Exercise is important throughout life for all age groups in order to maintain both physical health and mental wellbeing. Making sports instruction and physical education mandatory for all able-bodied school students is a good idea, because it establishes beneficial exercise habits and enhances other aspects of their lives.
Sport is a great source of lessons for life. It teaches us to take nothing for granted and to treat others with respect. The smug individual or overconfident team is always vulnerable and may be beaten by an opponent with less obvious skill but more tenacity and determination. Sport teaches us how to behave, or how not to behave, in defeat. Maintaining composure in the face of disappointment is a life skill well worth mastering, as is the ability to recover quickly after setbacks. Sport teaches us concentration, discipline and a good work ethic (essential for academic achievement as well). It is only by training hard, staying focused and exercising self-control that we attain success. We learn a lot about competition but sport teaches us restraint, too: we need to keep a cool head in the midst of intense pressure to have a chance of winning. To be calm and composed under pressure is an enormous advantage at exam time.
Team sports also teach us how to work as a team. Being a ‘team player’ is rated very highly by employers and knowing how to interact and corporate with others prepares us not only for the workplace but for the rest of our social lives.
To conclude, sport definitely has a place in the school curriculum, because students will become fit and active, improve their attitude to study and learn many important life skills. For these reasons, all students who are physically able should be required to participate in physical education in addition to the academic subjects.