Allowing children to participate in outdoor extracurricular activities, such as tennis, helps them explore and develop skills which are considered beneficial throughout their lives. By participating in sports like tennis, children are exposed to various mental, social, emotional, physical and educational benefits
Sports, whether team-based or individual, are a great activity for children that provide a variety of benefits other than physical activity. Participation in sports can help build self-esteem and confidence, can motivate children to excel academically and can help build social skills. Physical activity is the most obvious benefit of sports participation. Children often spend too much time watching television or playing video games. But playing a sport provides an opportunity for exercise that can help keep kids in shape and healthy.
Sports participation can help children develop social skills that will benefit them throughout their lives. They learn to interact not only with other children their age, but also with older individuals in their coaches and sports officials. They also learn to trust their own abilities and push themselves.
Individual sports are becoming more popular among young children, especially tennis. Encouraging participation from a young age is important, because individual sports such as tennis have many unique benefits for kids that aren't as prominent in team sports. Apart from encouraging the development of fine and gross motor skills, agility, endurance, and hand-eye coordination, as almost all sports do, individual sports combine physical fitness with mental development. In a sport like tennis, a player is responsible for every move he makes.
His success is his own, but so is his disappointment, a combination that can quickly build confidence and self-esteem along with coping skills and resilience, and because players are often alone on the court, without teammates and sometimes even without a coach, they are forced to develop independent thinking. Kids learn how to problem-solve on their own. They have to think on their feet, be able to change strategies and tactics, and resolve their own conflicts.
In most of the things you do in life, there will be a winner and a loser. Through sports your child can learn sportsmanship. They can learn how to accept and cope with losses rather than feeling completely defeated. You cannot win them all, and through sports, your child can understand that sometimes it’s okay if you lose. The important part is to get back up and try again. There’s no harm in being competitive, but if you lose you should show good sportsmanship and accept defeat.
At the Redland Bay Tennis Club, we have a huge number of juniors in all levels of tennis, starting from as young as four years of age. From beginner group classes to performance squads for the tournament level player the Redland Bay Tennis Club and Bayside Tennis Coaching offer it all. For further information and enrolment enquiries, contact the Redland Bay Tennis Club on 3829 1383 or head coach Tim Low on 0408 722 620.
