Interesting article on sportsmanship (from the perspective of a coach dealing with fans). I like the idea of district/conference/league rules on sportsmanship.
http://www.athleticmanagement.com/2011/ ... /index.php
Weekly Blog: January 31, 2011
Sportsmanship: A League-wide Approach
By Dr. David Hoch, CMAA
Sportsmanship is not a new topic. As long as I've been involved in high school athletics--longer than I'd like to admit--the behavior and actions of athletes, coaches, and fans has been a major concern. This is especially true in basketball, which is a great love of mine after coaching it for 24 years. Due to the close proximity of the fans to the court, and the quickness and action of the play, things can get out of control at some venues. Here are some solutions I've come up.
Many schools have created well thought-out codes of conduct not only for athletes but also for fans. In many cases, these sportsmanship documents are distributed at preseason meetings, posted on the school's Web site, distributed at games, posted in the gym and reviewed with the coaching staff which, in turn, informs the athletes of their responsibilities.
If an incident does occur, the athletic administrator can intercede with the offending spectator or meet with the wayward athlete the following day. Most schools have procedures in place for dealing with sportsmanship problems involving their own community, which would include athletes, coaches, parents, and fans.
However, there are times when problems arise with enforcing those rules with spectators from visiting schools. Those fans are not familiar with the home school's expectations and procedures. When dealing with those situations as an athletic director, I was often told by visitors, "Well, we don't do that at our school," which was the root of many problems.
A solution to this predicament is a league-wide sportsmanship code of conduct in which athletes, coaches, and fans all have the same expectations and responsibilities regardless of where the game is being played. It eliminates the excuse of, "We didn't know," because every school distributes and posts the same universal standards.
This approach is already in place for the Northern Lakes Conference in Indiana and it should serve as a model for others around the country. On page 33 of the September issue of NFHS High School Today, Joe Santa and Larry Kissinger reported on the steps involved in creating this system.
Because of the different sports in an athletic program and the fact that various venues may be unique, a league might have to alter or develop a few additional items for the code to cover the exceptions and special considerations. For basketball, for example, you may want to include:
* Do not disrupt the foul shooter--this is not good sportsmanship. You should cheer for your team and not against your opponent. Unfortunately, TV coverage of college basketball games often show this act and the yelling of "Air ball" on missed shots--both are examples of poor sportsmanship.
* Please do not harass officials for any call that goes against your team. Most schools state that $5 for a ticket does not provide the license to yell at officials or to cause a problem.
* Please refrain from chants such as "It's all over." Anything that may cause humiliation to your opponent is absolutely unacceptable.
Well, you get the idea. There may be a special item or two that can be added for other sports. But by doing this as a league, it provides a common and standardized approach than may help eliminate many of the sportsmanship problems.
Since the winter season is beginning, you probably don't have enough time to implement this approach this season. However, a short-term, quick solution is to send the sportsmanship expectations for your school via e-mail to other athletic administrators in your league.
Ask your colleagues to distribute the written expectations for your school to their coaches, who should then forward the materials to their parents. Many coaches or athletic departments have distribution lists for parents of their various teams. In addition, you can submit a homeroom announcement to inform and remind your student fans of an upcoming opponent's sportsmanship expectations. While there may still be some problems at a game, at least you've taken a concrete, proactive step.
Over the next few months of the season, make notes of things you would like to have covered in your league-wide code of sportsmanship. You might have to take the lead on this issue and get this idea listed on the agenda of your next league meeting so that a committee can be formed.
The league-wide approach to setting and maintaining standards for sportsmanship is the way to go. Individual approaches will continually encounter situations with visiting fans until everyone has, understands, and uses the same standards.
David Hoch, EdD, CMAA, recently retired as Athletic Director at Loch Raven High School in Baltimore County, Md. He is a frequent contributor to Athletic Management.
