2020 Sports: 8 Valuable Life Lessons Kids Can Learn From Basketball

The game of basketball is more than physical fitness, wins and losses: it’s about producing young adults ready to succeed in life. By combining camps, group training and public speaking 2020 Sports will use basketball to convey 8 life lessons kids can learn from basketball.

Basketball is played worldwide. More young people participate in basketball games and leagues each year. 

However, you shouldn’t look at basketball only as a physical fitness activity. It can help shape a young person in a myriad of ways, affecting how they turn out as adults and how successful they can become.

Are you still on the fence about basketball? Not sure if this is the right sport for your kids? To help ease your mind, here are 8 life lessons young people can pick up from playing basketball.

• The Inevitability of Failure

People remember basketball legends like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James for their victories. They each aided their team to claim the NBA championship multiple times and each grabbed the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.

That doesn’t mean they didn’t go through losses.

Legendary players fail. People remember the times they threw the ball and made the shot but in between those bouts of success were numerous misses and miscalculations. Their teams didn’t always win the game or the championships.

Kids playing basketball will learn these life lessons. They’ll learn to accept defeat but still keep their head high, ensuring they still have the courage to move forward.

• Value of Teamwork

You can’t play basketball on your own. It’s a team sport and this means your kids get to interact with others, both on their team and the opposing side. They’ll learn how to cooperate with their team and build a sense of camaraderie.

Teamwork also means respect for each other.

Even from the beginning, basketball included rules against harming one another. Kids will learn life lessons about playing competitively but still maintaining a sense of safety. They’ll learn how to forgive players who hurt them on the court, understanding that physical accidents are an inevitable part of the game.

• Fitness and Physical Health

Basketball is one of the few big sports that involves the whole body, making it ideal for cardio exercises, like tennis. One of the most important life lessons kids can pick up from basketball is to value their body and take better care of their health. Otherwise, they won’t be able to play.

The sport demands strong feet, knees, and hands. Basketball players need to take care of their eyes and ears to coordinate while gaming. Achieving peak physical condition also means a lot of exercise and practice.

If your kids aren’t accustomed to this amount of physical activity or if they exhaust too quickly, basketball is a fun way to start. Even though the practice is tough, doing it with friends at camp makes it enjoyable.

• Life Lessons of Patience

Patience is a virtue, as the saying goes, and basketball embodies this saying despite it being a physically active sport with a lot of fast movement. Aiming for the right shot, knowing when to pass, and mastering the ins and outs of the game all require a level of patience.

Getting good at basketball doesn’t happen overnight. Gaining the skills to win also takes time and patience. If your kids never played basketball before, this is the right sport to teach them how to wait and let time do its job as they continue to exercise and practice.

Of course, patience becomes important outside of basketball too. Kids who wait and keep persevering will succeed in their careers.

• Grabbing Every Opportunity

“You will miss 100% of shots you never made.”

That sounds like a misnomer but it is a popular saying in basketball. It’s popular because it’s true. You’ll never know if you would have made or missed a shot if you didn’t throw the ball and gave it a try.

How can your kids know if they’re good or bad at something until they try? There is the fear of failure but one of basketball’s life lessons is dealing with that fear to grab every opportunity that comes their way.

This is important outside the court too. Life is full of ups and downs and children need to learn to spot an opportunity when it comes by to grab and take advantage of it.

• Hard Work and Determination

Getting good at basketball requires hard work. Players have to practice on a daily basis. They need to get back to their exercise routine whether they recently won or suffered a defeat.

If their team loses, they’ll need to stay focused and determined to get better. Getting better demands more work than before. This cycle promotes improvement through practice and concentration.

This translates well outside of basketball too.

Kids and young adults need to learn the value of hard work and determination if they want to succeed. Nothing great comes out of something easy.

• Pay Attention to Detail

How do you think basketball players know when to pass a ball to their teammate or when to fire a shot? When do players know where their other teammates are when everyone is moving on the court?

It’s all about paying attention to even the smallest detail.

A lot of people pick this up by joining the military or getting a demanding job. The youth can learn to pay attention to detail through basketball. It will help them later on in life as they remain alert and aware of their surroundings, regardless if they’re working or studying.

• Mental and Emotional Stability

As mentioned, basketball demands a lot of the players. Defeat is inevitable and for some, that loss is too much to bear. The amount of hard work and practice is also mentally and emotionally exhausting.

Through basketball, your kids can learn to maintain stability in both aspects. Emotional stability is not one of the life lessons you can pick up through lecture, making basketball a great activity to let your kids learn through playing.