From Quidditch to Confidence: How Physical Activities Make Us Champions

As I write this, I can't help but haphazardly remember the idioms we have learnt in one of the English classes in the middle school. “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” This idiom feels true at the moment when I write this. I say this because it has been a long time without getting involved in elaborate outdoor sports partly because of the COVID-19 pandemic and partially because we do not give importance to physical activities.

So here is the question: Can exercise and physical activities bring wholesome development in students' lives and youths? The absolute no brainer answer would be “definitely yes”. But what have we done to give importance to physical activities and exercises? The students right from the primary school is given opportunity to come to the ground to play various games and sports in a badly levelled grounds if you can picture the situation in a remote school like I have attended. For the students, most of us believe that the most important exercises and physical activities we can take part in are games and sports. Taking part in games and sports have given us a platform to engage with other students and develop a deep interest and appreciation in playing sports.

My interests in physical activities also developed from reading the book series “Harry Potter” by J.K Rowling. There are numerous events in the hogwart where the students play snitch and they also have world cups. They were very fascinating. It makes me excited and encourages me to play like I have immense powers. Merely reading the book and imaging gives me wings to fly. How can a sport that I love very much give me more confidence? Physical activities give me more power to become a healthy and more confident person who can think that he can make change in the world.

By the term “physical activities'' it is not only limited to games and sports. It includes any activities that involve physical efforts. For example taking active parts in after-school programs, scout groups, community service activities and cultural activities. When we take part in all these physical activities, we are exposed to various stimuli that make us uncomfortable. And the uncomfortable situation is what makes us stronger.

There is a quote that roughly says it takes a village to raise a child and in a similar manner, it takes all kinds of exposure to bring a wholesome development in us. By the wholesome development, I understand that there needs to be development not only in one sphere of life. For instance not only in academics but also physically, socially and emotionally. The child who never plays sports will never understand the value and benefits of sports in his/her life. I have seen and experienced that people who engage in physical activities are more energetic, healthier and happy.

Getting engaged in physical activities like playing sports and dancing also boost our confidence. When you build confidence, you are no longer scared. With confidence, we feel like we can rule the world and get involved in any kind of opportunity. That is where a real change happens and where we can change ourselves.

We understand the value of exercises and physical activities but how well is our education system promoting the importance of physical activities and exercises? Not so much. We are engaged almost the whole week learning the text books and rarely get involved in discipline exercises or physical activities. Apart from sports meets and sport competitions, we are almost all the time involved in studies. When we give more importance to classroom learning, we get less chances to get involved in the physical activities. We used to have one Physical Education class every week in middle school. That was also occasionally replaced by other subject teacher. In a HPE class, other teacher would come and teach other subjects and don’t give importance to sports and other interesting activities.

I have also seen students getting scolded when he is a sports liker. I have heard that we would not get food if we are not good in studies despite being good in sports. That is how we do not have many talented sports players at the moment. I deeply feel that we should give equal importance to physical activities so that we don’t become boring adults in the future.

Physical exercise and sports helps in developing physically and mentally. Being physically active and engaging in sports helps to increase flexibility, movements, and improves joint mobility, and son on. As per Dr. Jacqueline (Instructing Director of Kendall, Cumbria), she says "Doing physical activities can make people feel good about themselves and it can have numerous benefits for one's own health".

Social connections with friends are also due to sports and physical exercise. Joining a sports team is a great way to connect with people. Most often many people often develop friendships through sport activities. For example, Bhutan's footballer Chencho Gyeltshen is a sportsman who has won lots of respect and built strong friendships with so many people out of the country due to sports and physical exercises. Therefore, sports and physical exercises are vital for wholesome development.

Having understood its importance, the school and education ministers must build new and safe infrastructure to help students get opportunities to enjoy physical activities. This help will produce the most talented and dynamic people in the future. Who knows it might make the next Christiano Ronaldo or next Messi or our own Chencho Gyeltshen. The school must let us play. I feel there should be a separate sports school too. The school will make the best players in the world. Even if that is not possible, the school must make each and every child play, get into physical activities, ask them to exercise every morning so that we have active and healthy future leaders.

On a concluding note, we need to understand the importance of physical activity and exercise not just as a form of entertainment but also as a necessary tool for development. It has been seen that those who are physically active have better mental health, better physical health, more confidence and more dynamic. Physical activity brings wholesome development in youths' lives and it is important that education must give importance to physical activities like we are asked to study.