Abstract
Sport provides many paths for positive change in society (Kaufman P, Wolff EA, J Sport Soc Issues 34(2):154–175, 2010). For athletes, the path to individual excellence contains many hurdles and lessons that leave them a better character on the other side. For coaches the effect is exponential – for every athlete they drive along that same path, there is an opportunity to change not only that life, but potentially the lives of other athletes and fans who follow that performer as well (Bloom GA, Durand-Bush N, Schinke RJ, Salmela JH, Int J Sport Psychol 29:267–281, 1998). While the fans, reporters and owners who bay for blood in the coliseum of professional sports don’t often care about how the competitors feel (Cameron A, Death brings a sportsman to life, December 14. Retrieved from TheAge.com.au: http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/death-brings-a-sportsman-to-life-20141213-125npe.html, 2014), the field of positive psychology can have a significant impact in the lives of those touched by sports by providing ways to both train and measure the leaders against a new scoreboard.
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Steinfort, P.J. (2017). Coaching Character: Winning On and Off the Field. In: White, M., Slemp, G., Murray, A. (eds) Future Directions in Well-Being. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56889-8_26
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