How does sports influence a child? | Sunday Observer

How does sports influence a child?

31 January, 2021

Senior Lecturer for sports studies at the University of Colombo Dr. Samantha Nanayakkara was recently awarded the ‘Sports Golden Scientific Literary Award’ for publishing the ‘Best Sports Psychology Book of the Year 2020’ for her book on ‘Applied Sports Psychology’. She is the first Sri Lankan woman to obtain a doctoral degree in Sports Science.

Dr. Nanayakkara served as a leading sports psychologist for Sri Lanka’s Junior Netball Team, including the winners of the Asian Netball Championship in 2016. She has conducted psychology programs for the participants of the SAG, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and the Olympic Games from 1999. Dr. Nanayakkara is serving as the Vice President of the Sri Lanka Basketball Federation and the chairperson of the Women’s Basketball Development Committee. She renders her service to the Sri Lanka Rugby Union as their female Council member.

Dr. Nanayakkara, a dedicated sports educationist who was honoured with Presidential awards for her service in the sports field, spoke to theSunday Observer to share her knowledge on the influence of sports on the lifestyle of a child.

Revealing her opinion on the evolution of the bond in between the child and sports, Dr. Nanayakkara said, “Contemporary societies have been subjected to rapid urbanisation. People spend complex and busy city lifestyles. Their lives are rarely interacted with sports or any other physical activity. Children are distancing from sports and outdoor activities.

Child vs sports

The people who live in condominiums, apartments and flats do not have enough space for their children to play outdoors. Even though there are jogging tracks and public parks in urban areas, there is a lack of children’s parks. The child is destined to spend a complicated lifestyle off from childhood activities”.

Parents are the first teachers of a child who involve in his life largely. It is important for the parents to know the role they should play in developing cognitive skills of a child in an early stage. While explaining the ignorance of the parents on this matter, Dr. Samantha revealed the shady repercussion most children undergo.

“Any child is interested in playing imaginary games. When he is exposed or introduced to structured games, such as puzzles, the ability of imagination is interrupted. These kinds of fixed games could create a huge impact on a child’s creativity. The parents are mostly unaware when their child is exposed to technological devices at an early age. Video gaming is one such example that kills the cognitive development of the child while preventing him from outdoor sports.

Adding to the problem, some parents send their child to Sports Academies. As a result, the child’s physical activity is being limited only to a particular game. There are safety gears, such as helmets and knee guards in a play store. The child who is used to safety gear is intolerant of a trivial injury or accident at the playground. In contrast, when there was no safety gear, the child knew to manage the pain and the situation.

Over-protectiveness

Another reason why children are distancing from physical activity is that the parents unwanted protectiveness towards the child. Most parents are extra careful about the child, which makes him indirectly distant from outdoor sports. They are afraid to expose the child to the sunlight and the trivial injuries on the playground. It negatively impacts the child.

The parents urge the child to engage in organised sports, such as cricket, badminton, hockey and football before they reach the age of 11. It is unhealthy for the child as he avoids engaging in imaginary games built by his creativity. The need of playing games instead of sports during the childhood is important as it lays the foundation for the child to socialise. This may prevent him from interacting with nature.

Dr. Nanayakkara said,“The devices that increase recreation of the child lack in children’s parks. It is one of the reasons why we need to develop outdoor sports for children. Most children spend monotonous routines.

They lack the fundamental exposure to society that influences their social experience through communication with their peers, physical activity and emotional development. It has affected their cognitive behaviour, brain function, creativity, activeness, intelligence and emotional well-being.”

“The bookish education and lack of time to engage in sports at the school have disrupted the creation of skillful children. The child’s interaction with nature is a fundamental component that creates a strong bond with nature. During the first decade of a child’s life, he must experience and explore nature himself. Playing with leaves, sand and mud is essential for the child to understand nature deeply.”

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