IN THIS ISSUE:

• News and Views:
  • League Puts Sportsmanship Over Victory
  • Test Your Knowledge of Hazing
  • Tennis Star Bails Out of Final Because of Upset Stomach
• Using PVWH Seminars to Build Your Sportsmanship Program
• At the Multiplex: Glory Road
• Recent Books: Rudy, Stars and Coaches
• Sportsmanship Trivia Test: "The Most Important Thing"
• You Make the Call: Should Parents Complain If Their Kids Sit on the Bench?
• In Their Own Words: Not Saying, Didn't Expect
• Sportsmanship Principle of the Month: Codes of Conduct
• From the Gold Medal Standards for Youth Sports: Everyone Makes Mistakes
• From the Gold Medal Standards for Amateur Basketball: Avoiding Mid-Season Terminations
• From the Ultimate Sportsmanship Tool Kit: Respect and the Code of Conduct
• Sportsmanship Trivia Test: Answer
• Upcoming Events: Training Courses in 2006
• Commentary by Michael Josephson: "What I Want My Daughter to Get Out of Sports"
  

NEWS AND VIEWS

School-Based Sports

League Puts Sportsmanship Over Victory

A youth basketball league in Columbia, Missouri, has placed teamwork and sportsmanship ahead of winning, and it seems to be working out just fine.

“We do not keep league standings from week to week,” said Wendell Coonce, president of the Columbia Youth Basketball Association (CYBA). “In fact, for fourth grade we do not even keep score, which has been one of the best rules we have ever implemented. It keeps both coaches and parents focused on kids having fun and developing skills.”

Moreover, after every game referees rate each team on the sportsmanship of its players, coaches, and fans. At the end of the year, the three top teams in each division receive an award. “We feel this gives more than lip service to the concept of sportsmanship,” Mr. Coonce said.

Susan Kreklow is the associate head coach of the University of Missouri women’s volleyball team, and her daughter plays in the fourth-grade division. “The league doesn’t pay attention to winning and losing. They try to downplay that,” Ms. Kreklow said. “It’s just so neat, all of the volunteer coaches, and people that want to get involved in the community and give kids a chance to play.”

“The primary goal of children playing sports should be because they enjoy it,” Mr. Coonce said. “While sports are very much about winning and losing, you do not need to win to have fun.” Principle One of the Arizona Accord states that the "highest potential of sports is achieved when competition reflects" sportsmanship and the Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and good citizenship. The CYBA program seems an exemplar. [Columbia Missourian, 1/30]

Test Your Knowledge of Hazing

Hazing is a shadow disease of high schools and colleges, of sports teams and exclusive societies. It is everywhere, but it lives in darkness, so most people don't realize its prevalence. In fact, 1.5 million high school students are hazed each year, half of them athletes, and the figure is rising. Even more college students suffer it. And most teachers are oblivious to it.

How much do you know about hazing? Take this quiz:

True or false?

1. Hazing is a form of rejection.
2. Most young people don't know which acts constitute hazing.
3. A little extra vigilance will show if hazing is going on in your school
4. Hazing usually hurts only the sensitive, though that is bad enough.
5. Almost no respectable figures condone hazing.
6. Since students consent to hazing, they are -- unfortunately -- legally responsible for any harm to themselves.
7. Studies show that groups really do need hazing to bond well, and that's an obstacle to eliminating it.
8. Many hazed individuals say the experience was fun.
9. Those who have undergone hazing are less likely to inflict it on others.
10. Most college athletes suffer hazing.

Answers

1. FALSE. Hazing isn't rejection, but rather a rite of acceptance.
2. TRUE. They typically admit to acts that constitute hazing while denying that they have hazed.
3. FALSE, usually. It can be very difficult to tell whether hazing is taking place. Often parents or school officials deduce it by the presence of bruises or other problems.
4. FALSE. It scars the majority of people.
5. FALSE. Hazing has champions who offer an array of justifications for it.
6. FALSE. Today, 44 states have laws against hazing. The "consent" aspect is somewhat illusory, since there is much social pressure to undergo it, especially for athletes who badly want to compete. And hazing can spin out of control and turn into humiliation the victim never contemplated.
7. FALSE. Teams bond perfectly well without hazing.
8. TRUE. Especially with milder hazing, victims can salvage self-respect by claiming they enjoyed it.
9. FALSE. In fact, the worst hazers have almost always undergone it themselves, and are recycling it.
10. TRUE. In one study, 80 percent of NCAA athletes reported it.

Professional Sports

Tennis Star Bails Out of Final Because of Upset Stomach

When should a tennis star play through pain and when should she forfeit? This issue surfaced January 28 when Justine Henin-Hardenne retired from the final of the Australian Open, trailing Amelie Mauresmo 6-1, 2-0. She said she'd taken a medicine that upset her stomach.

The withdrawal raised eyebrows because great players can often play through such ailments, and even win. Pete Sampras was vomiting during the 1996 U.S. Open quarterfinal, yet he defeated Alex Corretja. At the 2004 French Open, Ms. Henin-Hardenne herself had the flu and bronchitis, yet she completed — though lost — a second-round match.

One might argue that pro tennis players are solo athletes, responsible for their own success and failure, and that Ms. Henin-Hardenne therefore had every right to forfeit the game if she felt ill. In some cases, it's true. Single competitors in situations with few stakeholders -- most marathoners or golfers, say -- can plainly quit when ill, though persistence is more admirable.

However, Ms. Henin-Hardenne's act affected a galaxy of stakeholders. Fans had come to see the championship, advertisers had ponied up funds, and TV viewers were watching. She had major responsibilities beyond herself. And if she dropped out in part to deny Ms. Mauresmo the reward of unquestionable victory, she sullied the game.

In team sports, athletes have a different set of stakeholders, and different standards. On the one hand, a game can continue without, say, Barry Bonds in the lineup, though fans may regret his absence. On the other, an athlete has obligations to the team that may require playing through illness. However, in most cases athletes should quit when competition risks further injury, or when they are simply incapacitated.

While it's impossible to tell exactly how sick Ms. Henin-Hardenne was, she did feel well enough to start the match, and she withdrew toward its end, when defeat seemed likely. Principle Six of the Accord says, in part, that "all sports participants must consistently demonstrate and demand scrupulous integrity," and suspicion of breaching this Principle hangs over the tennis star. "I think Henin-Hardenne's reputation is tarnished forever," says ex-pro Pam Shriver. [Los Angeles Times, 1/29; sports.espn.go.com, 1/29]

Using PVWH to Build Your Sportsmanship Program

Victory on the field depends far more on practice than inspired, one-day performance. It depends on training. It's the same with coaching education. You have to be prepared, in every way.

And if you want to start a sportsmanship program -- improving your athletes' teamwork and teaching them lessons for a lifetime -- you also have to be prepared. That's why we offer the Pursuing Victory With Honor (PVWH) Sportsmanship Seminars.

The trainings emphasize how to build character through coaching, the ethical aspects of sport and sportsmanship, sound decision-making techniques, and professional responsibilities of coaching. They detail how an athletic program can help young people enjoy and learn from the competition. Anyone involved in sports can benefit from them.

The next PVWH Sportsmanship Seminar takes place June 21-22 in Los Angeles. Please go here to find out more about the seminar and how to register.

Overall, PVWH is the sportsmanship campaign of the nonprofit, nonpartisan Josephson Institute of Ethics. It originated in 1999 at a summit conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. There, more than four dozen leading figures in American amateur athletics called for major reforms in sports, and set forth the 16 principles of the Arizona Sports Summit Accord. The Accord continues to gain signatories, including: NCAA Division IA Athletic Directors Association, the National Association of Basketball Coaches, the American Football Coaches Association, the National Federation of State High School Associations and most of the nation's Division IA collegiate athletic programs.

PVWH enjoys the support of an array of comprehensive materials. The Accord is only the starting point. For instance, the Gold Medal Standards for Youth Sports detail essential criteria for ethical youth sports, and the Ultimate Sportsmanship Tool Kit provides materials to use from pre-season meetings to the post-season banquet, and beyond.

All PVWH national faculty members are certified experts and have extensive experience working with young people and implementing successful programs in the field. These trainers conduct a variety of one-day workshops as well as two-day certification seminars.

If you have any questions about PVWH or the June 21-22 training, please email charactercountssports@jiethics.org, or call James Jankowski at (800) 711-2670.

AT THE MULTIPLEX

Glory Road: Hollywood Looks Back at Integrating Basketball

Coach Don Haskins arrives at Texas Western (now UT El Paso) in 1965, straight from a job coaching high school girls’ basketball. The prospects are as bleak as the landscape. The team is mediocre, and he and his family actually have to live in the dorms. But as fiercely played by Josh Lucas (eyes ablaze, mouth a taunting smile), Haskins has a passion to win and pursues top high school players in the nation who, in the movie's unreliable version, are available because they are black. He trains them, prods them, fends off puzzled administrators (“Why are you bringing in Negroes?”) and leads them on a sensational tear against mostly white rivals. Glory Road is human, dramatic, and often funny, and it captures the racist rancor of the time, and the courage of both players and coach.

Yet its story cuts through facts like a freeway through a hill. The movie inflates the team's role in integrating basketball; the University of Cincinnati, for instance, won the Division I championship in 1962 with four black starters. The film also repeatedly casts this great squad as an underdog (even changing one blowout into a squeaker), to manufacture tension and squeeze your tear ducts at the finale. This is an important story and the film has charm, so it’s a shame you can’t entirely trust it. (With Jon Voight, excellent as the smug Coach Adolph Rupp of Kentucky -- there have also been complaints about the accuracy of this portrayal, though not its quality -- and fine performances by the actor-athletes, on court and off. As the credits roll, you see the actual participants reminisce. Directed by James Gartner.)

— Dan McNeill

RECENT BOOKS

Sportsmanship Book Roundup

Books related to sportsmanship appear regularly, and unfortunately we can’t review all of them. But we can occasionally call your attention to them, and here are a few new ones:

The Rudy in You: A Guide to Building Teamwork, Fair Play and Good Sportsmanship for Young Athletes, Parents and Coaches
By Donald T. Phillips, Rudy Ruettiger and Peter M. Leddy
Rudy Ruettiger, whose perseverance made him a noted sidebar in Notre Dame football history and led to the film Rudy (1993), offers principles and practical tools for children, parents, and coaches. “This book contains many of the lessons and values taught to me by my parents and coaches when I was growing up," says four-time Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux. "They made a difference in my life, and I believe they’ll make a difference in the lives of countless kids all across America.”
List price: $10.95 (paperback)
Length: 153 pages
Publisher: iUniverse Star (September 22, 2005)

Raising Athletic Stars: How to Put Integrity and Character Development Back in Play
By Theodore S. Dance
Mr. Dance offers a faith-based approach to developing top athletes with good character. The book features interviews with Colts' coach Tony Dungy and dozens of other sports professionals, as well as stories of role models and guidance on recruitment, nutrition, and proper training. “[This book] confronts some of the more difficult issues in youth sports head on, in a thoughtful and powerful way," says Dr. Alan Goldberg, founder of Competitivedge.com. "A must read for any family serious about sports.”
List price: $21.95 (paperback), $27.95 (hardback)
Length: 200 pages
Publisher: First Books Publishing Co. (available around February 20)

Effective Coaching: Teaching Young People Sports and Sportsmanship
By Pat Cassidy
The author emphasizes that developing character is the main role of sports, and the book addresses such topics as: 21 principles all coaches should know, planning a practice, developing a coaching philosophy, dealing with troublesome parents, steering competitive energy in the right direction, and coaching talented athletes. "[It] provides insight and simple guidelines for young coaches getting started, as well as a valuable resource for the veteran coach," says Tommy Tuberville, head football coach at Auburn University.
List price: $14.95 (paperback)
Length: 201 pages
Publisher: Westholme Publishing (May 30, 2005)

FROM THE GOLD MEDAL STANDARDS FOR YOUTH SPORTS:

Everyone Makes Mistakes

Michael Jordan once said, "I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

No one always wins, in sports or anywhere else, and everyone makes mistakes. That's why it's important to teach young athletes that losing and mistakes are simply part of the game. As Section 5.2b of the Gold Medal Standards for Youth Sports says, in part, coaches must emphasize that "it is important to be a good sport in both victory and defeat and not to be ashamed or afraid of errors or mistakes."

The Gold Medal Standards are a common framework of requirements that all youth programs should meet. Read about them, and the summit that led to them.

FROM GOLD MEDAL STANDARDS FOR AMATEUR BASKETBALL:

Avoiding Mid-Season Terminations

When an institution hires a coach, it typically commits to giving that coach at least a full season to develop the team. Termination in mid-season not only breaches that promise, but prevents a coach from fulfilling his or her plan. Moreover, it "can be demoralizing and disruptive to student-athletes." That's why, "except in cases of extreme misconduct or insubordination," schools should not terminate coaches during a season. Section 1.2c7

The Gold Medal Standards for Amateur Basketball is, as NABC executive director Jim Haney describes it, a "serious effort by many of the most influential people in amateur basketball to outline a realistic game plan to address some of the most serious issues facing the game." Read the whole document here.

FROM THE ULTIMATE SPORTSMANSHIP TOOL KIT:

The Ultimate Sportsmanship Tool Kit is an all-in-one resource to help athletic programs achieve sportsmanship and character-building goals. It comes in two versions — youth and high school — and covers everything from mission statements and codes of conduct to evaluation tools and ideas for rewarding players and coaches.

The Pillar of Respect

From the Code of Conduct for Teacher-Coaches of Young Athletes

• Respect — Treat all people with respect all the time and require the same of athletes.
• Class — Be a good sport. Teach and model class. Be gracious in victory and accept defeat with dignity. Encourage players to help up fallen opponents, compliment extraordinary performances, and show sincere respect in pre- and post-game rituals.
• Taunting — Don’t engage in or allow trash-talking, taunting, boastful celebrations or other actions that demean individuals or the sport. Assure that players conduct themselves appropriately.
• Respect for Officials — Treat game officials with respect. Don’t complain about or argue with an official’s decisions during or after an athletic event. Adopt and enforce policies and procedures to assure that the conduct and decisions of referees are subject to reasonable review. Vigorously protect referees from retaliation, blackballing or intimidation by teacher-coaches or others who are unhappy with the way a referee called a game. Assure that neither you nor your players publicly criticize an official in a manner that discredits the game, impugns the honor or the integrity of any official or subjects the referees to ridicule or hostility. Adopt whatever policies are necessary to assure the safety of referees and prevent verbal or physical abuse from teacher-coaches, athletes or spectators. Encourage regular and formal opportunities for teacher-coaches, and in some cases players, to interact and converse with referees in non-confrontational settings.
• Respect for Parents/Guardians — Treat the parents/guardians of players with respect. Be clear about your expectations, goals and policies and maintain open lines of communication.
• Profanity — Don’t engage in or permit profanity or obscene gestures during practices, sporting events, on team buses, or in any other situation where the behavior could reflect badly on the school or the sports program.
• Positive Coaching — Use positive coaching methods to make the experience enjoyable, increase self-esteem and foster a love and appreciation for the sport. Refrain from physical or psychological intimidation, verbal abuse and conduct demeaning to players or others.
• Effort and Teamwork — Encourage athletes to pursue victory with passion, to think and play as a team, to do their best and continually improve through personal effort and discipline. Discourage selfishness and put less emphasis on the final outcome of the contest.
• Appropriate Relationships — Maintain appropriate relationships with players and respect proper adult-child boundaries. Be careful not to engage in any conduct with or in front of players that could be misconstrued or in any way perceived as sexual. When in the presence of athletes, refrain from comments of a sexual nature.
  

For more about the Ultimate Sportsmanship Tool Kit, go here.

COMMENTARY BY MICHAEL JOSEPHSON

The following is adapted from Michael Josephson's Gabriel Award-winning radio commentaries airing daily on our flagship station, KNX 1070 AM in Southern California, on American Forces Radio worldwide, and on other stations throughout the U.S.

What I Want My Daughter to Get Out of Sports

Several years ago, when my daughter Carissa was about to enter her first gymnastics competition, I wrote a letter expressing my hopes and goals for her athletic experience. Here’s a revised version:

"My dearest Carissa,

"I know you've worked hard to prepare yourself to compete and how much you want to win. That’s a good goal. You'll always get the best out of yourself when you strive for victory.

"But winning is not the only goal, or even the most important one. What's most important is that you have fun and learn. I want you to love the sport so much that you can find pleasure in the effort itself and in the friendship of your teammates and other competitors.

"I want you to know that you can do well no matter who takes home the medals, if you do your best. And you will be a winner if you keep getting better. I want you to pursue excellence with all your heart, not to please me or your mom or to get the approval of anyone else, but to experience the joy of accomplishment.

"If you wobble, keep on going; if you fall, get right up and continue. No matter what happens, keep your head high. Don't give up or give in. If things don't go your way, don't cry, whine or make excuses.

"Always conduct yourself in a way that brings honor to your team, your coaches, your family, and, above all, yourself. I want you to be a model of good sportsmanship, treating the sport, its rules, your teammates, other competitors and judges with respect.

"But, most of all, I want you to know how proud of you I am."

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.

For an archive of Mr. Josephson's commentaries, with audio files, go to: www.charactercounts.org/knxtoc.htm

To receive free weekly e-mail including all five of Mr. Josephson's commentaries from that week, please sign up at: www.charactercounts.org/newsletters.htm

View newsletter archive

This newsletter reports on issues of ethics and character in sports to help you advance sportsmanship in your work in athletics. Please forward it to your friends. They can sign up to receive it regularly (see below).

Who reputedly said this?
"The most important thing . . . is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well."

a. Jesse Owens
b. Baron Pierre de Coubertin
c. Bart Giamatti
d. Mike Tyson

Answer below.

Should parents complain to the coach if their child almost always sits on the bench?

• Yes
• No
• I'm not sure

SPORTSMANSHIP PRINCIPLE
OF THE MONTH

Precepts are vital guides for behavior, but they are typically large statements about sports. People may not realize when they apply, or disagree on how they do. As a result they need more detailed prescriptions. We call them "codes of conduct." Principle Five explicitly recognizes this need, saying, "Sports programs should establish standards for participation by adopting codes of conduct for coaches, athletes, parents, spectators and other groups that impact the quality of athletic programs."

Nearly 50 influential leaders in sports issued the Arizona Sports Summit Accord in 1999 to encourage greater emphasis on the ethical and character-building aspects of athletic competition. There are youth/interscholastic and collegiate/Olympic versions. Read the full texts.

"No, I'm not saying that."
— Bode Miller, U.S. skier (b. 1977), asked if he would never ski drunk again [60 Minutes, 1/8]

"I did not expect this kind of response."
— Robert Hull, member, Virginia House of Delegates, on the furor after he introduced House Bill 1368, which prohibited anyone from using public or private athletic fields before 8 a.m., after 6 p.m., or anytime on Sunday, unless each and every person owning or leasing property within 65 yards gave written consent [Falls Church (VA) News Press, 1/25]

Josephson Institute Training Courses in 2006

Subject to change. Please click on the links below for more information and to register online. Or call (800) 711-2670.

PVWH Sportsmanship Seminars

June 21-22, Los Angeles, CA

Click for info or to enroll online

 

Character Development Seminars Feb. 28 - Mar. 2, Chicago area Mar. 7-9, Los Angeles, CA Apr. 25-27, Chicago area May 2-4, Los Angeles, CA June 13-15, Princeton, NJ June 20-22, Chicago area June 27-29, Los Angeles, CA July 11-13, Chicago area Aug. 1-3, Los Angeles, CA Aug. 8-10, Princeton, NJ Aug. 15-17, Chicago area Aug. 15-17, Los Angeles, CA Sep. 26-28, Los Angeles, CA Oct. 24-26, Princeton, NJ Oct. 24-26, Chicago area Nov. 14-16, Los Angeles, CA Nov. 28-30, Chicago area Dec. 5-7, Los Angeles, CA Click for info or to enroll online

Honoring the Badge: Ethical Issues for Peace Officers and Administrators

Feb. 28-Mar. 1, Los Angeles, CA May 10-11 (location TBA) July 26-27 (location TBA) Sept. 27-28 (location TBA) Nov. 14-15, Los Angeles, CA

Click for info or to enroll online

Living Up to the Public Trust: Ethical and Risk Management Issues for Public Administrators and Managers

Mar. 21-22, Los Angeles, CA July 12-13 (location TBA) Sept. 20-21 (location TBA) Dec. 6-7, Los Angeles, CA

Click for info or to enroll online

Living Up to the Public Trust: Ethical and Risk Management Issues for School Superintendents and Board of Education Members

Apr. 20, Chicago area Oct. 4, Los Angeles, CA

Click for info or to enroll online

Read about the seminars and register online at the webpages above, or call (800) 711 2670.

b) Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic games. These words are the Olympic creed.

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The mission of the Josephson Institute of Ethics Sports Division is to work with sports leaders (administrators, athletes, coaches, legislators, officials and parents) to improve the ethical quality of society by changing personal and organizational decision making and behavior in various sports cultures.

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