I was the strength coach at my old high school Columbus Academy back in 2003.  That year we were lucky enough to win the state football championship.  It was the second state title in school history.

If you aren’t familiar with my school, it is a private school that prides itself on academics.  Having kids that are good athletes is kind of a bonus for the school.

There was a big pep rally that was planned for the celebration.  Word got around that some of the faculty did not appreciate the fact their classes would be canceled for this pep rally.  Heaven forbid we celebrate this accomplishment that these athletes achieved.

It kind of rubbed me the wrong way.  Yes, people might take sports just a wee bit too far anymore.  Fights after games with refs, holding their kids back a year so they can be physically “ready” to play football, hiring a speed coach to get their kids faster (oh wait, scratch that one).

There is a lot of good that comes out of playing sports.  I am all for a kid wanting to pursue art, or perform in the play, or pick up a musical instrument (even though it drives me batty listening to that kid try to improve with the play of said instrument).  It has benefits to a person’s development just like playing sports does.

Sports made me the man I am today.  If it weren’t for people’s passion about sports, I would not have a job.  A job that I truly love I might add.  If I were looking back on it, here is what playing sports developed in me:

  • Playing sports allowed me to have every Ivy League school contact me about running track at their school.  I did not take advantage of it at the time, but my brother did.  He played baseball at Harvard, a school where he would not have gotten into if it were up to his grades alone.  I know other athletes that did this as well and have really benefitted from that education.
  • With most sports, there is a certain amount of mental toughness that has to be developed in order to achieve a degree of success.  6 hour practices, two-a-days, or running until you puke could serve several purposes (like curling up in the fetal position).  But, if you survive those and have some success with your sport, it develops a mental toughness in you that helps you in life.  When times get tough how will you react?  If you don’t get that first job, second, third, or fourth job, will you continue to persevere or go crawling back to mommy and daddy to help you?
  • Sports also (somewhat obviously) helped develop my athleticism and is still used to this day.  One time, my daughter was a month old and I was changing her diaper.  Unfortunately her butt was facing me and when I opened the diaper and was trying to do a quick change, she had some projectile “stuff” shoot at me.  I had a nice Nike shirt on and like a puma I immediately jumped back avoiding the “stuff” hitting me.  Even though I avoided the “stuff”, it got all over the floor.  As I told my wife why I didn’t take one for the team to avoid it going on the floor, my instinct was to dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge.
  • I think I can handle stressful situations a lot better because of sports.  Because of all the stressful situations that happen in a game or what coaches put you through in practice, you can handle normal stuff a lot easier.  Running late to the airport, handling your kids vomit, etc.
  • You learn to develop discipline.  Coaches have to discipline athletes if they start acting up because it disrupts the team chemistry.  Especially nowadays when parents let their kids get away with murder, you have to instill discipline in these athletes in order to achieve any type of success.  Do you part to run that perfect play you have developed to score the point you need to win the game.
  • Working as a team.  All these items can basically be summed up with how I run my business.  Everybody plays a part, but we all have each other’s back.  We all have our job to do to make the business run smooth.  It is easy to do things by yourself, but sometimes to be successful you need the help of others to be really successful.  How do you delegate authority or develop discipline and mental toughness in this business to do what it needs to do great?

I probably could think of a bunch more, but these are the biggies.  Yes, some people go overboard with sports, but think of the many people who have had success and how sports has played such a big part in that success.  Could be your son or daughter 15 years from now.

Feel free to list below in the comments box what other ways sports has helped you develop as a person.  I’d love to read about it.

Photo courtesy of Erik Drost on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrost88/