Team sport is any sporting activity in which competing teams play against each other for points and/or championship. There are many sports considered to be team sports, including track and field, swimming, rowing, sailing, dragon boat racing and even mountaineering.
The key to any successful team is communication. This can be spoken or unspoken, but it is vital to the functioning of a sports team. Whether listening to a locker room pep talk, picking up on nonverbal cues from teammates or discussing strategy during a post-game debrief, team athletes are expected to communicate openly and honestly with their coaches and fellow players. This helps to build a healthy social environment and fosters communication skills that can transfer over to other aspects of life such as the classroom and workplace.
Practicing team sports also helps children learn about commitment, training and goal setting. It teaches them that hard work often pays off and that success is not always instantaneous. It also teaches them that it is important to respect the efforts of other athletes, coaches and opponents as well as to accept loss and turn it into an opportunity for improvement.
Finally, playing a team sport often leads to higher levels of community involvement than any other type of recreational activity. It builds a natural, positive sense of community that often includes mentorship between older athletes and younger ones, coaches and their teams, and teammates and their families. This sense of community provides an incredibly healthy environment in which to grow and learn as a person, which can have a long-term impact on mental and physical health.