How to Teach Values Through Youth & Adolescent Sports

Along with offering an opportunity for physically healthful recreation, sports participation can help children develop their values. By engaging students in sports, coaches can encourage them to practice cooperation and build their teamwork skills. Because sports are enjoyable, children commonly do not realize that they are actually receiving lessons on values while they engage in play, making sports an effective means by which to surreptitiously educate kids.

Instructions

    • 1

      Engage students in age appropriate sporting activities. If children are overly challenged by a sport, they may not fully engage in the activity. When teaching young children, select simple sports with few, easy-to-understand rules, such as kickball. When working with older children, use more complex sports with detailed rules, like football.

    • 2

      Discuss the importance of teamwork with players. Before you begin to play the sport, explain to players that all sports require teamwork. Tell the players that you expect them to display positive team effort and work cooperatively to ensure their team's success.

    • 3

      Rotate leadership roles. By giving each player an opportunity to take the lead, you ensure that all players feel like a valued part of the team. Additionally, you force your players to practice sharing, a skill that can be highly useful in daily life.

    • 4

      Praise all players for their efforts. Often coaches focus on the most successful players, and fail to praise less-skilled students. Lavish praise on all players, regardless of their skill level. Doing this allows all participants to feel welcome and set a tone of acceptance and appreciation.

    • 5

      Correct students who aren't supportive of peers. As competitiveness takes over, some players scold or mock teammates who make seemingly careless mistakes. If you notice a player speaking negatively to his peers, pull him aside and explain to him that negativity is not productive, and that, to participate, he must be supportive of his teammates. This gentle correction may be enough to set him on the right path.

    • 6

      Set a good example. If you want your players to exhibit good sportsmanship, you must set a positive example for them to follow. When your players participate in a competition, do not allow yourself to become overly competitive and yell out to the referee or players from other teams. Practice what you preach and act politely, even if you feel that your team was in some way wronged.