Compared to individual sports, team sports – like rugby, netball, soccer, volleyball, touch and many others – offer unique benefits in terms of personal and social development. In this article we look at the advantages of engaging in team sports at a young age and our top 10 benefits for personal growth.
Team Sports vs Individual Sports: What are the Benefits of Team Sports?
Both team sports and individual sports offer valuable benefits in terms of physical fitness, skill development, mental well-being, and personal growth. Choosing between them will depend on personality, preferences, goals, and sometimes as simple as scheduling/flexibility of time to commit.
Most children will likely do a combination of both, as parents seek a balance between sports as a source of social interaction and individual focus, as well as hoping to build good habits around sport early (reaping the benefits throughout!).
As this article is about team sports, we’re going to focus on the key characteristics that make them so popular. So, what are the benefits of playing team sports? How do they benefit people of all ages, but especially youths? Let’s explore!
Top 10 Benefits of Team Sports
Team sports emphasise cooperation, communication, and coordination among team members to achieve success. Other key characteristics include:
- Team formation often with designated roles and positions (e.g. different positions in netball)
- Rules that govern gameplay, substitution and player roles
- Mutually-agreed “fair play”
- Coordinated efforts and teamwork (one person cannot win you the game!)
- Combined skills (e.g. a ball can only stay “live” in Touch if everyone can catch and pass well)
- Strategy, shared goals and objectives
Examples of team sports include football (soccer), basketball, rugby, volleyball, hockey, cricket, baseball, netball, and many others.
1. Enhanced communication skills
Team sports holistically improve a player’s verbal and non-verbal communication skills. Giving clear and accurate verbal directions to others during a drill or game is an obvious example, but players also learn to interpret non-verbal cues from teammates, opponents, and coaches during dynamic situations.
In team sports, you meet people of different ages and backgrounds. Perhaps your teammate or the referee is communicating in their second language, or maybe there is a significant age gap between the coach and the player. Through team sport, you’re improving communication skills with diverse audiences and learning new skills.
Beyond the court or pitch, team sports require pre-game meetings, half-time discussions, and game debriefs. These are further opportunities for players to practice active listening, ask questions, share insights, and collaborate on strategies and foster effective team communication.
2. Building teamwork and collaboration
Of course, team sports require teamwork. On a team, players need to build trust, respect and camaraderie – find common ground and work together towards a common goal. The success of the team relies on coordinated contributions from all team members and positive collaboration with one another.
Like at school and work, success in team sports is a team effort – combining diverse backgrounds, skills, and perspectives, a team can work together to solve problems and make decisions.
3. Developing leadership skills
Within a team, you’ll appoint a team captain – but leadership skills are developed amongst all players, captain or not. During gameplay, individuals will be presented with tactical challenges and a series of decisions to make – through this, players develop the ability to assess situations, make decisions independently and collaboratively, and adjust strategies based on real-time feedback.
Another key leadership skill fostered by team sports is the ability to motivate others and deal with success and failure.
4. Improving physical health
Physical health is a tangible benefit of playing team sports. Movement, strength, endurance, flexibility, agility, coordination and fitness are all obvious rewards of physical activity on the body. Moreover, regular exercise improves sleep, which is important for growth, repair, and mental acuity. We cover these benefits of team sports for youth more fully in our article, “The Importance of Sports for Kids: Building Healthy Habits Early”.
5. Boosting mental health
There are cognitive and emotional elements to mental health which, you guessed it, are some of the benefits of team sports.
Decision making, communicating, hand-eye coordination, information processing, strategy, problem-solving and even the processing of emotions – these all require brainpower! Engaging in regular mental challenges associated with team sports can also reduce the risk of cognitive decline later in life.
Playing sports releases endorphins, which are natural mood lifters and stress reducers. Regular participation can have long-term impacts on mood and stress that go far beyond the sports field.
6. Learning to deal with success and failure
Successes achieved in team sports can boost self-confidence, self-esteem, self-worth, improvement and competence. In sports, victories are celebrated as team achievements, reinforcing the idea of collective success.
On the flip side, losses serve as learning opportunities, encouraging players to analyze their performance together and identify areas for improvement. Learning to control emotions such as frustration, anger, and disappointment in a supportive environment can translate to better emotional regulation in other areas of life.
7. Time management and discipline
Team sports demand commitment to regular practice sessions, games and team obligations. If you don’t show up, you let your team down. Balancing these commitments with other responsibilities and priorities is a key skill that serves players well in later life.
Similarly, you have to be disciplined – in fact, “discipline” is one of the five key pillars of rugby. Following rules, respecting the referee, following instructions and maintaining physical fitness – all with the team’s best interests in mind – are great benefits for an individual in later life.
8. Social benefits and networking
Being part of a team fosters a sense of belonging and camaraderie, which can combat loneliness and isolation. Interacting with teammates provides opportunities for socialising and team-bonding activities, building friendships, and developing support networks. In team sports, you meet people of different ages and backgrounds. That’s why if you’re moving to a new country or neighbourhood, we always recommend joining a sports team!
9. Developing a sense of belonging and community
Team sports offer participants a sense of purpose, identity and belonging. Participating in team sports often involves engaging with a larger community beyond just the team itself, such as other players, supporters, coaches, and volunteers. The broader, connected community can provide its members with additional sources of social support and connection.
10. Learning respect and sportsmanship
Constructive feedback is essential in team sports for individual and team improvement. Players learn to give and receive feedback respectfully, offer support to teammates, and address issues or challenges openly.
Beyond this, players develop their ability to filter how, what and when they communicate. Staying calm, being resilient under pressure, not overloading another player with feedback in high-pressure situations – these are just some of the respect and sportsmanship benefits of team sports, especially for youth.
Summary: Team Sports Have So Many Benefits!
We could talk for days about the benefits of team sports for personal development. From the social to the physical, we see huge value in playing sports with others and becoming a part of a community with a common goal. Consider participating in team sports for your own holistic growth – you’ll be surprised how much you love it!