Participating in sports in school is a great way to begin developing an understanding of how things work in the real world. When a boy plays sports at a young age, his mind, body, and soul grow and develop. Sports force him to think about ways to care for his body by making healthy choices that enhance his mental health. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, sports help to “build young people’s character, self-esteem, and self-discipline, not just muscle.” I see these results daily on the pitch.

Boys who may be struggling in the classroom might find success on the field. Accomplishment on the field then builds their confidence and can lead to a stronger mentality to “try,” which frequently translates into more effort in the classroom and better academic results. The converse is true, too. A boy struggling on the field can succeed by working hard in the classroom, applying it to their athletic game with additional practice, and then seeing significant improvement in their play. In both cases, the effort feeds on itself and builds student-athletes’ character and fosters success.

Sports promotes a “toughness” in boys that can lead to increased resilience. Michael Gurian notes, “The physicality of the sports requires the healthy acceptance of pain and discomfort — children must fight through pain and discomfort toward service, performance, teamwork, and resilience.” Boys who keep at it and work through the bumps and bruises that come in the context of athletic competition build their resilience on the field, which translates to strength in other areas of their lives. When an athlete completes the game, they feel great satisfaction and pride in their accomplishment. Next time they encounter an obstacle or a barrier, they are more likely to find a way to push through the challenge and complete the task. 

The toughness of the game and competition is more than just a physical expression of toughness — it includes the mind, too. When we are in the game mentality and in the throes of athletic competition, we have to engage in mental toughness and block out the noise that could clutter our ability to focus on the task at hand. The noise can be literal noise, like the person cheering on the sideline for the opposing team, but it’s also the figurative noise — the noise of doubt and questioning our own ability to succeed. Competitors learn to block out that noise and focus on the task at hand to achieve success, and sports provide many opportunities to practice this mental task of blocking out the noise. 

Watching boys develop this mental and physical toughness when they weather the storm and ultimately find success is wonderful to witness. When alumni return to campus and recognize the habits of hard work and discipline they learned at Regis are the keys to a healthy lifestyle—and that these habits help them to be a better man—the results are palpable.

Michael Gurian points out other mental benefits of sports, such as reducing social anxiety. Boys who struggle with getting along with or being with other boys learn through athletics how to co-regulate, “a process by which children hone their self-regulation skills by interacting with other co-regulators (other children and adults). Sports are high-dopamine activities (rewarding in the brain) that provide constant co-regulation.” Sports also help boys figure out how to interact with each other physically. Boys can use athletic experiences to find ways to be physical in a safe and regulated way by following the rules of the games. It allows them to engage in activities like tackling and battling for possession of the ball through physical interaction in ways that are considered appropriate in the world in which we live, and for some boys, it is a huge sigh of relief that they are not getting in trouble for playing in this manner. There are clear lines of where you can and cannot do things in a game. The physical interactions that are not appropriate in the hallway are allowed in the scope of a game and can make boys feel safe in expressing their own physicality. Boys want to compete in this way, and sports provide an avenue to channel the desire to be physical in the world.

Sports help us achieve both short-term and long-term goals and give us real experiences in how setting goals and working towards them can result in success. When we take care of our bodies by eating good food and getting enough sleep—not just during a sports season but year-round—we set ourselves up for great athletic performance during the season. At the same time, we also establish healthy habits for a lifetime. These healthy habits translate into short-term success, but they often lead to long-term achievement of life goals, too.  

Boys who participate in sports develop confidence and healthy life habits. Through physical engagement, Gurian points out that “the brain increases self-esteem, self-worth, and a sense of purpose and service as the body accomplishes and performs in the sport.” Boys are keenly aware when they receive praise and acknowledgment for success in a sport, whether or not it is deserved, and in this way, praise associated with athletic accomplishments tends to build resilience because it is connected to performance and is recognized as authentic praise by the athletes. This cycle of accomplishment and praise further enhances a boy’s mental health and how he perceives his abilities.  

Sports also help us find ways to overcome disappointment and obstacles. In life, we all have experiences where we are defeated, and those moments of defeat hurt as they should. The thing we need to keep at the forefront of our minds is that we need to overcome those defeats by having a plan and figuring out how we move forward so we can have success. This is where both short-term and long-term planning comes into effect. If an athlete discovers that his fitness level is preventing him from competing for the full 60 minutes of a game, he then has to identify ways to improve his fitness. Does that mean eating a healthier diet? Incorporating more cardio activities? Getting more sleep? All of the above? By taking steps towards healthier habits, boys build resilience and find ways to be stronger competitors.

Competition is part of life and can bring us great satisfaction. Winning and losing are the products of competition but not always the end goal. We are actually seeking the thrill of competition and the growth we can experience when we compete. If we win, it is not the end all be all. If we win, we should evaluate how we won and determine what we can do next time to do our best and be successful. Likewise, the world does not end if we lose; rather, it’s an opportunity for growth and a chance to assess how we can improve next time. For young boys, competition success is measured by what we learned, whether we played our best, had fun, and improved from the previous game. For older boys, we begin to define success more often by wins and losses, but these are still opportunities to evaluate and measure our personal improvement, what we learned and how we executed that learning since our previous game, and also if we played our best. 

Regis offers a variety of sports for boys in all divisions; some sports, like basketball or rugby, are team sports, and others, like golf and track & field competitions, focus on an individual experience. The idea behind the Regis athletic program is to offer boys a wide variety of experiences to explore their interests and abilities and have ample opportunities to develop healthy lifestyle habits. Regis teaches skills to play the game, mindfulness, and toughness through participation in sports and prepares boys to continue to play at the high school level. 

More than 85% of Regis students participate in school-sponsored athletic programs where they learn how to play the game, develop healthy habits, and form lifelong friendships through the game. Many athletes have passed through our program over the past thirty-plus years. Some go on to play college sports, some go on to play professionally, some might never pick up a ball or step out onto a field again. Regardless of what happens with a student’s athletic career in the future, the skills learned on the pitch, on the track, at the driving range, or on the court have served each one of them and will continue to serve each one of them for a lifetime.

Gary serves as Middle School Athletics Director, Middle School P.E. Coach and Regis' Head Rugby Coach. He holds a B.S. in Kinesiology from Sam Houston State University. Gary has been at Regis for over 20 years, beginning with coaching Rugby at Regis in the Spring of 1999 and then becoming Athletics Director that fall. He has a steadfast belief that the Five Goals of Sacred Heart education serve as a guide for students both on and off the field and court. Gary is a proud Regis Alumni Parent.