A team sport is a game or race that requires 2 or more players to participate. Teams compete against each other and work together to achieve a common goal, usually scoring points and winning the game. Team sports are a great way to teach kids the importance of cooperation, teamwork and friendship. They also help them learn how to take risks, solve problems and develop resilience. These skills are invaluable for life.
Team contact sports, such as basketball, football and hockey, are natural human activities with an ancient evolutionary history. Humans have a strong interest in watching other teams play (spectatorship), and they tend to evaluate and criticize the comparative skill of other competitors, and to support or oppose the success of particular teams. Some research has shown that human interest in team contact sports is a fundamental aspect of our human sociality, and is associated with various psychological benefits such as improved self-esteem, social support, and positive emotional regulation.
This special issue cultivates broader consideration and analysis of the many aspects of team sports from multidisciplinary perspectives informed by evolutionary thinking. It includes contributions that explore: (1) human interest in team contact sports; (2) the relative success of home field advantage over away field advantages in sports, particularly football, baseball, hockey and soccer; (3) the role of empathetic spectators in enhancing the enjoyment of spectatorship and in promoting team spirit; and (4) the social ramifications of competitive behavior on and off the playing field, including “trash talk” and the promotion of sports rivalries and fan loyalty.
Other contributions examine the pedagogical value of team sports for youth, including the development of cooperative and communicative skills, personal growth and confidence, and social maturation. The authors of these papers describe how young people who play team sports become more generous and tolerant of others, develop problem-solving abilities, and gain valuable leadership experiences. They also discover that participating in team sports promotes healthy physical fitness and enhances emotional well-being, especially among girls and Latino children.
Kim Batten, a 1995 world champion in the 400m hurdles and former high school track coach, argues that team sport is the best option for non-elite athletes in the sport of track and field because it gives them the chance to contribute to their school’s success and to feel a part of a larger community. She describes how her teammates taught her to communicate effectively, be a good teammate and make sacrifices for the benefit of the group.
Moreover, she believes that team sport teaches young people important life skills, such as time management, commitment and perseverance. She further explains how her experience with track and field as a team athlete at the youth level gave her an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of other athletes, even those whose talent wouldn’t otherwise allow them to advance to the finals of the open 400. She cites the example of a kid who could not run fast enough to qualify for the finals in the open 400 but who was fast enough to complete a key relay leg in the 4×400.