For those of us who have been brought up kicking or hitting a ball from a very young age, the
question appears ridiculous – why do we play sport? It is easy! We love it! However, there are many
people who have not played it or like it all or consider themselves good at it and the question to
them is very real – why exactly should we play sport? The answer is obvious; we play to win, but not

in the way many think! It is not a win-win situation for all concerned – actually it is a win-win-win-
win-win-win-win situation! There are at least seven things we can win by playing sport.

Sport brings people together from all walks of life – as a result we win many friendships. In our
schools, sport has lost this a little over the years and we need to regain it. Within school we will play
sport with other pupils with whom we do not mix in class; outside of school we can play fixtures
against other schools and mix with the opposition. The same is true for tours – an ideal opportunity
to meet up with youngsters from other countries. Sport levels the playing field (excuse the pun!) for
people from all different walks of life. Sport is not so serious that we cannot have our players
fraternising with the opposition before or after the game; they must mix with the opposition.

Sport provides enormous pleasure – in that way we win joy. Life, all of life, is to be lived, loved,
learnt, enjoyed and sport can bring great pleasure and satisfaction, even if we do not win the match.
The joy may not come easily, but it can be won. We are not made up of minds alone but have bodies
– our development is to be mental and physical, and sport helps us to develop both. Not only that,
we teach sport so that our youngsters can continue to enjoy the benefits of sport throughout life –
whether it is in a club’s fourth team or an elite team. We play for fun and forever.
Sport leads to greater fitness – in that way we can win health. This is a touchy subject with today’s
society which wants things on a plate (preferably food!) but it is a fundamental truth which we do ill
(literally) to ignore. That does not simply mean physical health either. Physical health leads to
mental fitness – the fitter we are physically the stronger we are mentally.

Sport teaches important lessons – we can win life experiences. This is a truism we must understand
very clearly. Sport teaches us massive life lessons that no amount of academic work can teach us. In
other words, if we miss out on sport we are depriving our child of crucial lessons. By playing sport
we understand the importance of teamwork in work, in family and in society; we can learn valuable
lessons about tactics, the importance of doing things differently in different situations; we can learn
invaluable lessons about timing, training, trials, tempo, determination and awareness of space.

Sport develops character through values – in that way we can win respect. The saddest thing about
modern sport is that we have become so consumed by money and that illusory thing called ‘success’
(whatever that is) that we think sport is just about skills yet we have forgotten how important values
are in sport as much as in life. Where are integrity, sportsmanship and humility in modern sport?
Players cheat, abuse and protest in their desperate pursuit of winning and yet they win nothing
other than a piece of silver and money (if that), while at the same time losing respect.

Sport offers career opportunities in a worldwide industry – in that way we can win employment.
There is no denying that sport is now a major international career opportunity, not just for the few
elite who make it to the top but for all-comers. We can provide youngsters with the training for that.
Sport produces vital healthy competition – in that way we can win progress. Sport is, by very nature,
competitive and we live in a competitive world. What better way to prepare our youngsters for this
competitive world than by providing them with testing competition?

We might feel sport is inconvenient, pitching up on Saturday mornings at unearthly hours, keeping
our child at school in the afternoons. We might feel sport is too demanding. However, sport is
educational, essential and, whisper it softly, even enjoyable. There used to be a popular car sticker
that said: a dog is for life, not just for Christmas. In a similar way sport is for life, not just for school. It
has to start at school – if it has not started before. That way the child is the absolute winner.