Sports have, since time immemorial, been a fundamental activity not only to an individual but also to the society in general. Extensive research has constantly revealed that engaging in sporting activities is of colossal importance essentially for physical, emotional and psychological development, among different classes of people such as adolescents. In this regard, it is vital to delve intricately into the effects sports has, especially on adolescents and teenagers.
Sports and physical activity is one of the most popular hobbies and recreational activities that many adolescents indulge themselves in not only in the United States, but also other many parts of the globe. Adolescents engage in playing sports for various reasons. Many find it as an effective way of bonding with friends and expanding their social circle, while others just enjoy exercising. Regardless of the reason for participating in sports, in-depth studies have revealed that physical activity is very advantageous to adolescents, and it comes with a fair share of benefits that outweigh the drawbacks.
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First and foremost, sporting activities help adolescents increase their physical fitness, especially during this critical stage in the life cycle. Adolescence is typically the transitional period of physical as well as psychological development between childhood and adulthood, and during this stage, the bodily hormones are usually very active in fostering growth and maturation. Thus, taking part in sporting activities appropriately during adolescence improves physicality and promotes better hormonal growth. In turn, it can help adolescents in losing excessive fats and weight in their bodies and remain fit, thus averting various adverse conditions such as obesity (Lee, Nam, & Joo, 2016) . Additionally, participating in sports enables teenagers to feel more energized and rejuvenated, and this energy results in improved school performance as well as overall attitude.
Sports may have both positive and negative effects on various bodily psychological processes such as bone health, reproductive axis and even growth to adolescents. Nonetheless, research reveals that adequate physical activities exert neither negative nor positive effects on growth during puberty. On the contrary, intense sporting activity and insufficient dietary habits lead to negative impacts on growth, arguably because of energy deficiency as well as impaired growth hormones. Therefore, teenagers who take part in sports need to ensure that their diet meets the nutritional requirements for the energy levels to be sustained. Additionally, regular participation in sports coupled with the right nutrition increases the quantity of bone mass that is gained during puberty, which is very beneficial during this stage (Bertelloni, Ruggeri, & Baroncelli, 2006) .
Sporting activities also help teenagers manage stress levels better, thus reducing depression by significant proportions. During puberty, adolescents have relatively high-stress levels and unpredictable moods. When teenagers get physically active, their minds get interrupted and distracted especially from daily stressors (Booker & Skew, 2015) . Moderate or regular exercise reduces stress hormone levels in the body and significantly catalyzes the production of endorphins which are the bodily natural mood lifters. Endorphins thus help in lowering stress levels, and this puts depression, anxiety, mood swings and other related issues at bay. Production of more endorphins also leaves the teenagers feeling not only relaxed but also more optimistic especially after workouts. Moreover, concrete research has hitherto confirmed that teenagers who participate in sports moderately or regularly have lower depression rates, as compared to those with low involvement in sports (Sanders, Field, Diego, & Kaplan, 2000) .
Studies in adolescent sports have also affirmed that there is a great relationship between teenage participation in physical activities and their guardian or peer attachment. As such, adolescent athletes have greater relationships and attachments with their parents or guardians, as opposed to those with minimal involvement in sports. Therefore, sports can be characterized as a factor that determines the quality of adolescent-parent relationships. Nonetheless, teenage participation in competitive games does not necessarily have any impacts on their peer relationships. This insinuates that a close attachment with other athletes does not guarantee greater peer relationship (Saulius, Ausra, & Ilona, 2015) .
Sports also help in instilling various indispensable life skills to teenagers, which they can positively employ in their future lives. One such life skill that they can acquire is socialization skills since they can use sports as an effective means of expounding their social circle. In fact, this is regarded as one of the most common reasons why teenagers take part in games since at this stage, there is the general need to feel associated with something as well as receive social acclaim. Team sports, therefore, create perfect opportunities for teenagers to build healthy friendships which can even last for lifetimes. Sporting activities thereby expose teenagers to different personalities and kinds of people, making teens make friends that they could not have made before. These friendships are very salient, as they can even go past the puberty stage and bear positive effects in the future.
Teamwork is yet another cardinal benefit that teenagers can gain by participating actively in sporting activities. Learning to work cohesively with others is an integral characteristic that everybody needs to be instilled with, since it is a skill that will be applied even in future phases of life, going forward. This skill, in essence, needs to be instilled during the early stages of life such as adolescence. Teenagers who participate in physical activities have a unique opportunity of equipping themselves with the quality of teamwork. Alongside gaining teamwork quality, sports can also help teenagers feel that they are part of a team, and this tremendously boosts self-esteem as well as creates a great sense of confidence and belonging. Furthermore, working in an environment that promotes teamwork can also help in building leadership skills, which are essential especially in future.
Another pivotal life skill that teenagers can learn through participation in sports is goal setting. Sports are all about winning, and success is regarded very highly. Nonetheless, winning requires intensive training and participants are expected to put in a lot of work to win games. On this note, working indefatigably to win games or even secure a position in the starting line-up is a worthwhile experience that provides pivotal practice even for later life stages. Even when specific goals are not met as anticipated, learning modalities of dealing with losses, disappointments, and embarrassments that are almost inevitable in the sporting journey helps adolescents deal with adversities effectively especially in real-life scenarios.
While sports in adolescents are linked with numerous advantages as depicted, they also come with various adverse effects. Firstly, some teenagers get emotionally hurt when they get excluded from their team or do not secure themselves a position in the first team. This eventually lowers their self-esteem, and they feel like they are not as good as they should. Some people are simply not as active or athletic as others may be, and this kind of environment can result in adverse conditions such as exclusion as well as bullying. In such circumstances, it is very probable to lose friends in the team and develops a sense of demeaning oneself and losing self-respect.
Another disadvantage of adolescent sports is that some teenagers usually get too attached to it, thus sparing no time for other equally requisite activities such as school, family time, and many others. Balancing priorities is a key factor when engaging in sports, and many teenagers find themselves reducing their study time or family moments due to exercising and training. This makes them lag behind in school, register dismal academic results, cause unnecessary family issues, and other problems that primarily cannot be outweighed by the merits gained by participating in sports.
Participating in competitive sports also can cause certain injuries that can significantly affect the lives of the teenagers, even on a long-term basis. Sports and games such as rugby, football, hockey and others that somewhat involve aggressive interactions and contact can cause injuries that adversely affect the teens’ future livelihoods. Examples of injuries that may be acquired in some of these games include fractured body parts such as arms and legs, head injuries, and even concussions. These conditions can cause disruptions in the normal procession of the teen’s life, for example by interrupting their education, emotional and financial burden to parents.
Moreover, various studies have inferred that participation in high-contact games among teenagers can significantly increase their probability to initiate substance use and abuse at very early ages. Taking part in high-contact sports increases the chances of adolescents indulging in abuse of alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana as compared to participation in low-contact sports. Therefore, parents, policymakers, and educators should critically consider that certain sporting contexts can be catalysts for teenagers to involve in risky behavior such as substance use (Veliz, Boyd, & McCabe, 2015) .
Overall, although participation in sports among adolescents may be riddled with some drawbacks, the general inference is that sporting should be utterly upheld since its advantages overshadow the disadvantages. Participating in regular moderate exercises, workouts and sports are cardinal to the well-being of an adolescent, since it improves their psychological, emotional and physical development. It also reduces instances of depression and increases levels of happiness among adolescents.
References
Bertelloni, S., Ruggeri, S., & Baroncelli, G. (2006). Effects of sports training in adolescence on growth, puberty and bone health. Gynecological Endocrinology .
Booker, C., & Skew, A. (2015). Media use, sports participation, and well-being in adolescence: cross-sectional finding from the UK household longitudinal study. American Journal of Public Health , 105.
Lee, S., Nam, J., & Joo, L. (2016). The relationship between sports, physical activity and health. HealthBMC , 1-4.
Sanders, C., Field, T., Diego, M., & Kaplan, M. (2000). Moderate involvement in sports is related to lower depression levels among adolescents. Adolescence , 35.
Saulius, S., Ausra, L., & Ilona, T. (2015). Adolescents' Participation in Sports Activities and Attachment to Parents and Peers. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal , 43.
Veliz, P., Boyd, C., & McCabe, E. (2015). Competitive sports involvement and substance use among adolescents: A nationwide study. Substance Use & Misuse , 50.
