SportSmarts: Conflict Resolution Through Soccer

Bullying Bidane shows a "V" for victory... at any cost. 

Meet Bullying Bidane: he is a great soccer player, but he gets himself in trouble when he forgets to use his head, and starts fights that could have been solved just as easily with words.

Bullying Bidane (B.B. to his friends) is just one of the many characters that students will get to know as they venture through SportSmarts, a conflict resolution curriculum developed through a partnership with America SCORES Bay Area and UCSF. SportSmarts is being piloted this year at six America SCORES schools: Marshall, Bryant, John Muir, Cleveland, J. Serra and E.R. Taylor.

By journaling, acting out scenarios and practicing relaxation techniques, SportSmarts students will draw on their own experiences of aggression and anger on the soccer field to learn how to better manage conflict in their schools and larger communities.

The program will culminate in a "Ref-Free Jamboree," where students will demonstrate the skills they've learned by resolving conflicts on the field without the help of a ref.  The "Ref-Free Jamboree" will also feature performances of original scenarios from each school!