5 Reasons Your Student Should Try a Sport

by Greg Van Soelen, Athletic Director

The junior high and high school years are great times for students.  It is a time for learning, growing, maturing, and exploring. Many surveys and lists outline the benefits of students participating in a sport during these years. While these lists are not exhaustive, benefits can include healthy exercise, better study habits, learning teamwork, improved communication skills, etc.  We want our students at DMC to be active at this age and stage of life. Here are five simple reasons that students should try a sport at DMC.

Have Fun

• Remember, sports are just games and they are meant to be fun.
• Don’t fall prey to the idea that you should be more concerned with winning and playing time rather than fun and enjoyment. 
• It's a great time to experiment with what your student may like or dislike. Have them try multiple sports to see what they enjoy.
• Exercise can be fun; especially when you are doing it within a team atmosphere.
• We want our students to be healthy and being physically active helps keep both the mind and body in shape.

Be Part of a Team

• Some of the best moments are shared with teammates.
• Students get an opportunity to represent their family and their school in a team setting. 
• Memories revolve around being on a team and the friendships they make versus the wins and losses they might have incurred.
• Teamwork, cooperation, and striving to achieve the same goal are all benefits gained by being part of a team.

Learn Something New

• Every student comes in with a different sports experience. For some, this may be their first experience with a particular sport. For others, they may have played at a high level outside of the school setting. But for all, it is an opportunity to grow and to learn more about a sport and to learn more about themselves.
• Students will not only improve their skills in a respective sport, but will learn skills such as critical thinking, time management, improved communication, and studies have shown that student athletes have better study habits and grades.
• The courts and fields are extensions of the classrooms.

Compete as a Christian

• We have the great benefit of having our students play sports at a Christian school. Our desire is for the coaches to mentor our young people on what it means to compete as a Christian.
• We want our students to learn how to win, how to lose, and how to represent our team and school both on and off the court
• Everyone will make mistakes; we won’t win every game, but it is how we handle those adverse situations that set our school and teams apart.
• We are not perfect, but hopefully, we are learning each day to compete and to perform as Christian young men and women.

Use the Abilities God Has Given You and Discover New Talents

God has gifted each individual differently. For some, they may discover their gift for sport in junior high, for some it may happen in high school. It is important to know that these gifts and talents come from God. By putting those talents on display to the best of one's abilities, it pleases God