{"id":18465,"date":"2025-11-28T14:21:57","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T14:21:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.schoolnewsvicenza.h-farm.com\/?p=18465"},"modified":"2025-11-28T14:23:58","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T14:23:58","slug":"what-sport-unlocks-for-students-in-school-and-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.schoolnewsvicenza.h-farm.com\/it\/what-sport-unlocks-for-students-in-school-and-life\/","title":{"rendered":"What Sport Unlocks for Students, in School and Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are glad to share with you this inspiring article by Nord Anglia Education, straight from their resourceful website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ciara, a student at Nord Anglia\u2019s British International School of Shanghai<\/a> (BISS), remembers one thing very clearly about Year 6: she couldn\u2019t run or throw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was very uncoordinated,\u201d she says, laughing. She skipped cross-country, dreaded warm-ups, and always got a stitch. But then something changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marlon Devonish<\/a>, a coach at BISS and gold-medal-winning Olympian, encouraged her to try\u2014first with throwing, then running. She got better. He noted and pointed out how much she was improving. She felt the progress and dug in more. Her confidence grew with her abilities. Slowly, the girl who avoided sport was winning tournaments. She became a team captain and an award-winning multi-sport athlete. A local football academy scouted her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along the way, she learned more than how to sprint or save a goal: she learned to lead, to persevere, and to believe in herself. \u201cIt was always that reassurance from him, every year, telling me how much I had improved,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sport isn\u2019t just a break from the \u201creal\u201d work of school; it\u2019s real<\/em> work where essential life skills are built. It helps to develop confidence, resilience, focus, collaboration, emotional agility, stress management, and strength. In a world that\u2019s changing fast\u2014where face-to-face connection is often replaced by more fragmented interactions\u2014sport and extracurriculars aren\u2019t just \u201cnice-to-haves,\u201d but vital foundations for a healthy, connected childhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBefore, I never would have joined a game,\u201d Ciara said of her confidence built through sport. Now she plays a variety of sports, many with friends in and out of school. \u201cI feel like I speak a whole new language,\u201d she said. \u201cThe language of sport.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Confidence that\u2019s earned, not bestowed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Devonish says sport helped him stand out. \u201cI wasn\u2019t the most academic, but I was definitely one of the sportiest. Sport gave me a way to stand out when everything else felt the same. It became a way to find out who I was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He now loves bringing that self-discovery and empowerment to all kids. That of course includes the elite athletes who go on to win scholarships and compete at the highest levels of sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he\u2019s equally charged by helping every child get stronger and more physically able\u2014what he calls \u201cwell-being athletes\u201d\u2014who as they progress through life will be able to stay healthy, stay connected to a wider network of people, and participate in more networks. It\u2019s also a way for them to learn teamwork or how to overcome adversity, and it enables types of camaraderie unique to sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKids who couldn\u2019t catch a ball six months ago now are leading warm-ups. They realise, \u2018I can do this. I\u2019m improving\u2019. That growth builds a confidence they take back into the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The benefits of physical activity are well documented. One systematic review<\/a> confirms that higher levels of physical activity are consistently associated with better self-perception, perceived competence, and self-esteem, across genders and contexts. Participation\u2014not skill level\u2014was a critical predictor of positive outcomes. Separate studies link physical activity in school to increased resilience<\/a> as well as emotional regulation and self-esteem<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The list of benefits of participating in sport is long, says Mike Ostrowski, Director of the IMG Academy<\/a> sport and wellbeing collaboration at Nord Anglia:<\/p>\n\n\n\n