734-266-1815
10am To 5pm Weekdays
Closed Saturday and Sunday
32635 Ford Rd Garden City, MI 48135
10am To 5pm Weekdays
Closed Saturday and Sunday
32635 Ford Rd Garden City, MI 48135
Baseball is “America’s pastime” for a reason. Actually, for several reasons. Here are just a few points that may convince you to get your kids involved in youth baseball this 2014.
Getting your children involved in any sport does wonders for their health. Baseball is no exception. Pitching develops the arms, while running strengthens the legs. This develops hand-eye coordination and aerobic strength. Such high-velocity activity is also great for cardiovascular health, as opposed to low-velocity exercises such as lifting weights. Jordan Metzl, director of the Sports Medicine Institute for Young Athletes, also wrote that getting children involved in sports lets them develop and maintain fitness in a fun manner, making them more likely to stay fit throughout their lives. It also relieves their stress from schoolwork and other concerns, and releases muscle tension.
Baseball is significantly less based on physical contact than sports like football and hockey, which means less chances of serious injuries. It is called a “democratic game.” This is because aside from being a thoroughly American tradition passed down from father to son, baseball can be played well by children of average height and weight.
Metzl’s book also points out that children involved in sports are much less likely to develop drug and alcohol abuse, especially as they will have developed an understanding and respect for their bodies and physical abilities. They are also taught many lessons they will use throughout their lives. This includes handling both winning and losing with grace. They learn the difference between healthy and unhealthy competition.
Team sports like baseball also teach them the value of working together to achieve things not possible on their own. More than other sports, baseball does not rely on one or two “star players,” but makes full use of the entire team in order to succeed.
Baseball develops children’s mental states. They are able to better plan and execute strategy. While pitching and batting can be the focus of physical activity, those on the field are taught patience and adaptability. Most beginners fail to catch the ball because they were not ready for it to come their way, but baseball training teaches kids to be prepared, have the right attitude, and actually want the ball on every play.
This is because baseball training is often more intensive than the actual games. The latter can tend to be a game of waiting with short bursts of intense activity. This ingrains in children the practice of doing more than necessary to be prepared for anything. It gives them self-confidence and puts value on persistence, commitment, and focus. All of these are skills they will use in other aspects of their lives.
As Sue Castle of PBS Sports famously pointed out, youth sports “has the power to combat everything from racism to low self-image, to the high school drop-out rate.”
The physical fitness and the life lessons that benefit kids who play baseball should also be reinforced with an effective reward system. They will be more willing to give their best efforts when they are properly recognized and rewarded. Seeing your kids beaming with pride when they take home their first trophy is a memory that you get to keep for a lifetime. We are honored to be a part of that.
Great Lakes Trophies & Engraving is a Michigan trophy store that has been producing top quality baseball trophies and awards since 1991. We use only the best quality materials on our products. We take pride in our workmanship and believe that we should put at least as much effort into the awards as the awardees put into their sports. You can also customize your own trophy or award online by visiting our website.
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