Team sport is a form of competitive athletics that requires a group of athletes to perform as a unit against another team. This includes sports such as basketball, volleyball, football, soccer, rugby, cricket and water polo, where the success of the entire team depends on its collective performance in the game or match. While most people think of team sports as being competitive, there are also a number of non-competitive and recreational forms of team sports.
Regardless of the type of team sport, playing them provides many social and health benefits. In addition to promoting physical fitness, social interaction and group cohesion, team sports can help develop problem-solving skills. Using these skills in a game or competition can help build confidence and self-esteem. Team sport is also a great way to relieve stress and can improve mental health by decreasing levels of the hormone cortisol, which is known to affect mood and stress.
Playing team sports can teach valuable lessons that students can’t learn in a classroom. Teamwork is the most obvious lesson learned from team sports, as kids work together with a variety of personalities to achieve common goals. According to Janssen Sports Leadership Center, working with teammates teaches children to recognize the unique strengths and weaknesses of their peers, value one another’s input, and support one another in times of need.
Other lessons include how to compete with a variety of opponents, whether in a casual intramural game or in the heat of a hard-fought club tournament. Competitive sports can push players to their limits, both physically and emotionally. These experiences, particularly when faced with more talented opponents, can teach children to remain composed and persevere even in the face of adversity.
While most team sports require collaboration and cooperation, there are a few exceptions. For example, synchronized swimming is a team sport, while doubles tennis involves teamwork between two players. Additionally, relay races involve teams of athletes who each run a segment of the race independently.
The most popular team sport in the world is soccer, which is governed by the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). It has been an Olympic event since 1900 for men and 1996 for women. The game is played by more than 4 billion people worldwide, and it has become increasingly popular in recent years.
Studies show that humans are drawn to team contact sports for several reasons. These include a natural desire to participate in the competition (spectatorship), a tendency to evaluate and criticize the comparative abilities of competing players (trash talk; see Kniffin and Palacio 2018), and strong and persistent emotional attachments and preferences for certain teams over others (fan loyalty; Kruger et al. 2018). In addition, team sports have become public “testing grounds” for understanding how individual-level motivations and incentives impact group-level performance.