Excerpt — Sport and Character

Coaches who take the moral education of young athletes seriously must teach them respect for the game.

If you are a coach, you have authority over your players--the more authority, the more responsibility.

Many coaches object to the call for sportsmanship because they see it as outmoded. Kids are different today, so you can’t coach them the same way that we were coached when we were kids. Other successful coaches let their players trash-talk or vent their emotions, so why shouldn’t I? Why can’t coaches let players be themselves?

How does "team magic" come about? There are no guarantees, but it requires the genuine respect of the team members for each other and for the team.