The Importance of Playing Sports!

Playing sports.

Playing sports, can help you manage your weight, while also giving your muscles and cardiovascular system a good workout. Participating on a regular basis helps you burn calories. For example, a 155-pound person who plays basketball for an hour burns around 596 calories. Starting kids in a sport that they can play throughout their lives can get young people used to exercising on a regular basis, which will help them stay in shape as they get older.

Getting involved in a sport provides opportunities for individuals to see the results of their efforts. If you practice hard at your sport and see success, it builds self-esteem. If you defeat a challenging opponent, you're bound to feel that you've accomplished something worthwhile. Mastering a skill, such as a consistent serve in tennis, also boosts self-confidence.

Friendship

Playing sports enables you to create friendships you otherwise might not have formed. Sports bring teens together from different schools, backgrounds, and communities. Many times, the friendships you create on the field remain intact even when you are not playing sports. 

Family

The fans on the sidelines are one of the most important parts of the game. The constant support of your parents helps you to feel good about yourself and strengthens your connection to them. 

As a teen, it is not always easy to find time to spend time with your parents. Sports give you and your parents time to appreciate one another. 

Leadership Skills

Participating in sports helps build leadership skills. Sports teams give you an opportunity to surround yourself with competitive people and role models, and learn from them both. You can demonstrate your own leadership through team captainships and individual actions to improve your team's success. 

Jamie O’Brien

I just let my surfing tell the story.

Jamie O'Brien has made for himself in the world of professional surfing because he's doing things that nobody else is doing. He's a freesurfer, meaning he’s not chasing contest wins or world titles. He's out traveling the world and filming stunning video footage of surfing in epic locales.

O'Brien grew up near one of the most notorious waves on the planet, with a home in front of Pipeline, on the surf mecca of Oahu's North Shore. His dad was a lifeguard who had moved to Hawaii to surf, and who introduced his son to the sport at the young age of three.

He started competing in local surf contests when he was about six-years-old and as a teen and into his twenties, he had major success, with top results at Pipeline Masters, one of the most prestigious events on the World Tour. But somewhere along the way, the contests lost their appeal.

In 2004, O'Brien had a huge season: He got a wildcard entry into Pipeline Masters and won, becoming one of the event's youngest champions at age 21. He also produced his first surf movie, called Freak Show. 

The team of Jamie O'Brien is composed by: Poopies, Scotty Vibes, Damo and Kalani Chapman.

Jamie O'Brien and fire.

Jamie: We woke up early that morning before dark, to do the fire. We were staying right on the water, I was thinking, okay its a big day. Then sure enough we were out there. I didn’t want to say anything, but then everyone was like okay, it’s time to go. And I thought: it’s happening. 

The previous day we got like a two and half foot barrel which I thought was pretty cool. But I knew it was more than a two and half foot wave that we came here for. Sure enough I’m on the Jetski with Raimona. My buddies Chad and Keith were on the back, they’re the coordinators. They were painting this gel on me. I got the whole wetsuit on, and like 20 extra pounds of shirts and gels.

The gel would get on my board. It would be so slippery. So they’d be like okay 30 seconds.

I stepped off clean, set my line and grabbed rail. Then the fire wrapped around me, so I knew it was a good flame. While I was drawing my line, I was like oh my god I’m too deep. I had the bad  factor in my brain. 

The barrel started to compress, and the flame wrapped around my face and burn off some of my eyebrow. Then it peeled back off my face and back over my head again. I just flew out with the spit. I felt like I won a contest or something, I got a standing ovation from the boats. It was pretty cool.