Instilling Core Values through Youth Sports
Teaching Respect, Self-Control, and Responsibility
Mar 15, 2009
Respect, self-control, and responsibility are prime examples of character traits that can be taught through sports. However, it doesn’t take long to look around and see plenty of examples of just the opposite – loss of self-control (thrown helmets, fighting), loss of respect (arguing with the officials, offensive language) and irresponsible behavior (check the daily sports page for athletes charged with driving under the influence and assault).
Values and character traits are learned in childhood and then molded throughout a lifetime. Modeling of core values can teach young people more about character than the best lectures. How coaches respond to bad calls, errors, irate parents can all be teaching opportunities to model self-control and respect.
Character Revealed Through Adversity
It is often said that adversity builds character. In reality, adversity reveals character. Character is revealed by how people handle difficult situations. Just look around you. Character is revealed many times throughout the day. What is your response to an aggressive driver on the freeway, a spilled coffee in the car, or an irritating colleague at work?
In the same line of thinking, character is revealed through the sports arena. Children who observe coaches losing their tempers and verbally abusing athletes, umpires, and/or parents will learn the same behavior.
Teaching Respect
Respect is shown through everyday interaction with each player, parent, and official. Coaches model respect through the use of their words and their actions. This includes age appropriate language, positive instructive comments, and actions that exhibit self-control. Aggressive gesturing at an umpire, using derogatory comments, and/or offensive language teach young people that respecting authority doesn’t count when you are angry.
However, teaching a young baseball player to lay down his helmet and bat rather than staring down an umpire and/or throwing his bat is a good example of teaching a young player respect. Teaching a young athlete to support his teammate after an error is another good example of teaching respect. What a powerful lesson to take off the field and transfer into life’s daily challenges.
Teaching Self-Control
Self-control is another valuable skill to be mastered through sports. There are many opportunities to exhibit self-control in the world of sports. One of the most common is how behavior is handled after a loss. Teaching kids to look for the good in a game regardless of the outcome, focusing on the personal best of each athlete rather than on the mistakes made, and shaking hands with the opponents regardless of the intensity of the emotions are all ways to teach and model self-control.
Youth sports provide a tremendous platform for teaching character and values to young athletes. As important as character traits are, maybe strong character should be as important a prerequisite for coaching youth sports as knowledge and understanding of the sport.
