Quite often around exam times children withdraw from sporting activities in the belief that study is the most important and all else must be forsaken.  Quite often this is the final nail in the coffin for teenagers for dropping out of sport.  An article written for The Telegraph newspaper earlier this year (CLICK HERE FOR ARTICLE) suggests that withdrawal from sport has no effect whatsoever on academic outcome, and rather that involvement in sport has a positive impact on mental toughness and well being – which other studies have shown has a positive outcome on exam performance.  Of course, a balance has to be struck, but abandoning the field for the books may just be doing more harm than good.