SPORTSMANSHIP - EVEN WHEN IT HURTS

written by Ed Fry, Instructor, Athletic Leadership, Clemson University

"Many responsible people are of the opinion that unless the sportsmanship displayed at school and college games is improved, the contribution sport makes to the social development of young people will be reduced to nothing." - Delbert Oberteuffer, Ohio State University

The above quote is provocative, timely, and written in 1948! Delbert Oberteuffer, one of the great American sports philosophers, penned those words to describe the condition of sportsmanship in his time. Sixty-four years later, we must ask ourselves, "How much progress has really been made?"

Young and impressionable athletes are bombarded by acts of bad behavior by professional athletes seemingly every time they tune into Sportscenter. They see NFL players stomping fallen opponents, even on Thanksgiving Day! They see NBA stars getting ejected from games for various acts of immaturity with regularity, and MLB players turning to illegal drugs in attempts to get their names in the record books.

College and high school sports are not immune. High profile scandals at places like "The U," Ohio State, USC, Tennessee, and Penn State dominated the headlines in 2011, as did stories of high school basketball teams running up the scores on hapless opponents. The message to young people is clear and simple- win at all costs and when you have a man down - kick him!

Who can put a stop to the nonsense? Principals and school boards? Athletic directors, coaches, and officials? The media and the fans? Yes, all the above - working together. But, I suggest to you that the primary responsibility for good sportsmanship lies with the coach. It is the coach who is the leader of the team. It is the coach who is ultimately responsible for the actions of the players. Coaches who are not willing to accept responsibility for their program should seek employment in another field.

Obviously, high school coaches deal with young people whose gray-matter hasn't fully developed and adults who have their own issues, so unforeseen things sometimes happen. How the coach deals with these incidents sends a message of what is and is not acceptable behavior to the entire school and community.

In order to positively impact sportsmanship among those in the coach's sphere of influence, the coach must establish credibility. Credibility is the very foundation of leadership. Alan Deutschman, in Walk the Talk: The #1 Rule for Real Leaders, writes that, "Leaders have only two tools at their disposal: what they say and how they act. What they say might be interesting, but how they act is always crucial."

It is relatively easy to be a shining example of good sportsmanship when things are going well, when your team is winning, and you are the darling of the sportswriters. But what are your actions under pressure, when adversity strikes your team, or you are on the wrong end of a lop-sided scoreboard? This is the true test of sportsmanship.

Tom Landry, who patrolled the sidelines as Head Coach of the Dallas Cowboys for 29 years, said, "Your reaction to adversity will determine your success or failure as a leader. A leader always has others watching when things are going bad."

A couple of years ago, my varsity basketball team was playing in a holiday tournament. It was my first season at the school and we had a very young team with little depth, starting two freshmen and playing a third freshman as our sixth man. We were scheduled to play one of the top teams in the state that night, a team loaded with talent and experience. Hours before game time, a car carrying five of our players was involved in an accident. Our best player was hospitalized and several others had minor injuries ranging from a concussion to a broken collar-bone. During pre-game, I related the story of the accident to the opposing head coach as my seven available players warmed-up right in front of him.

The game began and I was soon presiding over the worst defeat I had experienced in my 30 years of coaching, by the final score of 102-20. The opposing coach had his team press the entire game, buzzer to buzzer; with one exception - they started the second half in a half-court trap! The game ended with three of their starters still on the court. I spent most of the second half deciding the proper course of action following the game. Should I shake hands or punch the guy out? My gut instinct was to strike the first blow, but then I considered the example I would be showing my kids. I knew the parents in attendance would be watching my reaction closely.

I decided not to lower myself to his standards by reacting in a way that would only cause further embarrassment to my kids and my program. I went over, extended my hand, said "good game," and walked to the locker room. My players did the same. We discussed our reaction in the locker room. Without exception the kids, and their parents, said they admired how I handled it. I let them know that I admired the way they handled it, too. We vowed there would be no rematch and got out of there, stopping only for pizza. 

John Maxwell wrote, "Adversity is a crossroad that makes a person choose one of two paths: character or compromise. Every time he chooses character, he becomes stronger, even if that choice brings negative consequences." As coaches, we can never forget our role and our responsibility in modeling the way to good sportsmanship. As leaders, we should always choose character over compromise. Perhaps even a sports philosopher in the not-so-distant future will write something like, "Many responsible people are of the opinion that, because of the example set by coaches, the sportsmanship displayed at school and college games has steadily improved, solidifying the notion that sport contributes greatly to the social development of young people." 

Sources:
Deutschman, A. (2009). Walk the talk: The #1 rule for real leaders. New York: Portfolio.

Lewis, G. (1990). Tom Landry: An autobiography. New York: Zondervan and Harper Collins.

Maxwell, J. (1999). The 21 indispensable qualities of a leader. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Clemson University undergraduate students enrolled in Athletic Leadership classes express their perceptions of what contributes to successful high school varsity athletic programs.

Elizabeth Blackmon writes:
A successful varsity program at the high school level would require a lot of time and dedication. A coach should structure practices so that athletes can balance their academic life with their athletic life. With that being said, it is very important for a coach to reinforce the importance of an athlete putting forth his/her best effort academically.

I believe a coach should emphasize improvement as a means of success, both academically and athletically. As a coach, you need to be aware of the impact you have on your athletes, and need to emphasize the importance of an education by monitoring each one of their grades.

Some high school athletes have a desire to play in college and they need to perform well academically to play for the college they most desire. It is also very important for athletes to demonstrate quality character, respect, and appropriate behaviors at all times. A lot of athletes, whether in high school, college or professional, are role models to younger people. An athlete should treat not only his teammates and coach with respect, but also his opponents, classmates, teachers, etc.

An athlete should always lead by example and have a positive attitude about everything. I would keep track of my athletes performance by requiring them to bring in progress reports and constantly checking in with their teachers, not only on their academic performance but also their attitude and involvement during class.

Michael Dunster writes:
In my opinion, a successful varsity program finds a great balance between the importance of winning along with academics and life lessons. In a lot of cases high school is the last opportunity many kids will have to play competitive sports. Because of this, they will definitely want to win and make their last athletic experience memorable.

Although winning is important at this level, I believe that academics should absolutely be stressed. High school is not the pros and should not be treated like it. Players are student athletes, and still need to learn that they need their academics and earn the right to be allowed to play.

It is also very important for the athletes to demonstrate quality character, respect, and appropriate behaviors at all times. High school players are still held to the same standard as everyone else. They have to be disciplined to play, but also be the type of people that would represent their programs well. If they cannot act responsibly like this, they should not be allowed to participate in their sport. I would track my athletes' performance based on not only their athletics, but also based on their grades and how they present themselves and their program to others.

Emily Blumer writes:
I believe that to have a successful varsity program at a high school level, it is of utmost importance for a coach to reinforce the importance of an athlete putting forth his or her best efforts in academics and behavior. It is an honor to be involved in a varsity sport, and the coach should make his or her athletes aware of that. Varsity athletes at the high school level are role models for all other students, and they should behave in a way that is appropriate to that title.

The coach should require all of his or her athletes to bring in progress reports and report cards when they are received by the students, because not only does this show the student's current grades, but will have a comments section for the teacher to write if the athlete needs to improve his or her behavior. If they received a bad grade, there should be consequences until they are able to bring it back up. If the athlete received a bad comment, the coach should make it a priority for the athlete to understand that this will not be tolerated, and if it happens again the coach will meet with the teacher to see how severe the incident is and punish accordingly.

Athletes are not just placed on Varsity teams because of their abilities, but also because of their maturity and attitude off of the field.

Kyle Layton writes:
A successful varsity team must be comprised only of individuals that have the same ultimate goal. All members of the team should want to have fun and win, and often the fun is in the winning. It is incredibly important for a coach to stress academics, because it is far more likely that academics will be the source of each team member's career rather than sports.

For many, athletics are the most important part of life in high school, so stressing academics can be easy by simply saying, "if your grades aren't up, you don't play." Coaches need to ensure that their athletes display the highest level of character because, as a coach, it is his or her responsibility to build their team members as people and athletes. One way to encourage good character is to have team building activities outside of practice to be sure that your players are with a group of people who will better them as people.

Danielle Lester writes:
I've always believed in the importance of stressing the idea of a student-athlete. As a coach at the high-school varsity level, it is extremely important to reiterate to your team that there is a reason that student comes first in that phrase, student-athlete. Not only is it necessary for student-athletes to make good grades because they are leaders in their respective schools, but it is necessary to make good grades in order to play whatever sport that they are participating in.

Schools have eligibility requirements that typically entail earning a C average or better in order to be eligible to play. Not only are academics important in high-school, good grades are necessary to be eligible to play in college. If any athlete has a dream to be involved in college athletics, they must be aware that poor academics can prevent this from happening. The emphasis on grades cannot be strong enough.

In order to track my own athletes' performances, I believe that a program, similar to that in place at Vickery Hall, would be beneficial. This would allow me to keep track of my athletes' progress, as well as ensure that they are actually putting forth time and effort into their studies. As a student-athlete myself in high-school, we were constantly being reminded that it is necessary to be on your best behavior at all times. Student-athletes have a continual audience that is always waiting for a mess up. The more that students are aware of this, the easier it will be to prevent these unsavory behaviors.

In order to make them aware of the severity of the issue of appropriate behavior, there would have to be team guidelines and consequences regarding these behaviors. For example, I would have written rules concerning drinking, smoking, and in light of the social media era, Twitter and Facebook. This would help to emphasize the importance of suitable behavior while keeping inappropriate behavior in check.

Griffin Barth writes:
Having a successful varsity program at a high school level requires many things. Being at the high school level, it is extremely important for the coach to reinforce the importance of athletes trying their best in academics. This is not only to have the grades required to participate in sports, but it teaches the athlete so much that can directly relate to sports and things in life.

As a coach, you need to stress the fact that the athletes must demonstrate quality character, respect, and appropriate behavior in general, at all times. If the athletes, who are also students, practice this in the classroom and on the field, it will in turn make winning more fun, losing easier, and train the young-adults how to act in the world after high school.

Tracking the performance of the players will be simple, and effective; once a week, the entire team will meet, and speak openly about ideas, problems, or concerns. Some athletes will bring up subjects during this time, in the hope that others will join and support the topic. For the ones that don't wish to discuss something as a team, the coach will have hours each week for players to either make appointments to talk, or just drop in to discuss something. All of these things, I believe, will make any varsity high school program successful.

Jessica Rose Wiseman writes:
There are a lot of key aspects that are put together to make a varsity sport at the high school level successful. The coaches must understand that students are there to learn academics first and foremost, but also they must learn mutual respect and how to work with others. Academics are truly important because the students are in high school to learn, and academics prepare these students for college and the "real world."

A student that is a part of a varsity sport needs to display many good traits as well as successfully handle pressure. Students need to demonstrate quality character, respect, determination, and many other features. Students also must be able to manage time well. Keeping high grades and attending practice and games is a lot of work that not everyone can handle, but with a strong coach and team students are able to handle the pressures easier. A student's actions away from the sport reflects the morals that the team holds.

A coach should demonstrate good behavior and show his or her students the right way to act in certain situations. A Coaches behavior is a huge example of how students should act. A coach also should express to his/her team how important academics are. Each month the coach should get a grade progress report of each of his/her students, and either reprimand or complement them on their grades. Also, if a student does not do as good as he/she should, the coach needs to support that student and discuss ways to help the student bring up the grade.

BIO:
Education:
B.A. Physical Education, Marshall University 1981
M.S. Physical Education, Marshall University 1997
ABD in Adult Education and Higher Learning, Walden University

Ed Fry (efry@clemson.edu) has coached basketball at the high school and college levels for 30 years. He currently teaches Athletic Leadership at Clemson University, and has designed the coaching education curriculum for the Masters of Sports Culture and Leadership at the University of Rio Grande. Ed is married to his wife of 32 years, Angela, and their son, Roman, was an All-American in football at Clemson University.

We extend appreciation to Ed Fry, and Clemson University students for contributing to Sport & Coaching Section publication in pelinks4u this month!

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