Alan Silverman, a friend and longtime reader of this magazine, approached me with the idea for this column. “You might consider the pros and cons of individual sports versus team sports,” Alan said. “Both are terrific, but they present different emotional and psychological developmental benefits. . . My theory is that individual sports develop self-reliance, a sense of personal responsibility, an ability to work to overcome personal obstacles and challenges and the skills to deal with personal defeat and personal success. And that team sports teach important lessons about working with others, making compromises, sharing and sacrificing for the good of the whole. Different, but equally important lessons.”

I agree. This month, we feature the perspectives of two coaches who work with athletes participating in two individual sports: gymnastics and squash. Next month, we will focus on the benefits of team sports. These questions are bound to raise many perspectives among coaches and the parents of kids who are involved in all types of individual and team sports. We welcome input on either topic. Write to sports@raisingarizonakids.com and we will post your comments on our website or as a letter to the editor.

DAN WITENSTEIN: There are many developmental benefits to gymnastics. Physically, gymnastics builds strength, coordination and flexibility. Emotionally, gymnastics helps children and adolescents become strong, independent, confident individuals. Gymnastics involves a lot of repetition to master skills, which develops good concentration and work habits. Like many other individual sports, gymnastics is skill based, not age based. That allows children to move ahead at their own pace. It is common in competitive gymnastics to have a five-year age span among the gymnasts in any competitive level.

Gymnastics offers so many building blocks, or skill progressions, that children as young as toddlers can feel successful in small and frequent increments. Each success in their skill building leads to a greater feeling of empowerment and success. As gymnasts get older and move into higher levels, they start to perfect their skills and develop confidence in competitions. Children who enjoy gymnastics are usually independent by nature. They enjoy challenging their “personal best.” They are both athletes and performers, watched by judges and fans. They learn to focus their energy into their routines and perform well under pressure. These children love to excel. It is not just about winning; it is also about what they can do to improve on a skill, event or entire performance.

Although gymnastics is considered an individual sport, you see many aspects of teamwork and camaraderie commonly associated with team sports. Individual gymnasts in our program may be training for a state or national competitions or to earn a spot on a college team, but they are all working side by side, cheering each other on every day at practice. We encourage a very positive team atmosphere. Workouts are usually based on the entire group completing assignments on each apparatus. Each athlete’s attitude and drive can affect their teammates. At the same time, we can structure training around an individual’s needs. Not all gymnasts are motivated the same way.

RICHARD TUCKER: Unlike team sports, in an individual sport children are accountable for their own strengths, weaknesses and decisions, as there are no teammates to offer deflection. Squash is like playing physical chess at 100 mph, so there is a lot of room for different skills. Squash requires quick reactions and a quick mind, stamina, strength, speed, hand/eye coordination, athleticism and mental focus.

Squash teaches children to think quickly and for themselves and they are immediately made aware of the consequence of their decisions. A child has to analyze the opponent’s strengths, weaknesses and mental strategy and understand how to use those to his or her advantage. Also, because the space on the squash court is limited, you are in very close proximity with your playing partner/opponent for quite some time, which teaches cooperation, respect and tolerance. If a situation becomes stressful, there are no other players to relieve that stress and it becomes the responsibility of the individual to learn how to cope with it.

I like squash as an individual sport for children because, unlike tennis, you are very close to your opponent, so children can engage easily with their friends. Also, it is relatively easy to get the ball to the front wall, so even beginners can feel successful. Different balls for different ability levels ensure a positive experience. And, unlike most sports, you can practice squash alone.

I think that squash can offer children of every type of personality and every type of strength and weakness a positive experience because the game is multifaceted. A survey in Forbes magazine recently named squash as the healthiest sport. Squash is played all over the world and has the ability to offer experiences with people a child would never meet otherwise. It truly is an international sport that you can enjoy for life. rak