The recent coverage of the Mitchell Miller story (Boston Bruins rescind contract after NHL says player is ineligible over bullying of a classmate as a young teen) reinforces the importance of character development in sport. Right or wrong, actions during adolescence can have a lasting impact on the rest of your life, and your future goals. 

“Sports does not develop character in a vacuum. Sure, it may bring forth some traits such as perseverance and competitiveness, but moral character, the type of characteristics that drive many of us to sign our kids up for sports in the first place, does not happen by accident. The teaching of moral character only happens when intentional adults make it the foundational element of the sporting experience. We need to support these parents and coaches today more than ever, because these values are not immediately evident in professional sports or society in general.” - John O'Sullivan, 2019

This quote by John O’Sullivan speaks to why we do what we do. It is a big reason we take our role in our student-athlete’s lives very seriously. 

Our progressive curriculum is designed by industry experts, former athletes, coaches, and educators with a priority on developing leadership and character. It is centred around the athletes  “why” and leverages the athletes love for sport to get them engaged with the importance of being a good person and developing character. 

Our coaches are provided tools and resources to teach our athletes beyond their sport. While they are industry experts, they are also passionate and relationship-driven coaches leading by a mantra: “No one cares about what you know, until they know how much you care.” We work with our athletes to build character, resiliency, self-advocacy, leadership, and work-ethic within our students, and our coaches must walk the talk to be the role models they need to be. Our society is full of “fake idols” found on social media and we believe we need to be “real models” and change-makers.

Our organization looks for talent and makes decisions with our own guiding compass. It is with a consistent set of values built on the principles of being:

• Ultra-competitive
• Passionate
• Innovative
• Professional
• Having Integrity
• Being Relationship-driven

Having a guiding set of beliefs that says you can be competitive and desire to be the best while being a good person continue to help us move forward.

For more resources and a downloadable guided discussion guide that you can use in the classroom or dinner table, click here.