Cares Programs – Character, Attitude, Respect, Effort, and Success
As modern society continues to take athletics more and more seriously with every passing day, it is essential that we, as coaches, mentors, and administrators, keep our educational mission at the forefront of our minds during our interaction with student-athletes. As a coach in the sport of lacrosse for the last 12 years and now as an administrator, I have observed on a daily basis the need for character development programming in the student-athlete curriculum.
Overview of Character in Sports
CARES is an acronym for Character, Attitude, Respect, Effort, and Success. These attributes will be the cornerstone of the CARES Program. The implementation of the program consists of presentations surrounding practice sessions, games and tournaments. Each presentation will focus on a specific attribute and will teach a specific lesson. Each attribute will be explained in detail during the program and anecdotes of famous athletes will be shared to exemplify the importance of these attributes and their relationship to performance and success.
The CARES Program will provide a comprehensive roadmap for character development at the youth, high school, and collegiate levels. The program can be a useful tool for athletic departments to utilize in addition to individual teams.
Importance of Character Development in Athletics
There are many opportunities to teach life lessons to student-athletes through athletics. When approached in the appropriate fashion, the peaks and valleys of athletics can help prepare student-athletes for real life. Opportunities may arise…
Character Linked to Leadership and Performance
One of the more important and pertinent lessons that will be taught in the CARES Program is that character development is directly linked to leadership and performance. Put it into terms that are important to the student-athletes, if inevitably he or she would like…
Program Topics
The program will consist of a series of lessons on various topics surrounding team practices and games. The topics will include but are not limited to: Character, Attitude, Respect, Effort, Success, Teamwork, Humility, Empathy, Integrity, Responsibility, Caring, Leadership, Discipline.