Playing Sports Isn't Just Beneficial For Kids — Its Impact Lasts A Lifetime

I'm from Nebraska, a state that can oftentimes be (unfairly!) overlooked. But in August of 2023, its capital city of Lincoln, Nebraska, earned itself a world record: the largest attendance for a women's sporting event of all time, anywhere. On a record-breaking night, 92,003 fans piled into the University of Nebraska–Lincoln's football stadium to watch the five-time NCAA champion Nebraska volleyball team win 3-0 against Omaha. 

It was an awe-inspiring spectacle—and a moving moment for sports fans everywhere. Watching the outpouring of support for the women on the court made many of us (myself included) swell with excitement about what this meant for little girls watching, either in the stadium, at home, or on social media the next day. 

The moment was part of a broader cultural reckoning—a time in which women's sports are finally receiving more attention than ever before. The Women's 2024 NCAA championship game viewership smashed records.

For the first time in history, the 2024 Paris Olympic gender split was equal: 50-50 male and female. More and more women athletes are getting top-dollar brand deals and sponsorships. Game attendance is up across a variety of sports, from basketball and soccer to volleyball. 

It doesn't take many data points to paint a bleak picture: Most women athletes make a fraction of what men athletes make. While media coverage of games has improved (up to 15% from 5%), it's still low. And for the most part, male athletes still have more household name recognition than female athletes. The message was projected loud and clear: Women's sports don't matter as much. 

It's not just at the professional level. In fact, research shows that young women and girls start dropping out of sports at an earlier and higher rate than their boy counterparts because of the messages they're given. A recent report found that 70% of children will now stop playing sports by the age of 13—and teenage girls are dropping out at twice the rate of boys.

"Girls often leave sports due to teasing about weight and coordination1—as well as pressures to look like Photoshopped photographs, which lead to negative self-esteem and body dissatisfaction2," says neuroscientist Laura Chaddock-Heyman, Ph.D., who studies aerobic fitness and physical activity related to the brain and cognition across the lifespan. She also notes that girls drop out of sports3 because of the belief that they're not as talented as their peers, even though this is often not the case. 

Chadock-Heyman also points to lack of support during puberty as a reason many girls leave sports: "It is important for parents and coaches to understand that there are different developmental trajectories of male and female athletic performance. We need to normalize conversations about puberty, body changes, and body image, especially in girls," she says. 

And new research also suggests that for many girls, the decision to drop out of sports is not driven by individual choice but by a variety of external factors4—like socioeconomic status, race, and parent participation. 

The ripple effects of sports have been shown to impact one's resilience, confidence, assertiveness, and self-reliance. 

"The data supports that sports can truly make the difference between a life of fulfillment or one of struggle and disappointment for girls," says sports psychologist Caroline Silby, Ph.D., who has worked with Olympic, professional, and collegiate athletes. "The issues that girls face—anxiety, depression, and lack of community—have all been shown to be positively impacted by girls' participation in sports."  

Research shows that kids who are physically active perform better at cognitive tests, such as attention, memory, and scholastic achievement. Chadock-Heyman notes that within her own research, she sees this to be the case: "More active children (age 9-11 years) and adolescents (age 15-18 years) have larger structural brain volumes in the hippocampus5—a brain region critical for memory and learning. They also seem to have more efficient brain activation patterns6: They have beefier and more fibrous white matter fiber tracts, which allow for faster and more efficient communication signals7 throughout the brain."

Sports are also incredibly beneficial for mental health, with research showing participation can improve mood and ease stress. For example, a 2019 study found that kids who played team sports had fewer mental health difficulties. And a 2022 study found that playing sports in adolescence is linked to developing and sustaining "grit"8 throughout one's life. 

"There is long-term casualty data showing that the number of women entering the workforce is directly related to the number of sport opportunities their State provides to them," says Silby. "Furthermore, 80% of Female Fortune 500 CEOs and 94% of female C-suite executives played sports when growing up." 

Of course, we'd be remiss not to mention physical benefits as well.

As we know, being active isn't just for the young. Exercise and movement benefit the full body as we age—with improvements to cardiovascular, bone, gut, metabolic, skin, and overall health. And thanks to all of these benefits, it can even increase your lifespan12. 

Particularly, it supports the brain and cognitive function, which can decline with age. 

"In older adults, higher levels of aerobic fitness and participation in physical activity (such as walking) are associated with better performance on tasks of attention, inhibition, and memory," says Chadock-Heyman. "The cognitive enhancements with physical activity appear to be driven by less age-related brain tissue loss as well as changes in brain function (i.e., brain activation and connectivity of brain networks)."

And sports—as a very specific form of exercise—has been shown to have unique benefits. For example, one 10-year study found that adults who played sports consistently over the study13 were healthier and fitter than the groups who stopped playing sports during the study period. Another study found that those who participated in recreational team sports experienced reductions in weight, percentage of body fat, blood pressure, and lipid levels and large increases in aerobic fitness.

Clinical health and performance psychologist Leah Lagos, PsyD, BCB, points to another benefit: improved resilience and heart rate variability (HRV). 

"Resilience is your body's ability to tolerate stress, and HRV is a tangible way to measure that ability. HRV is, in fact, an index of resilience," she says. "It doesn't mean it's a measure of how calm you always are. It means how quickly you can reset. It's not the avoidance of conflict or challenge, but it's the ability to adjust flexibly and then return to baseline quickly. Sports can be a way to improve these metrics.'    

"Sports at every stage of one's life provides us with the opportunity to 'figure ourselves out': What gets us excited, what gets us engaged and challenged, what makes us tick at this moment in our lives," says Silby. "While 'figuring ourselves out' at different stages in our lives doesn't guarantee we meet our defined version of success, it sure does give us a better chance while simultaneously allowing us to enjoy the process."

While you'll get more benefit from being physically active, don't discount sports watching. In fact, watching sports has been shown to positively impact brain structure14. 

In the recent study, the researchers found that watching sports triggered feel-good emotions like happiness and pleasure. What's more, those who regularly watched sports showed higher gray matter volume in those areas of the brain associated with reward and pleasure.

Of course, the community impact should not be overlooked: Research shows that those who have built a strong community have better longevity outcomes.

The moment we're in now is exciting and inspiring—that much is certain.

"It's amazing that women are taking advantage in record numbers of the sport opportunities afforded to them," says Silby. "And, as such, they continue to change the narrative and society's outlook on sport for girls and women. As an athlete who came before them, I am grateful to and proud of each and every female athlete and the families that support them."

But now, we need to grapple with how to sustain this moment in time. And then we need to ask ourselves: How do we progress even further? There are many conversations to be had—including continuing to close the pay gaps, increasing media coverage, and how to create a welcoming environment for women on social media. 

And two topics we're seeing gaining traction lately are two we're particularly interested in: body diversity and age inclusivity. 

"I hope that our culture can begin to equate beauty with fitness and health. Let's promote healthy, realistic images of athletes," says Chadock-Heyman.

During the 2024 Olympics, we saw a wide range of what a healthy, fit, strong body looked like. Rather than only celebrating slimmer builds, the dominant athletes of today tend to showcase muscles. For example, Team USA rugby center and Olympic medalist Ilona Maher spoke candidly about how we need to widen our view of "healthy bodies" and look beyond common metrics like BMI. 

We're also seeing women athletes competing longer than they have before. The USA gymnastics team called themselves "The Golden Girls" because they were the oldest team in the games (and they also, you know, won gold). Team USA basketball star Diana Taurasi called out a reporter for their ageist question about when she planned to retire (Taurasi is 41 and has won 5 gold medals.) 

"Thanks to advancements in science, medicine, and health, more of today's top athletes are excelling beyond the formerly typical retirement age," says Silby. "As athletes continue to compete at older ages, they—and we as spectators—are seeing the benefits of allowing emotional maturity to merge with physical capability. This merger creates exceptional performance!"

This exciting time has meant girls all over the world have strong, capable, resilient role models to look up to—who look just like them.