Character... very losely used word. I coach at-risk youth. Head coach 11-12 years olds and oversee a 6-8 yr. old and 9-10 year old team. Our city has NO youth football organization. So we get a lot of coaches that play kids too old, cheap shot, and really only care about winning. Losing and getting whipped does not build character. Coaching right and wrong builds character. The best advice I can tell you is this. Winning does not include the scoreboard. If you kids did their very best, they won. Score doesn't matter. I play a team every year who cheat shot, late hit, talk trash, and every year, we play them close, but lose. But I tell my kids to play with class. And they do. That's winning. There are teams that won't even play them anymore. And vice versa. I won a game last night 7-6, and I told my kids they should have lost that game. They played poorly, and got lucky and won. Teach playing hard, working hard, proper technique, playing with class, and winning and losing with class. All are more important than the score of a game.