Cost of equipment and participation:

Organized Play/Free play

Cons: A Con of organized sports it the cost associated with it. The costs can vary form equipment, to transportation, to the number of children a family may have. Also, normally with organized sports there is a registration fee and uniform fee. The costs associated with organized sports can keep a child from being able to participate. The biggest con of free play is lack of organization.

Pros: Organized sports can give children an edge on the sport they are participating in. Being a part of a team can give confidence to children and teach them the rules of play as well as the value of teamwork and sportsmanship. Children that participate in organized sports tend to be more active in physical activities than those that do not. Free play does not cost money. With free play everyone can

participate. Children can have fun and will progress at their own pace. Free play is stress free.

Safety and injuries

Organized/ Free play:

Pros: With organized sports injuries still happen but there are less because of the training the children receive. With organized sports there are officials to ensure participants are safe. Even if there are injuries, organized sports require insurance to help offset the bills if there are any. Parents are the supervisors when children are at free play. If there is an injury an adult should be present to assist.
Cons: The person supervising may not be paying attention to the kids playing. Therefore, unsafe acts may occur. Also during free play, what organized sports may deem unsafe, because a parent did it as a child, they may consider it to be ok.

Relevance within a school environment

Pros: Organized sports in a school environment is a great tool for teaching children teamwork and consequences of actions. Organized sports can be as simple as a game of kickball for physical education or as complex as peewee football. Free play in a school environment allows a child to test what has been taught in class without fear of failing.

Inclusion of children with special needs:

All students should be included when participating in sports, regardless of their ability to perform. However, depending on a person's disabilities, the accommodations that may need to be made, might take too much away from the game to include all students. As an advantage for including all students, it teaches teamwork and also shows challenges should not stop and individual from putting forth max effort. It may be challenging to include a person with disabilities in free as well as organized sports.

Developing relationships within the community

There can't be a con when we talk about children and organized sports as well as free play in the community. Parents can find mutual topics to talk about while watching a child play in a park during free play of organized play.

Home/School Connection

When children play at home as well as school everyone wins. As students find sports interesting during free play, they may inform their parents about their interest. The free play may occur in the school or in the community. If it is entertaining enough it will make it to the school as well as home. From the interest of free play it could lead to organized play. As children are active in the community as well as

the school everyone wins. Children are doing activities they enjoy doing while remaining healthy.