Informative Essay: Does Sports Build Good Character

There have been many discussions as to whether or not sports build good character. Some experts say that they build good characterstics, others say they are neither good nor bad, and finally, some people say that those beliefs that good things come from competitive sports, have been corrupted due to the high pay of today's athletes, and that the rewards given for perseverance in a sport, show more in pay than they do in character. I for one believe, that in the hands of the right people, sports can be a positive experience, that can teach the right individual many different values and responsiblilites.

Like any activity that brings people together with others, team sports especially help develop character. Because you are participating with other people from different ethnic groups and different religion, and you are learning how to work together with people that are different from you. Therefore, you are more inclined to think about working together, and less inclined to be selfish. You also gain respect for these types of people based on what values they could bring to the table, or just based on what character they have already. It provides one of the best oppurtunities for children to learn about different sets of rules and social values. It teaches you to get along with others and to be accepted as
part of the team I should say. It helps promote values such as fairness, tolerance, responsibility, and acceptance.

While I believe that sports is good for children, the values that come from these activities can sometimes differ when you become an adolescent, and even more so when you become an adult.
If you don't learn these values when you're younger, and do not have time to build on them, then you will become what everybody calls a "poor sport." Sometimes the child can let competition or performing towards expectations cloud the overall objective behind sports. So it also depends on the leading adult figure on the team and whether or not that responsibility, and the job of maintaining that healthy focus on learning, understanding, and enjoyment is in the right
hands.

Sports is good for the body, the mind, and the character. As we grow older the values that sports play are tested more frequently, as the competition gets more intense. I feel that the longer we play a sport, the more passionate we are about that sport. Therefore the higher the expecations are of ourselves, and that leads to the competetiveness. It honestly varies on the individual. So, while I feel that sports is good for us, the overall objective seems to get harder to see the older we get. For example, for children, sports is all about having fun depending on how the coach and the parents. To an adult or professional athlete, it's more about beating the other team (or person,) or getting paid. That still doesn't change my viewpoint that sports is a great thing to try, and even pursue.

So while sports sometimes does have it's drawbacks, the initial objective never changes. We all want good character, and the core values that you learn in life, can usaully be taught by the right coach, or by the right team. There's so many positives that can come out of sports that it's easy to outweigh the cons. But whether or not you outweigh them, they are still there. The best thing you can do is to get your child involved in a sport as quickly as possible, whether it be individual or team oriented, and watch as he grows character. So while the nature of sports is sometimes debatable, don't let that outweigh the objective, and finally the results.