PCA Leadership & Team Building 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In PCA's 'Honoring the Game' framework, ROOTS stands for:
- Respect, Opportunity, Optimism, Teamwork, Skill
- Rules, Opponents, Officials, Teammates, Self (Correct answer)
- Resilience, Ownership, Unity, Trust, Sportsmanship
- Responsibility, Order, Obligation, Teamwork, Standards
Correct answer: Rules, Opponents, Officials, Teammates, Self
ROOTS stands for Rules, Opponents, Officials, Teammates, and Self — the five areas athletes should honor in sport.
Question 2: A coach notices that two team members are in ongoing conflict. A PCA-aligned first step is to:
- Separate them by assigning them to different practice groups permanently
- Ignore it unless performance visibly declines
- Meet individually with each athlete to listen before mediating (Correct answer)
- Let teammates resolve it without coach involvement
Correct answer: Meet individually with each athlete to listen before mediating
PCA leaders first listen to each perspective individually to understand the situation before facilitating a resolution.
Question 3: According to PCA, which type of goal-setting is most effective for team development?
- Outcome goals only (wins/losses)
- Process and mastery goals alongside outcome goals (Correct answer)
- Individual statistical goals posted publicly
- Goals set solely by coaches without athlete input
Correct answer: Process and mastery goals alongside outcome goals
PCA emphasizes mastery and process goals because they are within athletes' control and build intrinsic motivation.
Question 4: When a referee makes a call a PCA coach disagrees with, the ideal response is to:
- Loudly dispute it to show players you fight for them
- Model controlled disagreement without disrespecting the official (Correct answer)
- Ignore it to avoid drawing attention
- Instruct players to retaliate with harder play
Correct answer: Model controlled disagreement without disrespecting the official
Honoring the Game means respecting officials even in disagreement; coaches model this behavior for their athletes.
Question 5: Which leadership behavior is most consistent with PCA's 'Mistake Ritual' concept?
- Publicly shaming athletes who make repeated errors
- Using a physical cue to signal moving past a mistake quickly (Correct answer)
- Requiring athletes to run extra laps after errors
- Pretending mistakes never happened
Correct answer: Using a physical cue to signal moving past a mistake quickly
A Mistake Ritual is a brief physical or verbal cue — like a flushing motion — that helps athletes reset and refocus after errors.
Question 6: PCA's approach to athlete motivation is primarily rooted in which psychological framework?
- Behaviorism — reward and punishment cycles
- Self-Determination Theory — autonomy, competence, and relatedness (Correct answer)
- Social Learning Theory — imitation of role models only
- Cognitive Dissonance Theory — resolving internal conflicts
Correct answer: Self-Determination Theory — autonomy, competence, and relatedness
PCA's philosophy aligns closely with Self-Determination Theory, which holds that intrinsic motivation grows through autonomy, competence, and belonging.
Question 7: A PCA-aligned leader would describe their role on the team as primarily a:
- Authority figure who dictates all decisions
- Talent scout focused on identifying top performers
- Teacher and mentor who develops the whole athlete (Correct answer)
- Strategist focused exclusively on tactical game plans
Correct answer: Teacher and mentor who develops the whole athlete
PCA frames coaches as teachers and mentors who develop athletes as whole people, not just skilled performers.
PCA Leadership & Team Building 3
In PCA's 'Honoring the Game' framework, ROOTS stands for: