This paper aims at discussing on the impacts of extra curriculum sports clubs on children’s performance in academic work. In my report, an analysis of the contributing factors has been illustrated by theories and numerous evidence in support of engaging children in extra curriculum sports clubs’. The focus is on to what extent extra-curricular sports clubs raises the achievement of children. Apart from enabling academic achievement, children are granted an opportunity for improving their skills and practice. Best performance schools indulge students in extracurricular sports clubs activities.
The participation of children in extracurricular sports clubs has resulted in the participation of the less engaged. Through these interactions in the field, children can exchange ideas. This results in improvement of academic work on the less engaged children (Chan, 2016, p. 224). Teachers responsible for managing these sports clubs’ activities should pair the children; bright and less bright students. Engaging children in sports clubs’ activities raises their standards of sporting skills (Fredricks and Simpkins, 2013, p. 7). Well-developed children are all rounded, for example, they are active in both classwork and fieldwork. Confidence in classwork can be portrayed in numerous ways. For example, participation in classroom work. Children who often participate in class perform better in academic work as compared to the ‘dull’ students.
Through sports, children develop psychological resilience which helps them in managing other setbacks in everyday life (Salamon, Swendsen and Husky, 2014, p. 268). Participants engage in positive relationships with their peers. In losing in the sports activities, children learn how to regulate their behavior. There is a need for children to participate in sports clubs’ activities as it’s a way of improving their perceptions of self-worth (Salamon, Swendsen and Husky, 2014, p. 271). Children should be urged to participate in extracurricular sports clubs’ activities as it protects them against social isolation which may negatively affect their performance in academic work.
Participants record high levels of success in classwork as compared to nonparticipants. In participating in extra curriculum sports clubs’ children develop aspirations of indulging in activities that contribute to academic achievement (Salamon, Swendsen and Husky, 2014, p. 268). It is important to use different resources in performing the sports clubs’ activities. Therefore, extracurricular sports clubs expose participants to use new resources. This exposure provides children with stability. Therefore, schools should focus on investing in resources used during extracurricular activities to make participating children achieve and maximize their full potential (Holloway and Pimlott-Wilson, 2014, p. 620).
Sports clubs enable children to become more collaborative during these activities shaping their thinking abilities (Darst, Pangrazi, Brusseau and Erwin, 2014, p. 18). Thinking abilities acquired translates to better academic performance. Language speaking and thinking abilities should be given priority in a child’s development to obtain academic achievements. Extracurricular activities indulge children in lots of speaking thus improving their language abilities.
Activities like basketball and soccer result to a child’s development. Most people participate in sports activities mainly to get fun. Sports as extra curriculum activities can be used by teachers to impact their students positively. Sports help increase an individual’s self-confidence. Self-confidence is essential in the learning process as students will tend to participate actively and engage in the classwork activities. Students with self-confidence ask questions in class. Asking and answering questions in class helps in advancing academic skill (Fredricks and Simpkins, 2013, p. 8). Therefore, students should not only consider classwork as important and disregard sports. According to health practitioners, sports is essential for children as it enables them to grow up healthy and active.
Participating in sports enables children to nurture and develop qualities such as character, competence and caring. These qualities are essential in a child’s development. Children who possess these qualities record better performance in their academic work. Extracurricular sports clubs make children to develop a positive attitude towards teamwork (Darst et.al, 2014, p. 21). Engaging with each other makes the children appreciate each other. Teamwork enables the exchange of ideas thus impacting on the participant’s academic performance. Teachers should encourage students to participate in extracurricular activities to gain from each other; peers and adults. Extracurricular sports clubs grant children an opportunity to pursue interests that are outside the standardized academic context. This translates to exposing children to a more diverse range of interest.
According to psychologists, performing a series of sports activities boosts the brain function (Brooks et.al, 2015, p. 680). Therefore, children who are exposed to sports can improve their concentration and memory in classwork. Teachers should be encouraged to let their children spend some time outside. For example, they can get involved in walking races for fifteen minutes during their physical education classes.
According to health practitioners, sports help to maintain patience and resilience (Holloway and Pimlott-Wilson, 2014, p. 623).This has a social impact especially in the face of intense difficulty. Children should be urged to participate in high-endurance sports. These kinds of sports are good for their daily growth and development. For example, high-endurance sports train children to maintain patience when undergoing a ‘tough’ time. Exposing children to extracurricular activities at a tender age impacts their growth and development positively as they gather lots of experience through the engagements.
In conclusion, the benefits of engaging in extra curriculum sports clubs’ activities enable students to develop their skills which result to further developments apart from academic achievements. The skills learned can be used to improve the academic performance. For instance, self-confidence gained by participating children enable them to participate actively in class through asking and answering questions. The skills obtained from extracurricular activities are essential in enhancing the student’s overall educational performance (Darst et.al, 2014, p. 21). This is because of the interest gained in quest of developing new skills in different areas of interest. The friendship gathered by students in sports and clubs’ activities end up impacting a positive change. Children who get involved in sports clubs’ activities develop better time management skills. This is because of the need to balance both classwork and sports activities. However, teachers should take the lead in helping children balance their school activities, that is, both academic and extracurricular activities. Extracurricular activities enable children to develop social skills. These skills are important as it makes children not to indulge themselves in antisocial activities. Not only are the repercussions of the extracurricular activities shown on students’ behavior but also through their academic work through improvements in academic work.
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