Rah-Rah: Go Team Go!

It's recently come to my attention again, that high school sports are, indeed, important.  With recent school budget cuts in many school districts both the arts and school sports are being cut as "not as important" as academics. Lately this decision is one that is being made at Central High School. I believe it is still up in the air as to whether or not Central will have sports available for their students next year.

Last night I realized again that sports really are important for high school kids for many, many reasons.  I took Laura to her first training for alpine ski team. As we walked through Denfeld High School, the gym area was absolutely bustling with sports activites.  There was a Girls Basketball Jamboree going on that involved six schools. Then we headed downstairs to the weight room where the ski team was lifting weights and running on treadmills. Next door in a dance studio the dance team was high kicking with big smiles on their faces.  There we probably several hundred kids there at Denfeld that night involved in some sort of sport. 

Just this year a study came out that heart disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity have hit an all time high in America. In fact, a whopping 66% of American adults are overweight.  Other studies have shown that organized sports are important for girls because they develop a sense of competence and confidence in them that girls who don't place sports don't have.  And being the mom of two very crazy, normal boys, I would have to say that teenage boys with all their testosterone NEED to be invovled in something athletic in their teenage years just to channel all that energy!

If there were no sports available at Denfeld High School where would all those kids have been last night and what would they have been doing?  I suppose there are worse things in this world, but the fact that all these kids had a place to get together with their friends, have fun and exercise is huge, in my mind.  A lot of children are sitting around, eating junk food staring at their TVs these days.  Childhood obesity and diabetes is at an all time high and for a lot of kids their idea of exercise is an hour of Guitar Hero.

So, I say Rah, Rah for High School sports and sports of all kinds for kids.  Encourage your kids to get involved in a sport.  Not overinvolved mind you, but that's a blog for another day.  So get moving, get off the couch and go cheer on your favorite team!