Since I was little, sports has always been a huge part of my life. No matter the sport or the outcome of what I played, i enjoyed every second of it. I’ve gained a lot of knowledge from each sport that I played because it involved learning from others who have played it, such as friends, family members, or professionals athletes. It also taught me very valuable lessons and attributes within sports, but essentials that I can continue to grow to help me succeed in my professional career, such as: character, responsibility, teamwork, communication, trust, sharing, composure, focus, dedication, hard work, mentoring, and humbleness. Being involved in sports can help build a stronger community leading to stronger, lasting friendships and more importantly staying in school and being involved at school. Within the US, the dominate, more commercialized professional sports tend to be football, baseball, and basketball. There are various sports that aren’t offered or as focused on within the US, but these sports are prestigious, respected, and appreciated throughout the world.
I for one, have played volleyball for most of my life, as well as basketball. In high school, volleyball wasn’t as popular as basketball or football, but i still loved playing it. Before I graduated high school, i knew there were very few schools that offered scholarships at the D1 level, which is the highest level of competition in college. I continued to play in my years at Illinois State University, but it was only offered as a club-program rather than a sanctioned NCAA sport.
I found this one particular organization that focuses on reaching out to youths in Chicago to participate and join a variety of sports, especially the sports played in the Olympics. The organization is called “World Sport Chicago”.From their website:
“ The mission of World Sport Chicago is to:
- Introduce Chicago’s youth, regardless of physical abilities, to the fun and benefits of sport.
- Generate interest and excitement in sport by providing every youth in Chicago with an opportunity to see and experience a wide variety of sporting events.
- Strengthen in youth the ideals and the characteristics of fair play, teamwork, respect, leadership and to promote the health, safety and education of Chicago’s youth.
- Strengthen Chicago’s communities through bringing youth, families, schools and community groups together through sport.
- Expand the availability and quality of sport by supporting existing youth programs integrating Olympian and Paralympians into programs and establishing and sharing best practices throughout Chicago and beyond.
- Expand the horizons of the youth of Chicago by opening up new possibilities and experiences.
World Sport Chicago promises to promote, uphold and advance the Olympic ideals in every day life through active participation in Olympic and Paralympic sports.
We strive…
To reach everyone we can,
To inspire everyone we reach,
To support everyone we inspire
To strive for every dream they can imagine.
Because Olympic Sport – like Olympic ideals – are for everyone.”
To access more information about World Sport Chicago, you can access the website below:
http://www.worldsportchicago.org/
The Global Perspective of Children 