Watching and being a sports fan can boost your overall well-being. Even if you are not currently a sports enthusiast, try to find a sport that peaks your curiosity and give a try the next season. Team sports tend to be the most popular as they involve a group of people working towards a common goal, but being a sports fan of other types can also provide benefits. Watching sports can help connect you to something bigger than yourself. Games can be a roller coaster of emotions, but as long as you maintain healthy boundaries, you can use your fandom to boost your life satisfaction.
Connecting To Something Bigger
When you are a sports fan, you connect to a greater community in ways you wouldn’t otherwise. Regardless of the sport you are into, you share a love for the sport with a bunch of other sports fans. This automatically creates a bond with fans of the same team and of the greater sport. It also reduces feelings of loneliness because you are part of a greater community that shares the same interests, even if you watch from home alone.
Watching sports can boost feel-good hormones which makes it easier to bond with those around you. If you watch sports at a public venue or attend games in person, the likelihood of making new friends is higher because of the proximity. Being connected to the same team can break the ice when meeting strangers and paves the way for friendships to be established on common ground.
Being a fan of a team also ties in to your social identity. Often fans display their support for their team by sporting team jerseys or colours on game day. Some fans go to extreme measures to dress up and become mini-celebrities within the sports community. This goes to show that individual expression is accepted in these contexts and often recognized. Being a sports fan makes you accepting of others, regardless of your differences. You share a bond, a passion for something beyond your individual selves. And that can be powerful when it comes to boosting your self-esteem and confidence.
The Roller Coaster Of Feelings When You’re A Sports Fan
Being a sports fan can come with a myriad of emotions on game days. Within minutes you experience contradictory feelings, from exhilaration to frustration, all is fair game. When your team wins, you can feel extreme happiness, and when they lose, angry and sad. This is a great opportunity to tune in to how your feelings can be affected by external factors, and how your thoughts can impact those feelings further. Learning to navigate the ups and downs as a sports fan can translate into managing other stressors in your personal life.
Depending on the stakes of the game, the highs and lows can be too much for some people. Use caution if wins and losses have too much of an impact on you. Although being a sports fan can have many benefits, you need to ensure you create a boundary and understand that it is just a game. It is a form of entertainment, not life or death. Even if your team loses the big championship, there will be another chance next season. Take it in stride. This should not be a setback in your personal life. Being a sports fan is a way to have fun.
Keeping Self-Care Top Of Mind
Use fandom as a way to supplement your self-care routine. Watching sports should not be your only tool for improving mental health, but it can be another way to support your self-care journey. Watching sports can help you build a new community. It can help you learn to navigate the ups and downs of emotions in a very short window of time. Understanding how to cope with those emotions is key.
Have a plan in place if it becomes too much to handle. No judgement as to why, just be compassionate with yourself and build up your resilience. Being able to do it in this context will translate into other scenarios in your life. This also opens up possibilities for you to focus on other parts of the game, versus the result. By shifting what you pay attention to, it can also build your ability to see things from another perspective.
Self-care pillars
Many people get motivated to start moving when they watch sports. You don’t need to do the same activity as your favourite team, but find something that gets you active. Supporting your self care pillar of movement can boost your mood even further. It can also open the door to other sports you hadn’t considered previously.
Speaking of pillars, attending games can be difficult to stay on track with a healthy diet. Keep in mind that the odd concession stand meal won’t be the end of the world, but make sure you don’t make it a regular habit. Watching the game at a friends house can also come with a spread of not-so-healthy food options. This is a perfect opportunity to practice self-discipline and limit your intake of foods that have limited nutritional value. Furthermore, watching sports often comes with high alcohol consumption, don’t cave in to the pressure. You can have fun without drinking alcohol.
Financial implications
Please note that watching or partaking in sports can be expensive. If you are currently struggling with your financial self-care, try to find low-cost options for you to take in sports. This does not mean that you can’t go to see a game, but you should make sure it fits within your greater plan. Don’t cave to the pressure of buying a team jersey if you can’t afford it. Practice setting up financial goals and save up towards it over time. The financial implications of being a fan can be significant. Flying to different cities to see your team play a game may not be the best choice. Find ways to enjoy the game that don’t impact you negatively.
What sport do you enjoy watching?
Weather you are a devoted fan and watch every game, or tune in once in a while, being a sports fan can have a positive impact on your overall life satisfaction. From bonding with a greater community, to developing lifelong friendships, being a sports fan can be an easy way to partake in a regular activity that you enjoy. Be cautious of your spending, being a fan can add up.
Sports fans will often experience a range of emotions in a short period of time, which can help you learn to navigate what those feelings are and remember that nothing is permanent. Although being a sports fan doesn’t always come with the healthiest choices for consumption, you can experiment with healthier choices next time you host game day. Be inspired by the athletes you watch and take on activity that gets you moving too. And use this supportive community to express your own identity, get a little silly with what you wear. After all, it’s about having fun!
IMAGE CREDITS: Unsplash | Jimmy Conover.