25 million American children can not be wrong. Even though at least 20 million of these
             kids will suffer injury by the age of 15, only 10% of the injuries are serious enough to require
             more than one visit to the doctor. I have been playing baseball as well as other organized sports
             for almost 15 years; and in my opinion, sports develop friendship and self-esteem. I believe that
             coaches should take a "how-to" class on what a coach should and should not do.
             Injuries occur for three main reasons. First, because parents push their children past their
             natural ability level, thus it causes injury to the over worked body parts. Second, an accident
             occurs such as a turned ankle or a ball taking a bad bounce and hitting a player. The third, and
             most common reason, a coach teaches a player the wrong way to perform specific task. For
             example, when I was 12 years old, my baseball coach taught me the wrong way to throw a curve
             ball. After repeatedly throwing the wrong way, I tore a ligament in my right elbow. If my coach
             at that time, would have taken some kind of class, he would have known the proper way to teach
             Nevertheless, I feel that sports should greatly benefit a child's self-esteem. Competition
             also builds self-esteem because children grow both emotionally and physically and sports help to
             develop a positive view of both themselves and their athletic skills. As long as children feel that
             they are beneficial to the team, they are developing self-esteem because they see their personal
             role in the team as important to the whole cause. If a child is not athletically gifted, he can
             always take up a more non-competitive sport such as jogging or weight-training. This will also
             build self-esteem because the child can see his improvement and relate to others at the same
             As well as building self-esteem, sports can help develop life-long friendships. Children
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