<![CDATA[Character development is one of the main objectives of Physical Education because it supports the social, moral, and personal growth of students. However, this objective has not been optimally achieved, especially in team game learning, where students still show limited cooperation, low discipline, and inadequate responsibility. Small-Sided Games (SSG) are known as a game-based learning approach that encourages active participation, communication, teamwork, and decision-making, all of which have the potential to support character development. This study aims to examine the effect of SSG on character development of high school students in team game learning, with a sample from SMA Negeri 1 Cikalong Wetan, West Java, Indonesia. Character development is conceptualized as a single construct measured through three dimensions: cooperation, discipline, and responsibility. A quasi-experimental method with a nonequivalent control group design was used, involving 68 grade XI students selected through cluster random sampling and divided into experimental (n = 34) and control (n = 34) groups. Data were collected using an 18-item character development questionnaire and observation sheet, and analyzed using descriptive statistics, Shapiro-Wilk test, Levene test, Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test, and Mann-Whitney U test. The results showed a significant increase in the experimental group (p = 0.034), and the post-test scores were significantly different between the experimental and control groups (p = 0.004). These findings indicate that Small-Sided Games have a significant positive effect on students' character development in team game learning in high school Physical Education.]]>
