And it takes a brilliant scholar of the psychology of character to empirically prove these champions.

But, while not every champion of character may necessarily become an Olympian, they can be the best they can be. We now know that their level of athletic excellence takes enormous courage, dedication, fairness, honesty, leadership, respect, and that the impetus to reboot from autopilot is crucial to reaching such level. Athletic history brims with embodied examples of why the secret of athletic genius is doggedness rather than “god”-given talent, from the case of a world champion boxer Muhammad Ali to the former world number one female tennis player Martina Navratilova to the greatest male track and field athlete Carl Lewis. Today we make an effort to understand the relation between sports participation and children’s character development, looking at this complex issue from the perspective that all sports provide opportunities to pursue excellence of character under the right conditions – through mutual encouragement, challenge, and support. Yet, the diversity of views and opinions is so grand that it has made the answer remarkably elusive. Centuries worth of scientific thought, social psychology and behavioral neuroscience have attempted to answer this fundamental question. So what does it really mean that sport builds character? No one in the world provokes this question more than legendary athletes, with less of an understanding of what lurks beneath the surface. The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.

The great player and coach John Wooden once said: They are all famous sports characters that, indeed, do more than just win. And then there’s the eccentric rebounder, who checked into an alcohol-rehabilitation center after he sang “Happy Birthday” to the North Korean leader and suffered an angry meltdown during a CNN interview.Ĭoaches are movies. Another one was accused of headbutting a referee and racism.

One was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. The great player and coach John Wooden once said, “The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.” So what does it really mean that sport builds character? No one in the world provokes this question more than legendary athletes, with less of understanding of what lurks beneath the surface.

Building Character by Kate Genet