Character development through sports

Is a child’s participation in sports beneficial to the development of character?

A 2017 article in Psychology Today titled, ”How Sports Can Make You Healthier and Build Character,” by psychologist John Rich, addressed this notion. Rich noted that while studies have shown that the foundations of a persons character are established by age six, participating in sports, especially at a younger age, acts as a sort of feedback loop in which further character development and expression continues to be molded and refined.

Rich cited a learning environment called “scaffolding,” wherein children are bot...