CWA Blog Archive-Meeting Social & Emotional Learning Goals Using Climbing

Meeting Social & Emotional Learning Goals Using Climbing

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This article shows youth climbing coaches how to intentionally use climbing to meet social and emotional learning (SEL) goals, noting SEL has become a hot topic among youth workers of all stripes. It grounds the value in research from CASEL, whose identified core competencies have positive implications for young people's lives, including improved classroom behavior, an increased ability to manage stress, and better attitudes about themselves, others, and school. The article argues that when working with young climbers, the more coaches can seamlessly support their development within the same framework other social support networks use (like schools), the better for their programs. It makes a key point about measurement and rigor: the five SEL core competencies provide a clear, measurable way to define the emotional competencies related to performing at a high level, while also supporting pro-social development, so SEL serves both athletic performance and character growth. The article challenges a traditional assumption: youth climbing programs have traditionally assumed that the social and emotional skills associated with climbing will develop on their own as coaches support young climbers' technical development. Rather than depending on these skills to develop as a corollary to technical training (the text continues, advocating intentional SEL integration instead). The throughline is that youth climbing programs should intentionally and explicitly integrate social and emotional learning rather than assuming SEL skills will develop automatically alongside technical training, because the SEL framework offers measurable, research-backed benefits for both young people's wellbeing and their climbing performance. SEL, as defined by CASEL's five core competencies, is widely used by youth workers and linked to positive outcomes like better behavior, stress management, and healthier attitudes toward self, others, and school. The article argues climbing coaches should align with this framework that other social support networks use, both to reinforce young climbers' broader development and because the competencies provide a clear, measurable way to define the emotional skills tied to high-level performance while fostering pro-social growth. Critically, it pushes back against the traditional assumption that these skills emerge on their own from technical coaching, advocating instead for deliberate SEL integration. For coaches, the article makes the case that intentionally weaving SEL into youth climbing programs, rather than leaving it to chance, produces measurable emotional competencies that benefit both the young climbers' lives and their athletic performance, positioning climbing as a powerful, deliberate vehicle for social and emotional development.

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This piece shows youth coaches how to intentionally use climbing to meet social and emotional learning (SEL) goals, drawing on CASEL's five research-backed core competencies. It argues coaches should align with the SEL framework other youth networks use rather than assuming these skills develop automatically from technical training, since deliberate integration measurably benefits both wellbeing and performance.