Sports are a universal source for gaining knowledge and skills.  They help us get through difficult times, and are available for generations to come.  Sports are a universal language that all people can understand.  They teach us life skills and techniques that we can transfer into the real world.  Sports are a valuable part of people’s lives that gives them the tools needed to succeed and become successful.   They offer an outlet for creativity and engages people in activities that build skills that last a lifetime.

Sports are games that allow athletes to engage in competitive activities, which teach and build skills that are necessary to succeed.  Sports ignites the competitive nature in people and help to build motivation and determination by giving people a goal to reach.  This determination stays with a person forever and can only help them be a better person.

Sports also introduces players to new people, creating the need to build friendships.  These friendships translate into teamwork, a necessary tool for success in any environment.  The social skills you develop through sports make it much easier to interact with others, and to work as a team to accomplish a common goal.  Sports continues to provide an excellent platform for enhancing one’s ability to focus.  Within a sporting event, participants often have to focus to persevere through the intense situations presented before them, creating habits that carry over into important everyday tasks.

With sports, athletes must hone their skills to succeed, which is the same practice seen in business.  Owners and workers alike must find the ideal work habit or skill that is needed to succeed, and must practice it until they master it.   On top of everything else, sports teaches the patience and discipline needed for anyone to be successful.

Sports have had a lasting impact on my life.  They’ve given me the skills needed to overcome difficult times.  In the past, my family moved several times, forcing me to attend brand new schools and even different states.  In each of these situations I was forced to leave the home I knew, along with all of my friends, to a new place with new faces.  When we settled into the new areas, I was introduced to a new school with all new people.   The skills I acquired through sports allowed me to quickly become part of the existing student body.

Determined to make friends, I focused on getting to know these new people as well as the area.  Sports allowed me to quickly make friends, and enabled me to have something in common with the people I just met.  While playing sports in the new area, I was able to make new friends, simplifying my move into the area.  It was nice to have a connection with the people and sports made the transition much smoother and relatively effortless.

While change is not easy, sports does ease the difficulty.   It offers a window of opportunity to overcome problematic situations, like moving to a new area.   Since I have moved a few times, sports has shown time and time again, to be an excellent way to meet people and befriend them.  While playing sports, the cooperation used in the activities has built a strong sense of trust and leadership among the participants.

Playing sports is an easy way for people to get involved in the community.  By encouraging people to play sports, we give them the opportunity to engage in the same activities that we did.  When people play sports they get to create an identity for themselves.  Sports build characters and a skill set that is needed to succeed.   People need sports, not only for the love of the game, but for the tremendous impact it has on our lives.   It teaches people to practice, focus, cooperate, and gives them the motivation to win.

While winning isn’t everything, being motivated towards a goal is always necessary throughout one’s life.  Without goals, we have nothing to look forward to, and nothing to base our actions on.  With sports, we can teach people to create goals, and to work hard to reach them.  By continuing to have people play and participate in sports, we simultaneously pass down the skills and experience associated with them.


This essay was submitted Matthew Easter for the December 2010 – HowToSaveMoney.com Scholarship. See and vote on your favorite essays here. When asked what he would do if he won, Matthew wrote “If I win I plan on using the money to help pay for books for college next year.”