Correction: The survey was not conducted by Women’s Sports Foundation.

It amazes how so many people undervalue the importance of youth sports.

Not every kid that plays a sport is going to become a professional, but those kids will learn the morals and values that will serve them later in life.

Sports provides more than just an entertaining physical activity for children, it also engages them mentally and helps them practice good decision making, improves self-esteem and teaches them essential social skills. Of course, children can develop these skills in other ways outside of sports, but athletics is just one way for children to develop these skills with ease, while bettering themselves in the process.

According to a survey posted on the Athlete Assessments website, female high school athletes are 92 percent less likely to abuse drugs, 80 percent less likely to get pregnant and three times more likely to graduate than non-athletes.

Due to its foundation of positive values and unparalleled worldwide admiration, I believe sports is one of the greatest inventions man has ever created because not only can it develop young men and women into studious and diligent adults, it also has the power to break international, racial and ethnic barriers.

When you look at the big picture, most athletes know they are not going to make it to the big leagues, but what they learn through sports might help them make it to their own “big league,” or help them become better contributors to society.

Research shows a child’s involvement in sports pushes them to improve their social interaction, which increases their confidence and improves necessary skills that will benefit them down the road.

In fact, 95 percent of Fortune 500 executives participated in high school athletics, Athlete Assessments states. Alternatively, 96 percent of dropouts in 14 school districts in seven regions of the nation did not participate in any athletic program throughout school.

Sports is a pathway to setting goals and accomplishing them, whether it be five, 10 or 30 years after you stepped foot on the field or court. Let’s teach these kids the right morals early on and get them on the right path to better their lives and, as a result, their communities in the process.