Citizenship and Asset Building Through Athletics - Question 5

What conclusions can be drawn about the involvement of school activities in promoting or enhancing these assets and characteristics?

Although some may differ with how this group assessed particular assets and qualities, there should be little argument with its major conclusions: We should only expect minimal character and citizenship development just because a young person participates in a sport. However, the potential for developing character and citizenship through sports participation is enormous. Two factors that make this potential a reality are the quality of participation for the athlete and the intentional efforts to teach or reinforce good citizenship qualities.

The quality of athletic participation depends significantly on coaches, athletic directors and others who lead these activities. Fortunately, many of these leaders do provide an environment and means to help develop young people and build citizenship qualities. By what they model and what they expect, these leaders naturally promote and reinforce several assets and citizenship traits. It is these same leaders who can selectively and intentionally choose particular assets or traits for development. They can select from many reasonable strategies and programs to assist in facilitating the development of these assets and characteristics.

The NFHS, many of its state associations, and many of their member schools are actively involved in developing and delivering programs through high school athletics and other school activities to develop these assets and citizenship qualities. The Citizenship Through Sports and Fine Initiative of the NFHS currently has programs for coaches and other leaders of school activities to use teachable moments to deliver good citizenship messages. The NCHSAA, through its Student Services Program, has developed several programs to help athletic directors, coaches, student leaders, and their parents develop citizenship among student athletes. For further information about the NCHSAA Student Services Program contact Q. Tucker at 919-962-7781 or qtucker@email.unc.edu. For more information about other NFHS programs and services, contact the NFHS Resource Center, at PO Box 690, Indianapolis, IN 46206; 317.972.6900.