The Far-Reaching Benefits of Sport

According to Sport England, an arms-length body responsible for growing and developing grassroots sport, the playing of sport has a range of benefits, including the following:

• Physical wellbeing. Sport and physical activity can help prevent ill health as well as provide therapeutic and management effects for those suffering—particularly for people affected by cancer. It can also lead to improvements in strength, balance, movement and motor skills, and help in maintaining a healthy body weight. Other physical wellbeing outcomes backed by evidence include improved quality of sleep, increased energy levels, healthy early years development, reduced unhealthy behaviours like smoking, reduced mortality, effective pain management and improved quality of life in ageing.

  
  

• Mental wellbeing. Physical activity can contribute to enjoyment and happiness, and more broadly to life satisfaction through increased social interaction. Volunteers and sports fans also have an increased sense of purpose and pride, while self-esteem and confidence are known to increase through participation or volunteering. Sport and physical activity also have the potential to reduce anxiety and depression symptoms.

  
  

• Individual development. Sport can have a positive impact on a person’s employment opportunities and provide support to those who are not in employment, education or training. There’s also clear evidence being active improves educational behaviour and attainment, through greater self-esteem, confidence and direct cognitive benefits. It can also help reduce anti-social behaviour in disaffected young people and increase willingness to volunteer and the development of soft skills, such as integrity, responsibility and leadership.

  
  

• Social and community development. As well as developing individuals, sport and physical activity can help build stronger communities by bringing people together. Sport is widely seen as a way for people of different backgrounds to interact and integrate by taking part, volunteering and spectating. It can provide opportunities for migrants to adapt to living in England and can bridge divides between men and women, homeless people and those who are not homeless, and people with different employment backgrounds.

  
  

Following sport is also reported to have tangible benefits. For example, a recent study published in the Sport Management Review suggested that watching sport enhanced wellbeing. The study found that “watching sport was positively associated with increased brain activity and the structural volume in the specific brain regions related to wellbein". The researchers noted that the positive effect was intensified when watching sports that were more popular.