It is often stated that "sport builds character," but the numerous incidences of unsportsman like behavior, both on and off the field, at all levels of sport, are evidence for the fact that sport does not inherently build character.

Sport does, however, present an opportunity for the development of behaviors and attitudes associated with good sportspersonship. The key is in the environment or climate that is created within the team, and the person with the most influence on the creation of the appropriate environment to facilitate good character development is the coach. This issue contains two articles contributed by authors who specialize in the area of building character through sport. Both articles include practical advice for creating an environment that will foster good character development.

Nicole Kulikov-Hagobian, Ph.D.
Coaching & Science Section Editor

HIGH SCHOOL HAZING: BREAKING THE TRADITION
Shelby L. Hinkle Smith, Ph.D.

In recent years there have been several hazing incidents in high school sports that have entered the American media spotlight (e.g., Mepham, NY; Glenbrook, IL). These incidents have been criminal in nature, and have resulted in coaches and school administrators being removed from their positions, parents being charged in the court of law, and student athletes being detained in juvenile detention facilities. These incidents not only affect those individuals who are immediately involved, but also the surrounding community as members of the community begin to take sides in the dispute, witness their child or their neighbor's child suffering, and quickly and abruptly realize that the infallible, young hometown heroes may not be worthy of that status. Highly publicized cases have left coaches, educators, parents, and researchers asking, "Why is this happening?" As a coach, it is important to have a basic understanding of what hazing is, why it exists, and what you can do to prevent it from happening on your team.

What is hazing and why does it exist?

Hazing occurs when an individual who wishes to join or maintain full status in a group is expected to engage in activity that is humiliating, degrading, or puts him or her at risk for emotional and/or physical harm regardless of whether or not the individual is willing to participate (voluntary or involuntary participation). Hazing must include an element of humiliation or degradation; therefore, hazing generally does not include activities such as rookies carrying the balls, team parties, or going out with teammates. Hazing is illegal in 44 states. The activities can be criminal or non-criminal, and may be mental, physical, and sexual in nature. The following are some examples of hazing activities that student athletes have been subjected to:

• Forced to consume alcohol
• Covered in animal entrails, hair, and other unspecified items
• Kidnapped and covered in water and flour
• Forced to have head shaved
• Restrained with duct tape
• Forced to put head in toilet and then have it flushed
• Being subjected to a "beat-down"

Tradition, athletes' desire or need to belong to the group, and a desire to confirm their identity as a member of the team may promote the voluntary or involuntary participation of the athlete in hazing activities. This participation in turn perpetuates the hazing process. The motivation to belong is so strong that young athletes who want to become an accepted and recognized member of the team will choose to engage in hazing activities regardless of their personal beliefs about the activities.

How do I prevent hazing?

As coaches you have the opportunity to make a significant contribution to the prevention of hazing on your team. Here are some practical suggestions of things that you can do with your team and for your team that may help to prevent hazing.

• Education: Take an active role in educating student athletes about what hazing is by discussing examples, as well as the social, psychological, and legal consequences of being the victim or the perpetrator in a hazing incident.
• Team Building: Take a proactive role in team building during the beginning of the season by incorporating an activity(s) that involves personal and team challenges for the entire group (i.e., rookies and veterans). By challenging the team collectively, the student athletes are forced to overcome fears, learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses in order to succeed, and become bonded by the challenge and accomplishment of the activity. A coach can make an effort to replace any existing or potential negative methods of “team building” that may be conducted by the team veterans before it is attempted through hazing.
• Adopt a Holistic View of the Student Athlete: Make a commitment to nurture the growth and development of your athletes as individuals of character and individuals with diverse interests. By creating a team culture that encourages and/or supports your athletes in achieving academic success, and in pursuing other extracurricular endeavors (e.g., music, drama, debate) of interest, you are not only allowing them to develop their personal identity but also decreasing the emphasis on being solely an "athlete." A strong commitment to the athlete role could contribute to fostering an unhealthy perspective of the role of hazing in sport, leading to the acceptance of the practice as part of the process of joining a team. You can attempt to break the hazing cycle by allowing and fostering athletes' development of a well-rounded global self-concept.
• Develop Strong & Positive Leaders: You should recognize and foster the development of positive leadership skills in your athletes. Leadership on the team is a key factor in the formation and shaping of team culture. By taking a coaching and mentoring approach to developing your leaders you will help to develop positive team leaders who have the necessary skills to lead effectively, while also taking a proactive role in shaping a healthy team culture and values.

You may already consider the emotional and physical well being of your players to be your number one priority, but make sure that you include in your coaching plan a way to effectively educate, prevent, and protect them from being the victims of hazing. Create and sustain a team culture that is not accepting of hazing and the behaviors that are involved in hazing, and you will be working toward developing athletes of character.

About the Author
Shelby L. Hinkle Smith, Ph.D. is a Stick Starz and Futures Program coach for the United States Field Hockey Association. Currently, Dr. Hinkle Smith also works at the University of Vermont in the Department of Athletics and Campus Recreation. She has also taught at the collegiate level and has presented numerous guest lectures ranging in topics from leadership in sport, character education through coaching, hazing, sportspersonship, and sport psychology.

BUILDING CHARACTER INSTEAD OF CHARACTERS
Stacey A. Wisdom-Gaines, Ph.D., ABD

Most coaches have heard someone say that sport builds character. In 1983, the American Academy of Physical Education issued a position statement that listed moral development as one of the top three critical issues facing the profession of physical education in the 1980s. This statement was the reaction to the numerous criticisms of ethical abuses in sport. Sadly, concerns about moral behavior in sport are as pertinent today, if not more so, as they were 25 years ago.

Despite this stated concern, the notion that sport builds character has not been completely abandoned. Many sport participation advocates still believe that sport provides an appropriate context for the learning of social skills such as cooperation and prosocial behavior. Sport is assumed to provide a vehicle for learning to cooperate with teammates, negotiate and give solutions to conflicts, develop self-control, display courage, and learn virtues such as fairness, team loyalty, persistence, and teamwork. Despite these assumptions, it is easy to find stories of illegal recruitment, use of performance enhancing drugs, aggressive behaviors, and acts of cheating in the sport context. Further, research suggests that an overemphasis on competitive outcome generates moral problems, and that competition reduces prosocial behavior and promotes antisocial behavior.

With the sport context presenting so many opposing forces to the development of character, is it even worth the time and energy of coaches to attempt instilling character in their young athletes? The answer is a resounding, YES! Recent research has revealed to us that while character development is not an inherent consequence of sport participation, with deliberate efforts by coaches and other adults, an environment that fosters the development of character in young athletes can be created.

Here are some practical strategies that you can use to aid in reducing cheating and aggressive behaviors in sport and helping to foster the character development of your athletes:

• As a coach, you need to exemplify the highest moral character, behavior and leadership possible. Knute Rockne once said, "One man practicing sportsmanship is better than 50 preaching it." You are a lot more than just a coach, you are a teacher. Your athletes are looking to you to teach them how to respond to difficult situations on the field. When you set guidelines for and implore your team to practice good sportsmanship and then break them yourself under game pressure, you nullify the effect of your previous exhortations. Conversely, a coach who controls their emotions under pressure gives the team a tangible guide for good conduct that words could never convey. By practicing good sportsmanship, you are teaching your athletes good citizenship. These valuable lessons can be transferred into their everyday lives, forwarding the notion that sport builds character.
• Choose peer leaders (i.e., captains) who engage in positive, character-building behaviors. We know that peers are important to the socialization of young athletes, both inside and outside of sport. Peer leaders are in a powerful position to both establish and maintain the character climate of a team. Athletes with the most positive peer relationships may be more easily persuaded by others, thus it is important to have leaders in place who exemplify desirable values and behaviors (i.e., sportsmanship, fair play).
• Provide opportunities for establishing common goals regarding sportsmanlike behavior on your team. Help athletes to establish goals for positive, productive interactions with teammates, and teach athletes to reinforce one another when these interactions occur. This produces a climate where young athletes attend to positive messages from their closest teammates.
• Make extra efforts to make sportsmanship your number one priority. There are so many examples of unsportsmanlike conduct and undesirable behaviors from the professional level down to youth sport. Oftentimes as a middle or high school coach, you have to make extra efforts to combat the images that athletes watch in the media. You have an opportunity to aspire to be the role model that professional coaches can follow. Take steps to do more than just teach the rules of the game. As a coach you must also respect them and abide by them, in letter and in spirit.
• Respect game officials and the way they call the game. As a coach, you have the opportunity to set a good example for players and fans alike to follow. This means treating game officials with respect – even when you disagree. Once a call has been made, rarely will it be overturned, in which case the time spent venting or fuming over a call would be much better spent instructing your players. Remember that officials are doing their best to support the youth of your community, and are humans who make mistakes, just like you and me. Your athletes are looking to you to learn how to respond in difficult situations. Poor calls will come and go, but the reactions learned may be transferred into everyday life. Further, given the limited number of officials, you could very well see an official again later in the season, if not certainly from year to year. Developing an understanding relationship is definitely prudent. In your team meetings, focus comments regarding the competition solely on athletes’ performance rather than external factors that you perceive to have affected the outcome.
• Make guidelines or rules for your student-athletes regarding unsportsmanlike behavior. Although gamesmanship has always been a negative force to some degree, currently it is amplified by taunting, hazing, harassing, gesturing, fighting, inciting crowds, questioning calls, and "in-your-face" competitive antics. As the coach, you must stress to your athletes that disrespectful behavior towards opponents and officials will not be tolerated. Players should be well-versed in your expectations for the team. Expectations such as shaking hands with opponents before and after games, respecting calls of officials, and following not only the rules of the sport but also the spirit of the rules are a good place to start. Your athletes should know what disciplinary action to expect if they violate the basic tenets of sportsmanship on your team. Provide appropriate sanctions for undesirable behavior, and rewards for desirable behavior – and follow through with them.
• When possible, address fans whose behavior is inappropriate. Certainly the majority of your fans are adults and should be able to act appropriately and responsibly during interscholastic athletic events. However, by addressing fans who are not exhibiting good sportsmanship, you have an opportunity to develop a culture of sportsmanship in your home gym. Enlist the help of your school's athletic directors or administration.
• Use the language of sportsmanship. Words like character, integrity, class, dignity, respect, sportsmanship, fair play, honor, and humility resonate with the true spirit of sport. Don’t be afraid to use them, as they carry more weight than you might expect. Children and adolescents won't learn what they mean if you don't use them.

By placing the emotional and physical well-being of your players ahead of your personal desire to win, you are setting them up for success both inside and outside of the sport context. When you lead by example in demonstrating fair play, respect, and sportsmanship to all players, officials, and spectators you can begin to cultivate a culture of sportsmanship in your program that ultimately may spill over into your school, community, state, and society.

About The Author
Stacey A. Wisdom-Gaines, Ph.D., ABD is a doctoral candidate at Purdue University. She has experience as an educator, researcher, sport psychology consultant, coach and athlete.

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