Sports, Character, and HK

The recent rash of domestic abuse charges facing NFL players once again reminds us that playing sports does not build character. James Michener, in his book Sports in America, quoted the sportswriter Heywood Hale Broun: “Sports do not build character. They reveal it.”

How true. It is something Human Kinetics has been teaching since 1981 when HK founder Rainer Martens developed the American Coaching Effectiveness Program, a division of HK. Character is taught and nurtured at home, at school, in religious settings, and by coaches. Rainer writes to coaches in the all-time best-selling coaching resource Successful Coaching, “Character education begins with a fundamental duty of a coach—building a team culture. How you run your team greatly…

When Kathleen Haywood and coauthor Nancy Getchell planned to travel to Champaign, Illinois, for the video and photo shoot of the sixth edition of Life Span Motor Development last February, they didn’t plan on Kathie’s shoulder pain preventing her from driving from St. Louis. Nor did they count on winter weather keeping Nancy’s flight from the East Coast in doubt until the final hours.