While baseball has many physical and mental benefits for young players, there are also some practical skills and knowledge to be gained as well. Here are my top 5.
1. The Importance of Money
You may not think they notice, but your kids see money flying out of your purse and wallet faster than it goes in. Plus, they probably hear you talking (complaining) about how much this tournament costs and that equipment costs. Seeing all of the expenses around their baseball activities will help them learn about the importance of money and needing to budget for things.
2. Doing Chores and Laundry
Having a baseball uniform ads a new dimension to having chores to do and laundry to keep up with. Your kid should be keeping track of his or her uniform and getting it ready for games. Cleaning baseball pants is a laundry chore like no other and those stains can be a huge challenge. Showing them how much work and effort you put into getting them nice and clean will help them appreciate what you do for them, and teaches them a great life skill for the future.
3. How to Pack and Be Organized
A lot of work goes into getting ready for games and tournaments, and your kid should be part of the process. Getting their equipment, uniform, and snacks ready and loading up the car should be tasks that they help with and are another way to teach them about the effort that goes into their baseball life. Also, knowing what to bring to a game or tournament is wonderful knowledge for their later travels, and it’s great for practicing planning and organizational skills.
4. Emailing
Kids who are a little older, at maybe around 10 years of age, can get their own email addresses and start keeping track of practice times, game times, and tournament schedules. This is an invaluable skill that, of course they will be using constantly throughout the rest of their lives.
5. Working with Superiors
Not only do they have their parents and teachers, but now they have yet another person telling them what to do: Their coaches. Well, get used to it kids because for the rest of your lives you’re probably going to have bosses, unless you work for yourselves. A coach is a combination of parent, teacher, mentor, and friend, and there is so much to learn from that relationship that will benefit your child for years to come in all aspects of life. And having different coaches will teach them to work with a variety of personalities and temperaments, which will come in handy in their careers.
This is true not only for baseball, but the mental health benefits playing sports of all kinds brings to your child’s life, and the special skills learned from the experience, are invaluable. The competitive world in which we live requires young people to learn a lot very fast, and sports is an awesome and fun way to do it!
If you enjoyed this, you might also like: 10 Lessons from Baseball that can Help Your Child’s Mental Growth.
It’s interesting that you point out that playing baseball is great for teaching kids how to work with authority figures. I want my son to grow up to be a well-adjusted adult, so I’m considering encouraging him to sign up for a high school baseball club. I’m going to search for a good high school baseball club for my son to attend.
There are probably many more skills learned from being on a team that we don’t even realize. Good luck to your son. 🙂