From pickup games in a driveway or backyard, through recreational leagues and all the way up to highly competitive leagues at the college and professional levels, millions of Americans play sports every year. Each athlete has his own reasons for playing a sport, be it the competition, socializing with other people or the glory he finds on the playing field. Another factor that drives many athletes is the effects on their health from playing sports. Depending on the sport and the athlete, there are both positive and negative effects on your health.

Mental and Emotional Benefits

Playing sports affects your mental and emotional health due to the physiological effects that exercise has on the body. Jasper Smits, director of the Anxiety Research and Treatment Program at Southern Methodist University, and Michael Otto, psychology professor at Boston University, analyzed the results of dozens of studies involving exercise and mental health, and concluded that exercise can help reduce depression and anxiety, and can be especially beneficial to people who lack access to traditional treatments, such as drugs or counseling. Smits and Otto recommend not only focusing on the long-term gains provided by physical activity, but also the immediate, short-term gains. According to Smits, "After just 25 minutes, your mood improves, you are less stressed, you have more energy -- and you'll be motivated to exercise again tomorrow. A bad mood is no longer a barrier to exercise; it is the very reason to exercise."

Physical Benefits

The physical benefits of playing sports are numerous. Exercise in general controls weight by burning calories, improves the functioning of the cardiovascular system, placing a lower strain on the heart, and increases an athlete's energy level while improving the quality of sleep. It also provides longer-term benefits, such as the reduced risk of diseases like cardiovascular disease and diabetes, reduces the level of body fat, improves the cholesterol makeup of the athlete's bloodstream and makes the bones and muscles stronger. The athlete also develops the physical skills needed to compete in a given sport, such as hitting a baseball or kicking a soccer ball.

Negative Effects

Despite all the benefits that can be gained, there are some drawbacks to playing sports. The competitive nature that drives most athletes, especially elite athletes, often leaves them prone to injury through overuse or overtraining, or by ignoring injury to play through the pain in order to help their team. Coaches can facilitate this behavior by ignoring the issue or by pushing an athlete to continue even when she is hurt. This attitude can be even more dangerous in a collision sport such as football or ice hockey, where concussions are a regular occurrence. An athlete who sustains a concussion -- which is the brain being bounced off the sharp ridges of the skull -- must fully recover from the concussion before practicing or playing again, or he puts himself at risk of sustaining an even worse concussion. Repeated head trauma causes chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disorder that can cause memory loss, confusion, poor judgment, aggression, depression and dementia. Boxers, football players and hockey players often suffer from the effects of CTE years after they retire.

Benefits of Team Sports

While athletes who play individual sports receive many of the same physical and mental benefits that athletes in team sports receive, there are additional benefits to participating in team sports. It provides you with a way to meet new people and expand your social network. Team sports provide you with a sense of camaraderie with your teammates, as you work together to achieve victory. Playing a team sport can be especially beneficial for children. It can help teach them to set aside their personal desires in order to help the team. They can also learn that hard work and perseverance can help them achieve their goals and dreams -- a valuable lesson that they can carry throughout life.

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