elements of the game require discipline on a daily basis; this discipline will last a lifetime.
3. Goal setting and planning for success
Athletes and good coaching staff are renowned for their ability to set goals. In football, you set a myriad of athletic goals (higher bench, faster 40 time, etc) and performance goals (100+ yards rushing, 2+ sacks, etc). The only way to achieve these goals is to prepare and implement an action plan, much like they should do to achieve success in everyday life.
4. Perseverance
From day one of two-a-days, players are pushed as hard as possible. This, combined with the difficulties faced throughout the season, will make your players feel like quitting sometimes. Instead, though, you push through the difficulties to achieve many of your goals, thereby learning the value of perseverance, even when things are tough.
5. Adjusting to disasters
Bad things happen. This is a commonality that can derail your ability to function if you aren’t prepared. Football is a collision sport where anything can happen, including the sudden loss of a key player for the season. This is one of the most frustrating things that can happen to an athlete, but it prepares you to expect, accept, and adjust to sudden negative events in your life.
There is no denying the value of the life lessons football teaches
In addition to being an exciting sports that drives fans wild, football is one of the best tools for teaching kids invaluable life lessons; the five listed above are just a few of them.