Should team sports be a compulsory part of the school curriculum

Good afternoon. As you all know, I am Yathooshan, and today, I will be addressing the issue of the need for team sports to be a compulsory part of the school curriculum. By this, I am arguing that team sports- sports requiring at least two players per team, such as rugby and cricket, should be a part of our school timetable and we should all be involved in it.

At a time when we hear a lot in the news about young people today taking less exercise and being less fit than in the past, team sports offer an enjoyable and demanding way of improving fitness. The problem for some of us is that we simply do not have the time to get involved in team sports, as we spend an excessive amount of time on homework and coursework. However, by incorporating team sports into school hours, time will not be a problem and thus, we will all be fitter and Britain will be liberated from its title as ‘the fattest nation in Europe’.

Many of us may reason that the same benefits can be achieved by sports that require only one person per team, such as tennis singles or squash, so what makes team sports so special? The answer to this is that there are an incalculable number of skills that we can benefit from taking part in team sports but that cannot be gained from sports for individuals, including teamwork, communication and leadership skills, as well as the promotion of self-belief and self-discipline. These are all skills that we will need, not only when we are applying for a job, but they are also essential for the near-future, when we are applying for a place at university, so we need to get involved in team sports as soon as possible.

Although we have all been at the same school for the past four years, most of us do not actually know the name of every person in our year group. I fall into this category too. However, if team sports were a compulsory part of the school curriculum, we would all get to know each other better, whether we are on the same team or on opposing teams, and so everyone will get a chance to make new friends. Furthermore, we will be able to eliminate any bullying that is currently existent within the school, and everyone will feel more comfortable going to school.

Not only can we access all these benefits from team sports, but the fact that it can be a compulsory part of our school timetable means that we will not have to be restricted to sitting in classrooms all day! Therefore, school will be more interesting and exciting for everyone and resultantly; the school’s truancy rates will decline significantly. In addition to this, a number of people in our year group are exceptionally talented at sports but they may not be very proficient academically. These people have never been given a chance to display their talent at school. Nevertheless, making team sports compulsory can easily amend this, and everyone will be good at something at school.

Last week a survey was undertaken for our year group, asking people whether they would participate in a team sport if team sports were not compulsory at school. The response was that only sixty percent of pupils would be involved in a team sport (remember that this was before you heard my astounding and mind-blowing speech). Therefore, seventy-two people in our year group would be excluded from the advantages of team sports if it were an option and so, it is obvious that making sport involvement compulsory will mean that more people will participate in sports. Furthermore, making team sport involvement compulsory augments the incentive to participate because there is pressure on players to engage themselves in the game by the other members of the team.

In conclusion, then, although the proposition of making team sports a compulsory part of the school curriculum would have to be implemented at the expense of academic subjects, it is essential for our school because it improves our fitness and ability to communicate with others. It is important to point out that we all need to have a balance of academic and practical skills in the correct proportions, and compulsory team sports supports us in achieving this. Thank you for being such a good audience, and I hope that my speech has influenced your position on the subject.