If your child is an enthusiastic swimmer and has expressed interest in getting involved competitively, you should know there are countless benefits of joining a swim team for kids. In general, being on a sports team, working with teammates and coaches, and being physically active is of a great thing, of course. It helps instill good habits and life lessons in youth, which are more likely to stick.
Many parents have concerns about the time commitment for practice and meets, and about their child getting too stressed or overextended. And yes, participating in a high-demand team sport can introduce scheduling difficulties, make it harder to get to homework and studying, limit occasions for socializing with friends, and create other logistical challenges.
With determination, careful planning, and an upfront agreement from your child that he or she will keep up grades and meet other obligations, swim parents and their swim children can and do make it work. And it’s usually worth the effort, given the benefits of joining a swim team for kids.
Reasons for Kids to Participate in Competitive Swimming
- Just take a look at all these health benefits of swimming
- Team swimming builds confidence and self-esteem, and improves emotional regulation
- It teaches important lessons about how to set tangible goals and how to go about achieving them
- Competitive swimming builds resilience and perseverance in the face of challenges, setbacks, losses, and missed goals
- Kids learn to better handle pressure
- There is emphasis on both individual performance and improvement, and on that of the team
- It promotes the importance of teamwork and mutual support
- Deep friendships often develop between teammates
- Being on a swim team helps establish good sleep patterns and makes it easier for kids to wake up early (something teens and young adults can struggle significantly with)
- It helps them improve time management skills as they juggle the demands of the team with school, family, friends, etc.
- Competitive swimming instills a respect for a healthy lifestyle, including fitness and smart eating habits
- Swimming is a low-impact activity you can do on your own or with others, making it easier to stay with through life and into the senior years than many other sports
