Sports is not just for guys anymore; girls have discovered that playing sports may not lead to a professional career, however their quality of life is enhanced more by participating. Girls at my school who have good grades and a  decent variety of friends, also have a good self-esteem. Most of them are involved in a sport or some type of physical activity. Every girl should play a sport because it will help her achieve on a higher academic level, it will relieve pressure and stress, and  playing will maintain good health and weight.

Playing a sports helps people achieve on a higher academic level than normal. “Playing sports can improve the way you learn and your attention span which can give you a lead in the classroom.” (“Women’s Sports Foundation”) If you're playing sports you’re more likely to achieve in school because you practice focusing not only in school but in sports as well. For example, when you’re playing basketball you have to focus and be aware of who has the ball, you have to pay close attention to the court as well. The same thing applies when you're at school taking test. Before the test you are given the information; You have to focus and comprehend what is being taught then you must decide what your going to do with the information you now know. Makes since right? “A study by James Pivarnik and colleagues at the American College of Sports Medicine discovered that middle-school students who performed best on fitness tests -- gauging aerobic capacity, strength, endurance and body composition -- also performed better academically. The study, which included 317 students, showed that the fittest kids scored nearly 30 percent higher on standardized tests than the least-fit group. Moreover, the less-fit students received grades in their core subjects that were 13 percent to 20 percent lower than their fitter classmates” (“LIVESTRONG.COM - Lose Weight and Get Fit with Diet, Nutrition & Fitness Tools”) This study shows how physical activity interfered with academics. The more the children did physically, the better they were academically. Being active helped them succeed in another area of their lives. Also “50 studies looked at the outcome of physical activities on academic performances and found half of the studies demonstrated positive effects and none of them showed any negative results. Multiple even demonstrated that short periods of physical activity helped increase the length and power of concentration.”(“LIVESTRONG.COM - Lose Weight and Get Fit with Diet, Nutrition & Fitness Tools”) If non-active girls begin to excersice they will soon realize the benefit, of simply just having fun and sweating! Without even knowing that they are getting smarter while helping other parts of their body.

Maintaining a good weight and body image is important to most girls, playing sports will help you maintain good health and weight. “If you are staying in shape along with keeping a healthy weight, girls who play sports are less likely to use drugs (smoke). The good thing about that is in their future it is less likely for them to develop osteoporosis and breast cancer.”(“5 Reasons for Girls to Play Sports”)

“The 2009 Women Sports released a report titled ‘Her life depends on it’ The report included some life-altering reasons girls should participate in sports. One of the reasons concluded the less likeliness of getting osteoporosis. The report sites 1 study that followed prepubertal 10 year old girls for 20 months. It found that those who engaged in exercise programs 3 times a week for at least 12 minutes would increase their bone mass, girls who didn't do exercises regularly showed no improvement in bone mass.” (“Women’s Sports Foundation”) Mostly anytime you do an activity where exercise is involved you continue to work your body for more than 12 minutes. The greatest amount you go at a regular practice is at least 60 min. By then you have knocked out those 3 work out sessions in one day. Depending on what days your activities are on times that by a normal 5 days practice. That is even more exercise with and even greater benefit. The less you work out the more you have a chance of health concerns if you have a chance to eliminate it by simply as just running why wouldn't you doing it? If you get children going while they are young, the less you have to worry about them when they are older. That goes for boys as well. “Physically active women are probably not going to suffer from cardiovascular disease. Physical activity might reduce the probability of heart disease because women who participate in physical activity (sports) are not likely to be overweight, which is a leading aspect in cardiovascular disease.”(“10 Life-Altering Reasons Girls Should Play Sports”)

When you are active you are losing body fat most of the time. Girls especially like to eat lots of junk food especially during a menstrual cycle. If we don't take care of our bodies it could affect us in the long run. Even if you don't join a sport you need to find a way to be active.Hopefully while you're young you can get a grasp on your body before any health problem does. This will eliminate the chances of our family members as well as our selves in an ICU when we're older.

Exercise relieves pressure and stress. Which is a big impact on girls when it hits half of the time due to Menstrual cycles. Playing a sport can take away little to all of your stress. According to Women’s Foundation. “Playing sports can lessen stress and help you feel a little happier. Basically the brain chemicals released during exercise improves a person's mood. Friends are another mood lifter, and being on a team creates tight bonds between friends. When you make friends on your team you know that they will support you both on and off the field.” (“Women’s Sports Foundation”)When you exercise you sometimes can just feel yourself getting better, you just feel good about it. That's when all the problems go away. Also when you're on sports teams you make friends, which will automatically take stress off of you because you know you're not alone, to that they got you like the article says “On and off the field.” So sometimes that helps.“A number of studies mentioned in the report linked enhanced self-esteem to participation in sports or increased physical activity. In fact, “Improve self-esteem was listed as one of the main reasons the girls who participate in sports are less likely to engage in self destructive behavior such as smoking promiscuous sex or drug use.”(“10 Life-Altering Reasons Girls Should Play Sports”) In this case sports are definitely a great pressure reliever because it disconnects you from all the bad stuff you don't need to do, it will hopefully take your mind as well as time up so that you have no time to think or do any type of abuse or bad decision making because you have a goal to pursue. Healthcare professionals say physical activity is the main part to any stress management initiative. Building sweat unleashes mood-boosting hormones inside the brain called Endorphin's through your body while producing a cheerful, happy feeling. It’s nickname is called  “runner's high” Endorphin's, tension build up, diversion and healthy habits, when beat each of these healthy changes your body continues to attain brings overall good health and becomes more powerful (successful) at dealing with your stress levels. Stress is not a cool thing, it's good to know when you exercise your body can learn how to undergo it and it won't be so tough.

Involvement with team sports is not always negative because it has many positive benefits. One might say girls would get hurt if they played physical contact sports. However if they are willing to put themselves out on the line and chase after a passion, WHILE knowing the cost they should be allowed. You can get hurt in just about anything you do whether it is athletic and aggressive or just simply sitting down. Also being on a school's sport team will put pressure on my child and their grades might drop. First off schools make sure you have a decent grade point average. If your grades drop most schools won't let you play or you will miss part of a practice to study if your grades do fall. Grade requirements to be able to play a sport pushes the child to overcome challenges in their academic surrounding, so that they can continue to play a sport that they love. Most likely if your child is really dedicated they're not going to want to miss anything, they will be on top of their grades along with school work. Not only is it just grades but being involved on a team will build character because they will have to learn to make good decisions that affect the team as well as themselves personally.  A parent might also say I can’ttrust these studies because they were not equal meaning, they had different families, environments, and different support systems, etc. Although not everyone was on equal ground you can't ignore the statistics that you move better and perform better in school and aside from it.

Many ways you can argue this topic, however the facts are facts and playing a sport no matter how much of a risk it is and what temporary pains you might get along the way. Sports will help you improve in other areas of your life.

Yes you may have a different opinion on whether girls should play sports, still it has clearly been proven that girls, especially playing sports will help them; reduce stress get them to sustain great well-being, achieve better in school, while doing other activities. If your child is not in a sport now is the time to get them in one. While they are young their bodies can develop healthy ways mental and physical methods and routines will be formed. Mentally and physically they can also become stronger. When they get older you and them have a less chance of having to deal with hospital bills. Plus the games just fun!

Works Cited

https://www.youthletic.com/
http://www.nytimes.com
“5 Reasons for Girls to Play Sports.” N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Jan. 2016.
“10 Life-Altering Reasons Girls Should Play Sports.” Youthletic. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Jan. 2016.
“LIVESTRONG.COM - Lose Weight and Get Fit with Diet, Nutrition & Fitness Tools.” LIVESTRONG.COM. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Jan. 2016.
“Women’s Sports Foundation.” Women’s Sports Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Jan. 2016.