One of the most positive ancillary benefits of sports, physical education, free play, and physical activity in general is the fact that they all develop character and other social-emotional skills in the participants. Such traits and skills as leadership, responsible decision-making, integrity, self-awareness, and MUCH more are baked into each and every game, practice, session, and lesson. They are so embedded into the day to day that the participants don’t even know that they are developing such skills.
To get the most out of the this, it is important to help the participants to recognize this development. Within our AMAC program, we do so by focusing on and recognizing 12 specific traits that are inherent in physical activity. We consider these traits to be Performance Character and define them as a series of personal traits that are shown to lead to future success in life by knowing how to perform and thrive in challenging situations, navigating relationships, and turning failure into opportunities for growth.
To help bring awareness to the development of these traits, each of our sessions is accompanied by a “recognition script.” These are designed to act as a road map for coaches and/or teachers to intentionally recognize what is happening naturally in our sessions. Each script contains four primary components:
These have proven to be valuable resources for our program. To the extent that we developed 180 days’ worth of suggestions, questions, ideas, and support to place emphasis on this great benefit of physical activity. You can get access to all the Performance Character Recognition Scripts AND MORE by joining the movement below!