Some Thoughts on Youth and Sports Via Refinery 29

I was recently quoted in a great article on youth sports, on Refinery 29.

I talk a lot about youth sports on this blog, but mostly because I fully recognize the effect youth sports has had on my own life, and in the lives of the people around me.

Refinery 29 recently wrote an article about the health benefits that youth sports have on you, later in life. One of the most interesting takeaways was that 96% of female executives played sports in their teens. While this may be great news, they also found statistics to support that fact that young girls are dropping out of sports at an alarming rate. You should absolutely read the entire article, here, as it provides some really interesting information about how sports can affect your growth as a person, specifically in terms of determination and staying power, of which I had a thing or two, to say:

“In other words, it’s about the steady cultivation of grit — something Karen Sutton, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at Yale University specializing in sports medicine and the head team physician for United States women’s national lacrosse, knows a lot about. She recognizes that without her formative background as a high-school lacrosse player, who went on to lead her Division 1 team at Duke for three years as captain, she might not have had the perseverance necessary to navigate the early years of her career. “Sports have taught me that success and failure are both acceptable. The lessons I learned from lacrosse are definitely why I’m an orthopedic surgeon today,” she explains. “When I present myself for interviews or when I have to talk at an international conference in sports medicine, I can exude confidence.” Her past as a college athlete who learned how to juggle academics, a social life, and countless hours on the field has also directly influenced her ability to juggle having a career while raising four kids.”

READ MORE: Six Psychological Benefits of Children’s Sports

The moral of the story is, stay in school, and stay in sports, because both of those things will teach you lessons and help you form habits that will turn you into the best adult you can possibly be.

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