VALUE AND UTILITY OF GAMES AND SPORTS
Games and sports are great builders of health and character. They determine our careers and the course of history. Lord Wellington rightly said, “I won the Battle of Waterloo on the cricket field of Eton.” It was in the School at Eton that he learnt to play cricket and this finally enabled him to win the great battle against Napoleon.
Games and sports help in the building of a harmonious all-round personality. Those who play no games have a stunted growth and personality. Education without games is a one-sided affair. Mere mental and moral development is not enough.
Physical development is as important as mental growth. Games and sports help us in the development of the body as well as of the mind. That is why every system of education lays much stress on the utility of games and sports in life. These help us in the development of sound minds in healthy bodies.
Games and sports make the limbs supple and the body fit. A person with a healthy body can perform his duties of life better. A person who cares not for the physical exercise falls prey to hundred and one diseases. The cost of life in terms of medicines and sickness is heavy indeed.
India needs able-bodied and healthy youth to shoulder thousand and one duties for bigger, better and brighter tomorrow. In the building of youth and national character, sports play a tremendous role. Physical exercise is essential for proper development of mind. A healthy body means a healthy mind also. One who is suffering physically can never have a healthy mind or body. Games and sports help us in maintaining health of both body and mind.
Games and sports provide an ideal recreation for the youth, children and even old people. It is better to use leisure in playing rather than in seeing television or cinema show. Reading books all the time is also not good. As the saying goes, “All work and no play will make Jack a dull boy”. The right principle of life is: “Sometime to work, sometime to play.” Games dispel dullness and make life worth living. Sports evaporate gloominess and add brightness to our lives. They provide us with moments of light and cheers. Life’s best remembered moments are the times of our games and sports when limbs are light and eyes are bright. When a business executive plays tennis or badminton in the evening/ he adds new horizons to his business enterprise. He acquires the spirit of sportsmanship in dealing with rivals and colleagues.
Games play a great role in the development of character and career. Those who do not play any games usually do not do well in their lives too. They cure miserable failures on all fronts.
Games and sports teach as team spirit, without which nothing can be achieved in the world, because we have all to team up our energies to make life worth living. In all affairs of life we have to act as a team and this is the great lesson of games and sports.