Millions of people participate in team sports and, for kids, these activities are more than just a great way to get exercise and have some fun. They teach children a wealth of important life lessons. These lessons include the value of working as part of a group to accomplish a goal, the importance of effective communication and how to manage one’s time effectively.

In addition, team sports teach kids that their contributions to the success of the team are valued, whether they win or lose. This kind of positive feedback helps to bolster self esteem and develop the confidence required to tackle future challenges in life.

Playing team sport also teaches children how to be a leader and how to support their teammates. They learn to listen to others and respect adults like coaches and referees. They also know that disobeying a coach’s instruction or arguing with an opposing player could get them sent off the field, so they take their responsibility seriously.

A team sport provides a concrete mechanism for checking the inflated sense of status that many young men have. At the same time, it elevates a young man’s sense of his own worth, by helping him to understand that he is part of something larger and more meaningful than himself. This is a powerful lesson for boys to learn. It will help them to become more mature, responsible and capable men. And it will help them to resist the pressure to conform to society’s unnecessarily restrictive definition of what it means to be a man.