December 08, 2007

Children and sports share a very special relationship. Children are attracted towards anything that entertains them or amuses them in the beginning. Nowadays, children are amused not with the physical attributes of things but the things that are unique and indifferent to the eyes.

There was a time when teenagers, especially boys, would organise cricket matches, make plans to wake up early and go to some park for some exercise and work-out etc.

Today, the scenario is totally different from the one about 5-10 years ago. Today, matches are organised to be played at some gaming zone and the skills of the two teams are judged through a virtual medium. But then again, this is not always the case. Still I see young boys visiting the National Coaching Centre and the Hockey Club of Pakistan working very hard to improve their fitness. Many teenagers are linked with a number of clubs. Sometimes I feel that a lot of influence has been put into cricket as you would find a cricket club in every nook and corner of the city, whereas you would not find a coach or club for some sport such as table tennis.

Nowadays, physical fitness and sports are being ignored by majority of the teenagers, courtesy our media that is pulling them towards fashion. Teenagers are inclined towards getting their hair straightened and streaked, growing their nails, making different hairstyles rather than bending their back to even pick something up from the floor.

Girls, on the other hand, have always been inclined towards fashion more than anything else, yet they take time out to enjoy in their own way which also includes their favourite sport, badminton.

The importance of sports in life has not yet been known to all teenagers today. Youngsters continue to deviate towards things such as fashion, video games and other stuffs rather than participating in sporting activities that would benefit them tremendously.

Another huge issue is the non-affordability of sports facilities by majority of the teenagers. Many hi-fi clubs offer these facilities but charge a huge fee which is not affordable by all and only the upper class can afford to benefit from them. This denies most of the public the facilities of not only enjoying these sports but also excelling in them.

None of the parents, who had opted to get their children registered in some summer camp this summer arranged by some well known hotels, were satisfied with the offerings that were available to their children during their summer camp. When asked to comment one parent nearly shouted: “They charge such a lot of money, there’s one coach training 50 children at one time, a child would only get to hit the ball once in the time scheduled for squash and that is not sufficient.”

Lack of grounds and appropriate courts for specific sports lead to any available spot being converted into a playfield that frequently violates social rules. Children love sports, only if they are provided proper space to enjoy these sports. The offerings of good sporting facilities would lead to teenagers not deviating from physical trainings and fitness. This would also help in controlling and stopping them from going in the wrong direction of subjecting themselves to drugs and stuff that would be hazardous to their health.

Bio facts

• There are more than 600 different voluntary muscles in the human body.
• Muscles make up 40 per cent of a person’s total weight.
• The largest muscle is the gluteus maximus, in the buttock.
• The skin is the body’s largest organ of the body.
• In a normal lifespan, the body shed 18 kg of skin.
• About 80 scalp hairs fall out every day.
• Each of the brain’s 100 billion neurons connects to hundred or thousands of others.
• Nerve signal can travel up to 400 km/h.
• The brain uses 20 per cent of the body’s oxygen.
• The ear canal is about 2.5 cm in length.
• Human ear can detect 1,500 different tones.
• Human nose can identify about 10,000 different smells.
• If the lungs were opened out and laid flat, they would cover a tennis court.
• The average human takes 600 million breaths in a 70-year life-time.
• The circulatory system contains around 100,000 km of blood resells.

Jazba Laraib