This week Sporting News ranked Dallas-Fort Worth the best sports city! This is the first time North Texas has topped the magazine’s ranking. Go North Texas!
Okay, it did take an NBA championship win from the Dallas Mavericks, an American League win from the Texas Rangers , the undefeated Rose Bowl champions from Texas Christian University and being the site of Super Bowl XLV for this to happen.
But with the Rangers playing in the championship series, the Longhorns and Sooners squaring off as well as the Mom Corps Dallas team taking our children to several sporting events this weekend, we are reminded of one of the many reasons why we love this great city, that having professional sports team are good for our local economy, how participating in sports shaped us as adults hence the enormous benefits children gain from participation in sports.
The health benefits and active lifestyles that sports promote are obvious as well as having fun and meeting new friends.
We encourage our children to participate in sports for other reasons too. It teaches them several things and the benefits are many:
- Perseverance – In the heat of competition, face defeat and failure.
- Positive attitude – One optimistic person can set the tone for the whole team.
- Self-esteem – Sports brings out unique characteristics. Maybe your son can’t jump high enough to touch the net — but he might be a good shooter from the outside. Your daughter will never be the star of the team — but perhaps her teammates all look to her for encouragement.
- Strategic thinking – Be one step ahead of the offense or defense, have the desire and guts to outwit your opponent.
- Teamwork – “You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.” Babe Ruth
Cheering your children on and affirming them, what a joy! Go Rangers, Longhorns, Thunder, Cubs, Warriors … Here’s to a great weekend!