DJ Roberts has played sports since the age of 5 and has always been competitive. Early on, he took games too seriously, getting frustrated at his teammates when they lost or made mistakes.
But after a couple of years of participating in the La Mesa-Spring Valley school district’s before-and-after-school sports program, DJ, his parents, and his coaches noticed a transformation. He would tell his teammates to brush off losses and mistakes, to focus on the next play, and to keep their heads up.
“We saw a huge difference from the beginning of 7th grade to the end of 8th grade regarding his ability to handle losing better,” said Cheryl Roberts, DJ’s mom. “It could just be a natural maturing thing with him, but I also felt like ESSPN [the district’s sports program] did help with that.”
La Mesa-Spring Valley’s sports program isn’t just about playing the game. It’s about explicitly teaching kids the social-emotional skills they need to be a better teammate—on and off the field, district leaders say.
The district created the ESSPN sports league when students returned from remote learning during the early days of the COVID pandemic. (The name, which stands for Extended Student Services Programming Network, is a play on the popular cable sports network ESPN.)
Educators saw how much students needed to reconnect with their peers and their school, said Deann Ragsdale, the deputy superintendent of educational services for the 11,000-student K-8 district outside of San Diego.
“This program has created opportunities where our kids can thrive,” Ragsdale said in an email. “And they are learning not just sports but about how to help themselves and others.”
Critics have pushed back against explicit SEL instruction because they claim it takes time away from academic learning or isn’t well integrated into the school day. But experts say sports is a great place to learn and practice social-emotional skills. Athletes must regulate their emotions during stressful situations in high-stakes competitions or risk losing their cool—along with the game. They also have to know how to be a good teammate, which includes communication and resolving conflicts.
It’s unclear how many schools and districts across the country are incorporating explicit SEL instruction into their sports programming, but some experts say the trend is growing.
“It’s rare,” said Andrea Lovanhill, the CEO of the nonprofit Committee for Children, which develops the Second Step SEL curriculum. “But there’s more interest and excitement about bringing social-emotional learning more explicitly and directly into sports programs [and out-of-school activities], especially in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic,” as kids relearn how to interact with each other.
Finding ‘non-traditional’ ways to foster student connection
ESSPN was inspired by a student struggling to pay attention in class and connect with his peers and teachers, said Jennifer Coronel, the district’s director of student supports. The student racked up disciplinary referrals, and his teachers and principal felt out of options, so they turned to Coronel for guidance.
When Coronel met with the student twice a week using an SEL curriculum the district’s social workers already used, she found the student faced significant challenges at home, but loved playing football—though he lacked the means or resources to play.
At the time, in 2019, the district didn’t have a football program, so Coronel and her department helped fund the student’s participation in a community league for a year and took turns driving him to practices and games.
“His behaviors dramatically improved at school,” Coronel said. “It was kind of an agreement that in order to do this, he would have to improve his behavior at school.”
When school reopened their buildings after remote learning, the community sports league was still closed. Coronel knew she needed to find another outlet for the student. So, the departments of student supports and extended student services teamed up and decided to create an opportunity for students to play sports for free and connect with the school and their peers in “non-traditional ways,” she said.
So ESSPN was born.
Teaching social-emotional skills through team sports
With state and federal grants and partnerships with neighboring districts, La Mesa-Spring Valley launched ESSPN in the fall of 2021 with 10 pilot schools playing flag football and has since expanded the sports programming to include basketball, martial arts, and volleyball for students in grades 3 through 8. Before ESSPN, the district only had a kickball program for students in grades 4 through 6.
ESSPN students practice three times a week before school (for middle school students) or after school (for elementary students). Once a week, they have a 30-minute SEL lesson facilitated by a social worker and the coach during practice.
Social workers play a big role—not just with facilitating the lessons, but also with “bridging” the extracurricular activity with the school day, said Heather Spruell, an ESS supervisor
The ESSPN coaches don’t work at the school during the day, but because students also build relationships with the social workers, students still have an adult to go to or connect with when they need help during the school day, Spruell said.
Early in the program, the SEL lessons took up the whole practice session, but attendance dropped on those days. To increase engagement on SEL days, the district shortened lessons to 30 minutes, ensuring students still get to be on the field, Spruell said.
“They would rather be out on that field first,” she said. “So we had to explain the importance of why we’re doing this.”
The SEL lessons have changed over the years, said Trinell Lewis, another ESS supervisor. Initially, there was a lot more structured circle time and discussion. Now they’ve become more hands-on and focused on situations they encounter on the field.
Andrew Tucker, the director of policy for the nonprofit Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, or CASEL, previously told Education Week that explicit SEL teaching is “proven to be effective” in creating environments where students can learn and grow. (CASEL has been a major force in promoting the adoption of SEL state standards and promoting research-based SEL instruction.)
But explicit SEL teaching doesn’t mean that the student-athletes have to sit and listen to a lesson like they’re in the classroom, Tucker said. It’s all about incorporating these skills in the context of the sport.
“There are all kinds of teachable moments in sports,” he said. “You lose a game, you’re really down on it. How do you as a coach lift your team back up? Do you teach them that this is one game, that these emotions you’re feeling are valid? What are you feeling, and why are you feeling that way? How can we get you to a place where you’re feeling OK?”
The program ‘shaped the athlete that I am,’ a student says
Marissa Farace, a junior at Grossmont High School in El Cajon, Calif., played in the ESSPN program when she was in 8th grade. Games got so competitive that trash talk sometimes escalated.
But through the SEL lessons, she’s learned how to keep her emotions in check and support her teammates.
“When I want to get frustrated, I just remember that part of being a leader [is] it’s OK to get mad, but you’ve got to lead by example,” Marissa said. “Just kind of having in the back of my head [that] if I’m going to get upset and lose my composure, then so are my teammates.”
The ESSPN program has “shaped the athlete that I am,” said Marissa, who still plays flag football at her high school.
DJ says the skills he learned during the SEL lessons helped him handle his emotions better.
“It would help me get through the games by just relaxing a bit, taking a deep breath,” DJ said. “We’re there to have fun, so I would look at it as a moment to have some fun and not let it break my day if we were losing or something was going wrong.”
Now a freshman at Mount Miguel High School in Spring Valley, Calif., DJ still plays football and basketball, and said he continues to use the lessons he learned in La Mesa-Spring Valley’s ESSPN sports league.
“It’s been really tough [playing sports at the high school level], but I’ve been remembering those lessons,” he said.
Coaches say they’ve learned things from the SEL lessons, too.
“I coached in that [first] season, and I know I had a few students who were pretty emotional during our games, especially when we started to lose,” Lewis said. “I was able to recall our SEL lessons and help them through the moment.
“I had coached our kickball teams my whole ESS career, so when we finally added the SEL component, it was a nice change and helped give me the tools to help our students get through some of the tougher times,” he added.
Gage Sanders, an ESSPN coach who used to attend the district, said the SEL lessons have taught him how to be a better coach.
“Some people respond differently than others to certain critiques or certain coaching,” Sanders said. “There may be one kid who I can light the fire to his flame and get after him a little bit, and he’s going to respond really well. There may be another kid where I need to encourage him. I need to keep him engaged.”
