Athletics

Athletics provide a powerful opportunity for building good character. Skills like work ethic, teamwork, leadership, and integrity contribute to the short-term success of the athlete and team and the long-term development and success of the individual.

We’d be happy to meet with your team and coaches to help you start a sports initiative. We’ll help educate your team about:

the appropriate role of sports in education,
shaping culture to maximize the potential of your team,
how to guide your student-athletes to focus on preparation, hard work, self-discipline, and more.

Our team will also be your guide throughout your continued efforts.

We Can Help

Our team can assist you in evaluating your needs and selecting the services that will help meet your goals.

Assessment

Understanding the culture of your team is the essential first step towards getting the competitive edge.

The Sport Team Culture survey gathers parallel data from athletes and coaching staff. It can provide insight into:

your team culture among athletes,
the coaching practices that shape how your athletes treat each other,
how your athletes prepare to compete.

Learn more about our assessment opportunities.

Professional Development

In this workshop, participants will learn tools and strategies to coach the Six Pillars in athletics and activities by turning values into behaviors, as well as develop implementation plans to Teach, Encourage, Advocate, and Model the Six Pillars of Character on their teams.

Ongoing Consultation

Our team can work with you and discuss:

best practices
brainstorm ideas to Teach, Enforce, Advocate, and Model the Six Pillars
receive feedback on CC! lessons
asnswer your questions,

Consultations are a great way to keep your CC! program on-track and provide your team with new ideas to help make your CC! program successful.

Curricular Resources and Teaching Tools

We offer a variety of character education curricular resources in our online store, including:

resilience and inclusion lesson pack
daily activities
lesson plans
awareness products like posters, banners, wristbands, and pencils.

Check out our store.

Digital Classroom

Our online lesson plan library provides character education lesson plans that can be filtered by grade level and topic.

Check out our Digital Classroom.

Get Started Today

Don’t wait another day to integrate on character skills in your athletics inititaties!

Get started by requesting information with the button below. If you like what we provide, we’d love to provide a free consultation to discuss how we can help you reach your goals.

1 %

OF YOUTH
PARTICIPATE IN ATHLETICS

Source

“One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than a hundred teaching it.”

-Knute Rockne

1 %

OF PARENTS AND COACHES BELIEVE SPORTSMANSHIP IS GETTING WORSE

Source

Pursuing Victory with Honor Success Story

What's Happening in Tulare County, CA

The Tulare County (CA) Office of Education (TCOE) has been an innovative and long-time advocate of CHARACTER COUNTS! and the Six Pillars of Character. In addition to implementing CHARACTER COUNTS! in their schools, they have expanded their efforts to include our athletics component, Pursuing Victory with Honor (PVWH).

Tulare County’s efforts have been positively impacting student-athletes, coaches, officials, and spectators throughout 48 California school districts and for more than 20 years.

Highlights in Tulare County

Recognition

During football, volleyball, and basketball games, athletes from each team who best exemplify sportsmanlike conduct during the game are awarded a Pursuing Victory with Honor pin.
The Sportsmanship Caught in Action program is for spectators who witness good sportsmanship during a game that might go unnoticed. Spectators scan the QR code, and the act is reported to the PVWH staff, and a Pursuing Victory with Honor certificate and pin are delivered and presented to the nominee at their school. The nominees are also recognized on the TCOE website.
The CHARACTER COUNTS! Sportsmanship award is an award given to an athlete of each school’s sports team who best exemplifies the attributes of character, integrity, and sportsmanship.
TCOE is planning its inaugural PVWH Honors Banquet. Two high school athletes in good academic standing and who exemplify good character, ethics, and sportsmanship will be recognized at a dinner and awarded a certificate, PVWH Champions patch, and plaque. A Sportsmanship Coach of the Year and Athletic Director of the Year will also be recognized.
PVWH Champions letterman patches will be awarded to students who have been active participants in Pursuing Victory with Honor activities.
PVWH helmet stickers are provided to teams that are actively involved with PVWH efforts.
Four Tulare County Seniors are awarded the annual $500 Pursuing Victory with Honor scholarship.

Sportsmanship Action Team

Twenty-six student-athletes are members of the Sportsmanship Action Team (SAT).
Students provide the Tulare County Office of Education with their perspective on athletics and sportsmanship.
Students actively model and advocate for good sportsmanship in school activities, work to create a positive culture between teams and spectators, and organize PVWH activities at their schools.

Huddles

The Student Action Team created the Huddle conferences and developed the workshops for high school students in the fall and for middle school students in the spring to learn more about the importance of good sportsmanship and the Six Pillars of Character in high school athletics.
Each participating school receives a PVWH flag.

Partnerships

TCOE partners with local Kiwanis clubs to recognize high school student-athletes in good academic standing and who exemplify good character, ethics, and sportsmanship. One female and one male student-athlete from each high school are nominated by a coach for the fall, winter, and spring seasons. The student receives a PVWH yard sign, shirt, pin, PVWH Champions patch, and certificate.
Players from the Visalia Rawhide baseball (MiLB) team visit schools to advocate for sportsmanship and character.

Learn more about Tulare County’s initiatives

Building Culture

Your strategy will never outperform your culture. All of the drills and practice plans in the world won’t overcome poor work ethic, bad teamwork, or a lack of accountability.

Your job as a leader is to create a culture that encourages positive behaviors and develops the character needed for your team to perform at its best.

Resource Highlight

The ESSENTIALS

The ESSENTIALS is a research-based character development, SEL, and leadership enhancement program designed for educators working with middle and high school-aged youth.

The ten focus areas in The ESSENTIALS series represent critical competencies for developing character and culture skills needed for success in school, extra-curricular activities, work, and beyond.

Modules are aligned with the Six Pillars of Characterand the core CASEL Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Competencies of self-management, self-awareness, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.

New Resource

Sport Team Fundamentals align closely with Pursuing Victory With Honor and the CHARACTER COUNTS! framework by emphasizing the development of core ethical values and team culture. Rooted in the Six Pillars of Character, this curriculum helps coaches build students’ character, social-emotional, and academic skills while shaping a positive school culture. Through structured workouts, audits and self-studies, parent/family connections, and team culture and character quotations, athletes learn to embody these principles in both sports and life.