Persuasive writing: Team vs individual sports

Ideas

individual sports:
all improvement/failure is on you and only you
- your hard work will show
-if the outcome isn't what you want, you can personally improve yourself
self discipline
-you put all the hard work in and the results shown are yours alone
-you can't slack off
-you teach yourself what works for you
respect for competitors
-teaches gracious winning and losing.
-learning how to accept defeat and self improve.

Sport is a part of many people's lives and has shaped cultures and people alike. Sport gives you an opportunity to be better and succeed. Individual sport is the best way to grow as an athlete due to the outcome being yours alone, the self discipline needed and the respect for all those around you.

Everyone loves to succeed, feeling accomplished when your hard work pays off. With team sports, individual effort is overlooked and those who struggle can fail to grow as a sportsperson, due to the rest of the team. With individual sport, the success is a product of your hard work and commitment, the failure a lesson which will encourage you to improve. Failure in a team can result in negative feeling towards certain individuals and a potentially toxic environment to those who struggle. Not only does individual sport help you improve as an athlete, it can improve you as a person.

Discipline is a thing we all must posses, making ourselves the best we can be through respect of our self and others. In a team sport, people can perform poorly (or not at all), because they know somebody else can pick up the slack.  This can discourage people from trying to succeed and will have negative consequences on the rest of the team as a result. With individual sport, the outcome is a result of your hard work, you are the one putting in the effort and nobody else can do it for you. This encourages people to try their best, wanting to succeed after the hard work they put in. In order to succeed, one needs to practice and become better than they once were. This is a great attitude to have in all areas of ones life.

Part of life is working with others towards a common goal. In team sports, you are made to work together in order to succeed. This builds respect and trust among the participants, valuable qualities in every bodies lives. There is only one problem. Being in a team can automatically put people off if the environment created is uncomfortable. In most teams, there are those that always get all of the credit, making it difficult for others to be comfortable and ready to improve in the team. People only notice what they want to, eg. the silver ferns, I am sure most of you can name a few of them- the great players remembered by everyone- but can an average person name every silver fern in the last ten years? I doubt it- due to the media coverage we only pay attention to a few, leaving the others out of the spotlight. If somebody is scoring all the goals or taking all the credit, whats the point in even trying? This discourages self discipline and the want to improve in an individual. Not only do individual sports encourage more self discipline, they encourage more respect for others.

Respect is a vital foundation on which society sits, if it isn't present, everything will crumble into disaster and anarchy.  Individual sports teaches you to have respect for yourself, for those who have helped you and for any opponent. Understanding that people work hard to get where they are is a massive part in how people work together. This respect for other people's efforts is essential in any situation, not just sport. Respecting yourself is extremely important, because if you are lacking this respect, you will not have the drive to improve.

Hard work, discipline and respect are all essential in everyday life and for society as a whole. Individual sports encourages these qualities, they are all vital to any success. Individual sport is better than team sport because of the self discipline needed, the respect for others and the drive to improve to succeed.