Team sport is a sports activity that requires multiple individuals working together as part of a group to execute the game or sport and is inherently impossible or highly impractical to perform as a single-player endeavour. Examples of team sports include basketball, cricket, American football and handball.
In addition to being a great way to exercise and stay fit, team sports offer a multitude of pedagogical benefits for children and youth. They can promote self-confidence, social skills, responsibility, fair play and unwavering determination. They also encourage camaraderie among players and a sense of community that can last well after the final whistle blows.
A recent study in the journal Nature found that students who played a high school-level team sport had a GPA of 93—10% higher than those who didn’t participate—and were better at keeping track of multiple tasks. Team athletes were also less likely to suffer from anxiety and depression and were more willing to seek out help for mental health issues.
While most people consider the varsity track and field team to be a team sport, many individual athletes prefer to compete in individual sports, such as swimming, cross country, gymnastics, tennis, fencing and equestrian. These sports don’t involve competing against another individual, but do involve team events such as relays. Rather than relying on teammates for motivation, elite individual athletes find it more rewarding to make a significant contribution to the success of the team, even if they are not fast enough to qualify for the open 400 race.