P.C.A's founder Jim Thompson, has been helping hundreds of sports organizations and thousands of parents across the country to build character and self esteem in our athletes through sports.  His message is concentrate on teaching our children life lessons learned from sports. "There are only two groups of people whose job is to win games," says Thompson. "Coaches and players. Parents have a much more important job: to guide their child's character development."

P.C.A.'s techniques are grounded in the idea that every child has a kind of "emotional tank." When it gets drained, it's difficult to take on challenges or perform well. This doesn't mean a parent or coach can't have hard conversations with players. The key is not to withhold criticism, but to deliver it in a way that is helpful. If the child is angry or sulking or defensive, she's not going to be listening very well anyway. "When you ask people to focus on mastery, it's not soft," notes Thompson. "And screaming at a kid is not tough. That's just a lack of impulse control."