LEAVE THEM KIDS ALONE: The race is not always to the swift when kids play SEL sportybal.

Coaches need training in how to help student-athletes cope with stress and learn self-control, according to social-emotional-learning advocates, writes Lauraine Langreo in Education Week. Massachusetts legislators are considering requiring state education officials to publish guidelines for a social-emotional-learning curriculum in middle and high school athletic programs.

SEL skills can be incorporated into the sport, said Andrew Tucker, the director of policy for the nonprofit Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, or CASEL. If the team loses a game, “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?”

Sports already teach social-emotional skills, writes Rick Hess. “Kids make friends. They get mentored. They fail. They sweat. They strive toward a common goal, together with teammates of varied races and backgrounds. They learn about practice and persistence.”

Hess nailed it. SEL is just another way to insert ruinous lefty programing into something that works.