Sport can be loud, commercial and, at times, difficult to reconcile with the values we want young people to learn.
There is the extraordinary wealth. The pressure. The ego. The moments of poor behaviour that rightly make headlines.
But this summer is also reminding us of something else.
Across the World Cup and Wimbledon, families, friends, colleagues, classrooms and communities are sharing anticipation, joy, nerves, disappointment, pride and loss. Staffrooms pause for score updates. Group chats come alive. Children sit beside parents and grandparents. Someone always asks, “Did you see that?”
Sport gives us a reason to feel something together.
And that matters.
More than a result
At Wimbledon this week, Serena Williams returned to Grand Slam singles after four years away. At 44, with 23 Grand Slam singles titles and seven Wimbledon titles behind her, she faced 20-year-old Australian Maya Joint.
It was a compelling match: experience and history on one side of the net; youth, possibility and a new generation on the other.
Maya Joint won. Serena Williams lost.
But the match was never only about the score.
For those watching, it was about courage, pressure, endurance, admiration and the passing of something from one generation to the next. It allowed people to hold more than one feeling at once: wanting to see a sporting great triumph, while recognising the excitement of a younger player finding her own moment.
Sport gives us a shared language for joy, frustration, nerves, pride, hope and disappointment.
That can be powerful in schools, at home and wherever young people are learning what it means to be human.
A route into psychological fitness
At Bounce Forward, we talk about psychological fitness: the practical skills that help us understand our emotions, manage challenges, recover from setbacks and stay connected to what matters.
Sport makes many of these skills visible.
When young people watch an athlete miss a penalty, lose a serve, make a mistake or face an overwhelming moment, they are seeing feelings that many already understand.
They know what it is like to get something wrong in front of others. To worry about letting someone down. To want to perform well. To feel frustrated when something does not go their way. To hope for another chance.
That gives adults an opening.
Not to turn every match into a lesson, but to wonder alongside them:
- What do you think they were feeling in that moment?
- What might they have been saying to themselves?
- What could help them settle before the next attempt?
- What do you notice about how they respond after a mistake?
- What might “good enough, not perfect” look like here?
- What was still good about that moment, even if the result was disappointing?
These are not only sporting questions.
They are life questions.
Connection: the habit sport makes easy to see
One of the Five Daily Habits of psychological fitness is Reach Out and Connect.
Sport makes that habit easy to see.
It gives people a shared experience. We sit beside one another, message one another, celebrate together and sometimes commiserate together. It can create belonging across generations, backgrounds and personalities.
For some young people, connection comes through taking part in sport. For others, it comes from watching, following a player, debating a result, collecting cards, playing a game in the playground or simply being included in the conversation.
The important thing is not that every child loves sport.
It is that sport reminds us how much people need shared moments. We need reasons to gather, laugh, care and feel part of something.
For schools and teachers
Big sporting events can offer a natural, low-pressure way into conversations about belonging and emotional wellbeing.
A class discussion, a tutor-time check-in or a simple question at the start of the day can help pupils reflect on the feelings beneath a game: nerves, excitement, frustration, pride, disappointment and hope.
It is also a useful reminder that every child experiences sport differently. Some may feel energised by competition; others may find it stressful, excluding or difficult. Making room for a range of perspectives helps everyone feel included in the conversation.
For parents and families
Sport often creates some of the small, ordinary moments that children remember.
Watching a match together. A conversation in the car after training. A kick-about in the garden. A child copying a celebration in the living room. A shared groan when something does not go your team’s way.
These moments are not insignificant. They give families opportunities to talk, laugh, listen and reconnect — often without needing a formal conversation.
Naming the feeling
Sport is full of emotions that are easy to spot in others.
The player with their head in their hands. The athlete who cannot stop smiling. The crowd falling silent. The child who becomes quiet after their team loses.
That makes sport a useful, low-pressure way to practise another daily habit: Name That Feeling.
Instead of moving quickly to “Don’t be upset” or “It is only a game,” we can help young people notice what is happening.
“You look disappointed.”
“That was a big moment. Were you feeling nervous watching it?”
“I wonder whether they are frustrated, embarrassed or both?”
“I can see why that mattered to you.”
Naming a feeling does not make it bigger. Often, it makes it more manageable.
When children learn that nerves, pride, disappointment and excitement can all be spoken about, they become better able to understand themselves when those feelings show up in their own lives.
Stillness under pressure
The moments we admire in sport can look effortless.
A player taking a penalty. A tennis player serving at match point. An athlete waiting on a start line.
But behind those moments are years of practice — including the practice of settling the mind and body under pressure.
This is where Practise Stillness matters.
Stillness is not about never feeling nervous. It is about noticing when the body is in alarm and having simple ways to return to yourself.
A breath before a penalty.
A routine before a serve.
A pause after a mistake.
A moment to reset before the next attempt.
These are not signs that athletes do not feel pressure. They are signs that they have learned what to do with it.
That is a powerful message for young people: confidence is not the absence of nerves. It is knowing that nerves can be noticed, named and carried.
Notice the good stuff
Sport can easily become focused on winners and losers.
But the good stuff is not only found in the final score.
It might be the player who helps someone back to their feet. The teammate who encourages another after a mistake. The crowd applauding effort. The family watching together. The child copying a celebration in the garden. The conversation that starts because everyone saw the same moment.
This is Name the Good Stuff: not forced positivity, and not pretending that disappointment does not matter. It is the ability to notice what is still meaningful, hopeful or enjoyable alongside a difficult feeling.
That is a skill for sport, school, family life and everything in between.
Quiet heroes matter too
We often hear most about the loudest voices in sport: the biggest personalities, boldest celebrations and most expensive contracts.
But young people also need to see quieter forms of leadership.
The athlete who shows up consistently. The player who works hard, takes responsibility and uses their influence to help others. The person who does not need to shout to make an impact.
Harry Kane is one example. Alongside his achievements in football, the Harry Kane Foundation’s partnership with Bounce Forward is helping bring practical psychological-fitness resources to schools and parents.
That kind of leadership matters.
It reminds young people that strength is not only about winning. It can also be about patience, recovery, kindness, humility and using success to open a door for someone else.
The heroes who do not need to shout can still be heard.
More than entertainment
This summer gives us an opportunity to make space for the conversations that sport naturally invites.
Not every child will care about the same teams, players or sports. But most understand the feelings underneath the games: wanting to belong, wanting to do well, worrying about failure, hoping for another chance and wanting someone to notice when things feel hard.
So perhaps the question is not simply, “Who won?”
Perhaps it is also:
What can this moment teach us about being human?
That is where sport becomes more than entertainment.
It becomes a shared language for connection, emotion, stillness, hope and the good stuff we notice together.
Building psychological fitness together
Bounce Forward works with schools, families and communities to help children and young people build the practical skills they need to navigate life’s challenges.
Explore our resources for schools and parents, and discover how psychological fitness can become part of everyday life — in classrooms, on the sidelines and around the kitchen table.
