By: Nina He

If you’re a kid, you might’ve heard the phrase, “Kids are always on their phones these days! Back in my day…” And if you’re a parent, you might’ve even said that to a kid.

So, what do parents want us to do? Read, draw, write, learn, ect… But the most common desire of parents is probably for them to play sports. Sports are a vital part of development, helping strengthen our muscles, increasing our stamina, and improving our overall health. So which sport deserves the most attention?

I think that every sport is special in their own ways. So let me explore a few sports in depth.

For competitiveness, I think the best sport is definitely swimming. Not to be biased, since I’m a swimmer, but with swimming, it’s over in a matter of minutes. I personally like watching these ones because of their length. Unlike longer competitions, they tend to make me very tense, and then I can’t fall asleep at night. Shorter races do have many drawbacks, but this is just my personal preference. Also, unlike other sports, when it’s Olympics-level swimming, there’s an actual introduction of each swimmer as they walk out of their resting area. Their names, age, which races they have competed in, and which races they might’ve held a record. And you know why? Just to extend the time that the audience can be in the stadium! And if it’s just a 50-meter sprint, then forget about sitting in the stadium for more than 10 minutes.

If you want something to impress the uncles and aunties at Christmas, perhaps try artistic gymnastics. I’m not too experienced at this, but I do some gymnastics sometimes, and it took me half a year to learn to do an aerial (a handless cartwheel). An aerial. That’s like learning how to stay afloat in the water, but in gymnastic terms. So, just be aware: it takes a lot of space and time to practice and train for this sport!

And if you’re looking for something easy and simple to do…well, I’m sorry to break it to you, but no sport is like that! Sure, there’s running and track, but you need to know how to run properly without hurting your legs. The right position and angle to put your body parts can all be vital to running a good race. (Whenever I try to run more than a mile, my knee starts hurting.) Every sport requires dedication and persistence, not to mention the hundreds of hours you need to practice it to get better!

If you’re looking to do a sport, remember this: no sport is easy. Everything comes with challenges. But with the right amount of practice and commitment, you can be good at it and have fun while doing it! 🙂