We've often heard the tale of parents preventing their children from playing sports as they are nothing more than a "distraction" that offer no real life lessons.
Well those parents are wrong, according to a study from The Ohio State University.
Researchers found that adults who played sports as a kid had higher levels of "grit" than their peers who did not. The study defined grit as "as the combination of passion and perseverance that helps people achieve their long-term goals."
The study's lead author Emily Nothnagle, a recent Ohio State graduate, said per Study Finds, "Kids who participate in sports learn what it is like to struggle as they learn new skills, overcome challenges and bounce back from failure to try again. The grit they develop playing sports can help them the rest of their lives."
Researchers found that 34% of the 3,993 surveyed who played sports as a child scored high on the grit scale, compared to 23% of those who didn't play.
Only 17%of those who did play sports had a low grit score, and 25% of people who never played sports when they were younger displayed low levels of grit.
Study co-author Chris Knoester, an associate professor of sociology at Ohio State, explained, "Adults who played youth sports but dropped out did not show higher levels of grit. They actually demonstrated lower levels of grit after we included a proxy measure of how sports mattered for the development of grit while growing up."
Knoester also noted there was also a relation between adults who quit sports as a child and their work ethic as adults.
He says, "Quitting could reflect a lack of perseverance, which is a crucial component of grit. It could also make cutting an activity, and not persevering, easier the next time."
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