Teach, Praise, and Emphasize Character.

COACHES:  One of our most important jobs is to use sports to develop great people.  We have to see, grow, and develop the person first and the player second.  We have to make sure that our kids know that we care more about who they are and the person that they are becoming more than the athlete.

When we do this, we teach them to value character over performance and we can help them grow into healthy adults.  Plus, an athlete with better character will be a better athlete because they will work harder and they will work smarter and they will do it with more grit.

Dr. Jim Loehr has a great quote.  He says that "Who you become as a result of the chase is the most important thing."

Sports allow us to become a better version of ourselves, and the pressure part of sports is just another way for us to grow and find out more about ourselves.

Dr. Loehr asked Billy Donovan a powerful question.  He asked, 

"What is your purpose of coaching, and it can't be about anything materialistic.  It can't be about winning, it can't be about financial security, it can't be about trophies, championships or any of those things.  What are you trying to do every day and what value do you bring?

Coach Donovan said that it forced him to think on a deeper level about what his calling is, what is he supposed to do, and what is his mission is.  Coach Donovan then said that there is an enormous amount of freedom in being who you want to be as a coach and doing things your way when you don't have to deal with and worry about the results.

When we focus on helping to develop better people, we have the freedom to do things our way and the right way.  When we focus on developing better people, we will have stronger athletes who value hard work, character, and integrity.  

Coach K says, "Character drives everything."  Character is who you are, what you do, and how you treat others.  Character is YOU.  The process is what you do.  Results are a combination of who you are and what you do.  To get the right results, you have to have the right process and the right character.

We have to have to teach, praise, and emphasize character.