All throughout elementary school, kids take P.E. classes and play outside for recess. In middle school, kids are often required to take P.E., but no longer go outside to play. For high school students, P.E. classes are usually optional; provided each student meets the required 1 semester of Physical Education. While lots of teens are happy to run the mile and climb the rope and call it a day, there are lots of kids who’d like to stay active with a team sport. Long Island Schools offer many options for the kids who want to play.
Students attending Long Island Schools have many choices in which athletics they participate in. Choices vary throughout the area, based on which district the student is enrolled in. In the fall, for example, students who attend Long Island Schools East Rockaway can play football, girls and boys’ soccer, boys’ golf, girls’ volleyball, cheerleading, and girls and boys cross country running.
It is obvious that Long Island Schools students have lots of options to choose from. If they are so inclined, they can even do more than one sport in a school year. But what are the benefits for Long Island Schools kids who get involved in extra-curricular sports? Well, they are numerous and all are equally beneficial.
Fist of all, playing a team sport helps Long Island Schools kids in their physical development. They learn how to use their bodies as a tool to do their best in their chosen area of athletics. Playing sports at one of the Long Island Schools helps students develop better motor skills – how well the body moves and reacts to direct stimuli.
The benefits to the body aren’t all that Long Island Schools kids can get from playing a sport. All sports require the players to be able to think on their feet; they need to decide, in the blink of an eye, the best way to block a running back with the ball, or how to quickly get themselves between the basketball and the net.
In addition, studies have found that kids, including those ones attending one of the secondary Long Island Schools learn how to interact with others; how to contribute to the team, which will help them when working in cooperative groups in the classroom, as well as when they have to work with others out in the world of work.
A final benefit that Long Island Schools students get from playing a sport is that they are less likely to be “couch potatoes”. They have fun being active, and see the benefit of being fit. They are also more able to deal with and are less likely to get involved in more destructive activities such as drug use or other crimes than other Long Island Schools students.
In conclusion, Long Island Schools that are offering their students opportunities to participate in extra-curricular athletics are giving them much more than an education on how to play the game; and that’s even more valuable in the long run.
Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. For more information please visit Rating Long Island Schools
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