Usually it’s the coaches doing the teaching. On May 3, they sat in chairs and listened to a very important lesson.

The “Character Combine” – a day-long session full of motivational speakers for coaches at all levels – was held at Del Oro High School, attracting over 700 sets of eyes, an audience that now has the right tools for molding the next generation of athletes.

“Our goal is to bring awareness and create practical steps coaches can take to increase character,” said Director Jason Harper, who puts on the event every year. “I feel that we have some of the greatest coaches in the nation right here, and they want to do the right thing, but no one takes the time to equip them.”

The main purpose of the day’s event was to teach area coaches on hand the importance of character in sports. Success and significance in life must be mentored into every athlete, organizers said. Character of a student athlete must be enhanced, as it is character, not talent and ability, that “secures the win for life.” Their philosophy: There’s more to winning and losing in sports; athletics can mold the leaders of tomorrow.

“We try to convince coaches that winning goes behind the scoreboard,” Harper said. “Often coaches focus on wins and losses but fail to understand the impact and ability to change a kid’s world. We want them to understand that they have the most influential part of those athletes.”

Speakers included Patrick Lencioni and former Sacramento Monarch Ruthie Bolton, along with Harper and a four-coach panel that held a question-and-answer session for the audience.

“Patrick is part of a consulting firm table group, is a national keynote speaker and has a New York Times bestseller,” Harper said of Lencioni. “We brought him out not as a national motivational trainer, but as a soccer dad who coaches soccer. Whether on a sports team or with corporate executives, you’re gonna have to overcome similar dysfunctions. That’s what we focused on.”

In years past, the event was solely for coaches, but recently, Harper encouraged them to bring team captains along, hoping the players of influence would be held to a higher accountability with the wealthy knowledge they received during the day.

“The first year was just for coaches, but a coach from Nevada Union snuck in one of his team captains,” Harper said. “I thought that was great. That was the beginning of it. Now we invite coaches to bring one or two of them. The idea is to help coaches get to the player’s level, but it also sets up great accountability between the coach and captain. They talk about leadership. I think it raises the bar of excellence and puts the coach and captain on the same page.”

Coaches ranged from youth levels to high school and even college. The broad spectrum brought different viewpoints, but the same message was delivered to all—mold better people, not just better athletes.

“We had over 700 attend, with 520 coaches and the rest players,” said Harper, who had attendees fill out an evaluation of the event after it was over and saw nothing but praise. “The event was free, but they have to pre-register. Coaches ranged from the youngest level of little league to college coaches. Whenever you can cross cultures as diverse as T-ball and Division I (college) and have everyone walking away with a 97 percent (evaluation score), is excellent.”