Ciara, a student at Nord Anglia’s British International School of Shanghai (BISS), remembers one thing very clearly about Year 6: she couldn’t run or throw.
“I was very uncoordinated,” she says, laughing. She skipped cross-country, dreaded warm-ups, and always got a stitch. But then something changed.
Marlon Devonish, a coach at BISS and gold-medal-winning Olympian, encouraged her to try—first with throwing, then running. She got better. He noted and pointed out how much she was improving. She felt the progress and dug in more. Her confidence grew with her abilities. Slowly, the girl who avoided sport was winning tournaments. She became a team captain and an award-winning multi-sport athlete. A local football academy scouted her.
Along the way, she learned more than how to sprint or save a goal: she learned to lead, to persevere, and to believe in herself. “It was always that reassurance from him, every year, telling me how much I had improved,” she said.
Sport isn’t just a break from the “real” work of school; it’s real work where essential life skills are built. It helps to develop confidence, resilience, focus, collaboration, emotional agility, stress management, and strength. In a world that’s changing fast—where face-to-face connection is often replaced by more fragmented interactions—sport and extracurriculars aren’t just “nice-to-haves,” but vital foundations for a healthy, connected childhood.
“Before, I never would have joined a game,” Ciara said of her confidence built through sport. Now she plays a variety of sports, many with friends in and out of school. “I feel like I speak a whole new language,” she said. “The language of sport.”
Devonish says sport helped him stand out. “I wasn’t the most academic, but I was definitely one of the sportiest. Sport gave me a way to stand out when everything else felt the same. It became a way to find out who I was.”
He now loves bringing that self-discovery and empowerment to all kids. That of course includes the elite athletes who go on to win scholarships and compete at the highest levels of sport.
But he’s equally charged by helping every child get stronger and more physically able—what he calls “well-being athletes”—who as they progress through life will be able to stay healthy, stay connected to a wider network of people, and participate in more networks. It’s also a way for them to learn teamwork or how to overcome adversity, and it enables types of camaraderie unique to sport.
“Kids who couldn’t catch a ball six months ago now are leading warm-ups. They realise, ‘I can do this. I’m improving’. That growth builds a confidence they take back into the classroom.”
The benefits of physical activity are well documented. One systematic review confirms that higher levels of physical activity are consistently associated with better self-perception, perceived competence, and self-esteem, across genders and contexts. Participation—not skill level—was a critical predictor of positive outcomes. Separate studies link physical activity in school to increased resilience as well as emotional regulation and self-esteem.
The list of benefits of participating in sport is long, says Mike Ostrowski, Director of the IMG Academy sport and wellbeing collaboration at Nord Anglia:
Sport offers young people a rare opportunity to develop authentic leadership. Beyond the obvious roles like team captain, every match or fixture presents a chance to step up, whether by supporting a teammate, influencing the outcome, or leading by example. It’s a powerful form of social proof: not adults telling kids they’re capable, but young people discovering it for themselves through action and achievement.
Athletes learn to listen and speak up when needed. They practice real-time decision-making and learn viscerally what it means to be accountable to others. According to the Aspen Institute’s Project Play, children who engage in team sports show greater development of social-emotional learning competencies, particularly collaboration, empathy, and respect.
Ciara started by just learning the basics of running and throwing. But that led to leadership roles. “By Year 9, I was captaining the volleyball and basketball teams. This year, I got MVP at our last tournament,” she said. She stepped into a goalkeeping role for the football team despite never playing the position before. “We didn’t have anyone, and I was one of the older players. I felt confident enough to take it on,” she told me.
At a time when teens face an alarmingly high amount of disconnection and isolation, and when many young people are facing mental health challenges, sport can be an elixir and a buffer.
A study in The Lancet Psychiatry found that individuals who exercised regularly had 43% fewer days of poor mental health compared to those who didn’t.
For young people especially, sport provides an outlet for stress and anxiety. “Sometimes, you just need a positive diversion,” Devonish says. “A way to go away, do something physical, and come back more focused. That’s what sport did for me, and that’s what I try to help students discover for themselves.”
Ciara agrees. “Sport is how I manage stress. During my exams, I looked forward to Sunday morning football and Friday athletics. It was the thing that broke up the studying and gave me something to be excited about.”
“It’s not just the physical transformation,” said Terry, Ciara’s father. “Mr Devonish helped Ciara build structure, resilience, and mental strength. I’ve seen it in how she talks to adults, how she makes choices. These are life skills.”
For many students, sport becomes a sanctuary from academic performance pressures. In high-achieving school environments, athletics can be a place to just be, and importantly: be with others.
John Garrish, director of Athletic Development & Performance at North Broward Preparatory School, sees a real benefit for building broad and deep relationships.
“You share a classroom with them and then you are in the weight room with them. It deepens relationships and provides connection points students wouldn’t have otherwise,” he says. They have conversations that might not come up in math class, or they mingle with kids outside of their usual circle. “It sets them up for lifelong relationships,” he said.
Devonish didn’t commit to athletics until he was 15, though before that he played multiple sports. He believes that helped him when he found his “spark” on the athletics field, which he then focused on later.
Ostrowski, director of Nord Anglia’s collaboration with IMG Academy, believes sport plays a key role in supporting children who struggle with perfectionism, a trait on the rise.
“Kids strive for perfection because they think that’s what adults expect from them,” he says. “Sport teaches them that might not always be attainable, and they can still reach their end game with hard work and by overcoming adversity.”
Devonish sees there’s gold in sport for all young people. “Sport isn’t just about the elite athletes. It’s about the kid who learns how to run with confidence, the one who learns how to lead, and the one who learns that they can try, fail, and still get better.”
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