Many of the most important lessons we learn when we’re young don’t come from the classroom.

They come on rank, muddy football pitches, cold courts and rain-soaked sidelines, long after the final whistle has blown.

For those acquainted with Premier League culture, think ‘cold rainy night in Stoke’.

Sport is so often framed in terms of winning and losing, ultimately, trophies, tables and scores.

However, most of us will never compete for Olympic gold, or participate at the Wimbledon Championships.

Therefore, the intrinsic value of sport lies elsewhere.

It might sound like something corny to say, but the moments you learn the most in sport are when things don’t go your way.

Sport is one of the few environments where failure is unavoidable and public.

You miss the penalty.

You drop a catch.

You lose a race.

There’s no hiding from it, yet this exposure is exactly what makes sport such a powerful teacher.

When we play sport, we are forced to practice emotional regulation.

We learn how to cope with frustration, disappointment and pressure, while still having to perform.

I learn this the hard way during a football match for my school team at the time.

After having scored a goal in a crucial equalising goal, I let my temper get the better of me and lashed out at the opposing Centre Back (we’d been going back and forth all game).

The referee showed me a straight red card (rare in school matches around 2010/2011) and we went on to lose the game 2-1 (we had been winning 1-0 before I was sent off).

This was an uncomfortable lesson, but essential one.

However, it taught me how to recover.

A bad game doesn’t mean the rest of the season goes badly (in fact, it went rather well for me soon after then).

This mistake didn’t define me.

I showed up again next week.

I trained…and gradually improved.

Over time, we begin to internalise something crucial: setbacks are temporary, and progress is built slowly.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither are our minds.

It is important that we learn from when things don’t go right, however, there are plenty of times where one will not succeed.

Think of it as a refinement cycle.

It is particularly important for children in particular to realise that growth isn’t linear and success is rarely instant.

This is why sport is such a great teacher; it helps to instil patience, humility and persistence.

Parents sometimes worry that sport distracts from academic progress.

It doesn’t.

In fact, it complements it.

The discipline, resilience and self-belief developed through sport frequently show up in the classroom.

Not immediately, but meaningfully over time.

 

Further Reading: ‘How Athletics Can Supercharge Students’ Brain Power’ (Brunswick Academy)