The Athleadership Academy in Character Education (AACE) provides character education skill building for NCAA athletes. Annually, each participating university and/or college selects two student-athletes from every collegiate sport to attend AACE training on their way to becoming NCAA Character Ambassadors.
CharacterPlus has adapted its’ K-12 evidence-based ABC’s process for creating Autonomy (voice and choice), Belonging (being part of a community), and Competence (the ability to do something successfully) for college coaches and their athletes. Furthermore, Character Ambassadors will become aware of and/or hone their own virtue and character strengths and leadership potential to help their team thrive and succeed.
“We are quite pleased to partner with CharacterPlus and embrace the GLVC mission to promote opportunities for student-athlete character and leadership development,” said GLVC Commissioner Jim Naumovich. “The GLVC believes that a balanced Division II student-athlete experience involves comprehensive learning and academic development, high-level athletics competition, and meaningful community engagement. This is a great opportunity for our student-athletes, coaches, and administrators to experience the core values we espouse as a league.”
President Dr. Ron Rochon kicks off AACE training at the University of Southern Indiana
"Character Ambassadors will become model student-athlete leaders who make a positive impact on their teams, universities, and their communities."
Dr. Rochon USI President
Dr. Ronald S. Rochon | President
University of Southern Indiana
...kicking off AACE for athletes...
An example of AACE programing includes:
- Understanding self as a leader: Core Values, Noble Purpose, Relationship Building
- Building a team where athletes are empowered, competent, and feel like they belong
- Collaborating with leadership team and coaches
- Putting athletics in perspective by prioritizing character
- Building relationships and understanding the positive virtues of intrinsic motivation
CharacterPlus has over 30 years of experience building strong communities of character by investing in the character development of young people in thousands of classrooms. Through a variety of evidence-based, & social/emotional learning methods, CharacterPlus helps educators & administrators develop a character-based framework that creates a positive school environment where all students feel safe, encouraged to learn & ultimately thrive.
"We both play on the baseball team here at the University of Illinois - Springfield. As a result of the AACE training on Friday, we will continue to strive to be character leaders on our team by helping our teammates understand their noble purpose and continue unifying the team, so all feel like family. We hope that by following what we feel is needed as a team, we will continue to produce young men who are competitive and passionate about what they do but have extraordinary character on and off the baseball field. We have already discussed specific goals with our head coach to build upon our established culture, which includes the three items mentioned above. We both cannot wait to continue our meetings as student character ambassadors for the baseball team here at UIS, and we are looking forward to our next meeting!" Brandon & Mason
"This program is an incredible opportunity to help coaches connect with their captains and to guide them as they lead their team together. This workshop gives coaches the opportunity to work on being a transformational coach and not just a transactional coach, which is often the default, Thanks to the AACE team and the time taken to challenge me. I was able to create my why statement that helped me focus on being a transformational coach!" Stephan