This June, sports gave us moments worth celebrating, and worth learning from. The New York Knicks won their first NBA title since 1973, the 2026 FIFA World Cup began across the US, Canada, and Mexico, athletes from all 50 states gathered in Minnesota for the Special Olympics USA Games, and our community came together for Embright Education’s 24th Annual Golf Classic.
Watch any of these events closely and the same skills keep surfacing: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. These are essential skills for learning and life, and they form the foundation of Embright’s PreK through 8th grade programming.
Knicks captain Jalen Brunson was named NBA Finals MVP. After the championship parade, he posted on LinkedIn: “With enough work and enough belief, your dreams are possible and you can overcome any obstacle. Whatever it is in life, believe that you belong.” Believing you belong is at the heart of what we teach. It’s the self-worth that lets every child show up, try something hard, and discover what makes them shine.
Cape Verde, a small island nation off the west coast of Africa, was playing in their first ever World Cup when they faced Spain, the reigning European champions. The result was a 0-0 draw. Days later, Cape Verde came from behind to tie 2-2 against Uruguay. Their coach said afterward: “Everyone saw our country, our team, with our organization, our courage and our resilience.” Holding your composure when the pressure is bigger than anything you’ve faced is emotional regulation in real time. It’s one of the most protective skills we can give a child, the ability to feel the weight of a moment and still think clearly enough to act intentionally.
Curaçao is the smallest nation ever to qualify for a World Cup. Their opening match was a 7-1 loss to Germany. Three days later, against Ecuador, they walked off the field with a 0-0 draw, the country’s first ever World Cup point. The celebration wasn’t about winning. It was about everything that came before it, the years of work, the goals set and re-set, the belief in themselves that got them there. That’s resilience, and it’s exactly what we work to build in every Embright student. The kind that grows from setting a goal, doing the work, and learning that one hard result doesn’t undo everything that brought you to it.
The Special Olympics USA Games in Minnesota brought 4,000 athletes from all 50 states to compete in 19 sports this week. Special Olympics New Jersey’s tagline says it well: “We all have reasons to shine.” For these athletes, those reasons live in years of training, the friendships built through that work, and the experience of competing on a stage that truly sees them. The same is true for the kids in our programs. Empathy and inclusion aren’t things we name and move on. They’re built one real moment at a time, between real people. They’re what allow kids to thrive alongside one another, not just next to one another. Among the athletes representing New Jersey this week are Kevin and Lex from the Valuable Partners ALPS program. Kevin took gold in the 50-yard freestyle. (More on their week on our social channels.)
The Golf Classic isn’t really about golf. It’s about the people who show up because they believe in what we do. They want kids to have what they need to thrive, in school and well beyond it. This year’s Classic supports an additional 35 programs across New Jersey. Every foursome, sponsorship, and raffle ticket is a vote of confidence in that work and a direct investment in the kids who will carry these skills into the rest of their lives.
The class to court parallels are everywhere this month. A free throw shooter taking a slow deep breath at the line is the same emotional regulation we teach Embright students to use when feelings get big. A player who stays composed after a bad call from the ref, or a passing comment from the other side, is practicing the same self-management we work on with kids when big feelings hit and they still have to keep going. A player who passes to the open teammate instead of forcing a shot is the same responsible decision-making we want kids to use when the easy choice and the right choice aren’t the same. A team that loses by a wide margin one day and shows up ready the next is the same persistence we ask of a child after a rough day.
Next time you and your child are watching a game, try a different question than who won. Ask what helped the team hold together when things got hard. The answer will land closer to SEL than to the scoreboard, and that’s the conversation worth having.