The NCAA News - News and Features

June 15, 1998

Strides in sportsmanship require first step from all

Building 'good sports' is a task for players, coaches, administrators and fans alike

BY KAY HAWES
STAFF WRITER

While it's easy to sit back, watch sports and condemn the media or the athletes for providing such a poor example, that doesn't really address the problem.

But where to start with such a monumental task?

Perhaps we could begin by thinking before we boo, taking action when we see someone act in an unsportsmanlike manner or volunteering to talk to young people about the responsibilities of being a role model for others.

Part three of this three-part series on sportsmanship examines what can be done to elevate sportsmanship at all levels.

'It's everybody's responsibility'

Making changes in the state of sportsmanship should begin with an examination of what each of us personally can do about it, says Russell Gough, a professor at Pepperdine University and the author of "Character is Everything: Promoting Ethical Excellence in Sports."

"I think we point the finger at others a little too much. We probably ought to be looking in the mirror," Gough said.

The solution doesn't have to cost a lot, but it may take some time.

"Everybody thinks they have to pour money down into a black hole to fix sportsmanship," said Robert J. Minnix, associate director of athletics at Florida State University and chair of the NCAA Committee on Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct.

"This sportsmanship issue is a people problem. It's not about money, it's about what are you as an individual going to do about it? If I'm taking a swing at the referee or shouting obscenities from the stands, I'm not doing my part.

"I really think sportsmanship is everybody's responsibility. It's not just the coaches, it's not just the athletes, it's not just the fans, it's not just the media."

Gough says that elevating sportsmanship must begin with an attitude adjustment on everyone's part.

"This is a monumental, humongous fight we have on our hands, and the win-at-all costs mentality is the No. 1 obstacle that stands in our way," Gough said.

"We need to restore an honorable place for second, third and even last. Most athletes in college sports have a pretty good perspective on things and are not eaten up by this concept that there is no place for second place."

If only it were so for everybody else.

Sportsmanship is essence of sports

The first step toward improving the state of sportsmanship is being able to articulate -- in a variety of ways and to all doubters -- why changing the status quo is so important to intercollegiate athletics, to society, to sports and to the future of sports itself.

If we really care about sports, we'll care about sportsmanship.

"The concept of sportsmanship is absolutely essential precisely because it captures the ethical dimension of our games," Gough said.

In sport, as in society, certain rules must govern what happens.

"Any ethicist will tell you that, for a society to exist, function and flourish, there must be a minimum basic ethical foundation or a minimum foundation of ethical values," he said.

"Now if a society, much less a relationship like a marriage, gets to the point where there is no consensus about basic ethical values, then that society, or that relationship, self-destructs. The exact same thing is true in a sports setting."

And, according to Gough, sportsmanship affects the very existence of sports, at every level and during every contest.

"When it comes to sportsmanship, it's never just a game," he said. "If we get to the point where everyone is cheating and no one trusts each other, our games will self-destruct."

Gough points to several youth leagues in which cheating became so rampant that the leagues were dissolved. "I personally don't believe we're close to that in collegiate athletics," he said, "but we have seen it happen where leagues became so corrupt they ceased to exist.

"I think the same principle applies to the professional leagues. Fans more and more perceive these professional games to be corrupt. If the professional leagues don't start taking sportsmanship seriously, we could see the destruction of the professional games as well."

R. Daniel Beebe, commissioner of the Ohio Valley Conference, says that sportsmanship has everything to do with ethics, even if you're not an ethicist.

"We have a tremendous opportunity in sports to rise above situations and show a higher self and a higher form of character. I think if you're about higher ethical standards, you're about sportsmanship," he said.

"The thing that lasts over eternity is not whether you won or lost, but whether you took the high road and showed a higher character."

Maintaining interest and funding

Beebe also believes that sportsmanship is essential to maintain interest and funding in sports, particularly in intercollegiate athletics.

"Sportsmanship needs to be placed on the front burner of intercollegiate athletics. There is no more important issue," Beebe said.

"We fund our intercollegiate athletics from money that could easily be going somewhere else. And the way we justify our existence is by saying that athletics is supposed to teach values and ethical considerations and enhance the mission of higher education.

"If we're not focused on sportsmanship and we ignore that ethical component, we're failing our mission in higher education."

John Heeney, director of educational services for the National Foundation of State High School Associations, agrees.

"We have high-school sports programs for a unique purpose in the United States," Heeney said. "We have an obligation to make sure that these programs are creating better young people through sports and that the community's money is well-spent. When we defend (sports), we have to show credible evidence that those young people are better off for their participation in sports."

Character and citizenship

Addressing the issue of sportsmanship is impossible unless an acknowledgement is made that sportsmanship is a 24-hour-a-day proposition. Whatever happens in intercollegiate athletics -- whether it involves the ball girl, the coach or the chancellor -- those actions on and off the court matter.

A number of professional athletes have stated publicly that they believe what they do off the court is nobody's business. Heeney reports that a number of young athletes have expressed the same belief.

Changing that mindset is essential.

"Recently, we've switched to the term 'citizenship,' " Heeney said. "We found that here was this disconnect with sportsmanship, with athletes saying, 'I can be a good sport, but whatever I do off the court is not of interest to my coach or to my community.' "

Heeney says that kind of logic misses the point. "What we heard over and over again from young people was, 'What do you care what I do off the field?' Heeney said. "Well, if you don't take those skills you learned in sport off the field, we're not doing much for you.

"Only one in 10,000 of them will go on to the next level, even fewer will be pros. Most kids are just going to go on and be people. We want them to be good sports, but we also want them to be good people. We hope they'll be good people because of their participation in sports."

Gough says that what an athlete (or a coach, for that matter) does off the court is just as important as what he or she does on the court because it is all a part of who they are.

"There is no way we can separate personal character from public character," Gough said.

"A sportsmanlike athlete is a sportsmanlike person. If you've got someone who's unethical off the court, you're going to have a poor sport on the court and vice versa."

Don Wedge, a recently retired National Football League official who also has officiated for the National Basketball Association and college basketball and football, says that if those who possess good character step up and take the lead -- whether it's with their own children or with their athletics teams -- changing the face of sportsmanship will be much easier.

"We have to continue to stress that sportsmanship is a way of life on and off the field," he said. "And those who are the role models must set the example with their leadership."

Wedge points to former Cincinnati Bengal Anthony Munoz, who was recently inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame, as an example of someone who continues to lead the way by setting a good example.

"You look at Munoz's son, what a polite young man," Wedge said. "And do you know why he's a polite young man and a great athlete? Because of his father. His father was in a position to lead by what he did. He's more of a person of actions than of words, but that was what was necessary."

Student-athletes can lead the way

Student-athletes can make a difference in sportsmanship by leading the way with their good character.

They can affect how they act, how their team is perceived and the example they set. They can think about the effects their actions have on younger players and act accordingly.

Student-athletes who already understand their value as role models can lead the way. Those who don't yet understand can be taught.

"I think if you have student-athletes go into schools and talk to young people, you will show those student-athletes that they are role models," said Robert Covington, a student-athlete at the University of Florida who competes in track and field.

Student-athletes also can discourage teammates from trash-talking and encourage positive actions instead, Covington said.

Robin Roberts, commentator for ESPN and ABC Sports, says student-athletes often can have the most success with influencing other members of their team. "If they can get the ear of their teammate and tell them, 'Hey, they're going to be watching everything that you do,' it would help give the media less ammunition," she said.

Changing the media's message

It would help, of course, if the media were not so willing to use the ammunition that they do acquire.

"Sports pages and sports magazines could do our games a great service by emphasizing the positive just half as much as they emphasize the negative," Gough said. "And we can help them do that by promoting our sportsmanship winner just as much as we do the student-athlete who scores the most points.

"We've got to go beyond our usual sportsmanship awards. We've got to make sportsmanship on our campus as important and as high-profile as the status we give to an MVP."

Gough says the media can actually help. "We just can't underestimate the power of good that the media could have," Gough adds. "Why do we browbeat it so much? Because we believe it has a negative impact on our kids. So why can't we turn it around?"

Bringing calm out of chaos

Officials, who usually get into officiating for the love of sports and the enjoyment of being around young people, also can work to improve the state of sportsmanship.

"We need to know that there are highlight shows and keep that in mind while we're officiating," said Barry Mano, president of the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) and publisher of Referee magazine.

"It's our responsibility to bring calm out of chaos. And, as egregious as conduct is against you, you are not permitted to make it worse. If you can't do that, then go wash cars. Don't officiate.

"Sportsmanship is all about example. People look at us and emulate us. We need to all be on our best behavior, and coaches and administrators need to say, 'We're not going to tolerate this,' when someone isn't.

"We, as referees, also have to set good examples, just as a police officer or judge should. We also have to work to get more young people into officiating as a part-time job. There are so many things a person could learn and so many skills you can acquire. It also makes you a better fan."

Mano also has a quick fix that would yield immediate progress: Sports should not accept the regular use of obscenities.

"We need to say that we don't care what kids are hearing on the street, that's not acceptable here in sports," he said.

Retired NFL official Wedge says that fans and athletics participants need to remember that officials are at games to keep them fair. As such, officials should be treated with the respect you would give another competitor.

"These rules that we're enforcing for holding and what have you, they are there for a reason. We enforce the rules, not just to be the police, but to keep the game fair," Wedge said.

"We're not a bunch of dictators. We're dedicated to the spirit of sportsmanship and we're interested in sports as a way to make good athletes and good people. The odds of young athletes going on to the professional level are so minuscule. We have to make sure that young people use those things they learn in sports that will make them better fathers and better mothers and better citizens."

Where the rubber meets the road

Out of all the talk about sportsmanship, one notable area of consensus emerges: Coaches can have a direct and immediate impact.

"A lot of this responsibility falls on the coaches," said Beebe. "They are where the rubber meets the road."

"They can do the most to affect players, they can do the most to affect boosters. They can address a crowd and say that they would like the fans' support, but in an appropriate way."

Coaches need not fear that instilling sportsmanship somehow dilutes the will to win.

One coach known for both her winning ways and her well-disciplined teams is Pat Summitt, women's basketball coach at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, winner of six national championships.

"I believe as a coach, sportsmanship is your responsibility," she said.

"First of all, I teach the concept that we are all role models -- that's not optional. And what we must determine, as a team and as a program, is what kind of role models we want to be.

"We want to compete and go all out, but I certainly don't want players to be trying to officiate or trying to trash talk."

Summitt also says that unsportsmanlike actions are detrimental to the goals of developing better young people. "We're trying to teach some valuable life skills here, and poor sportsmanship goes against that," she said.

Summitt also addresses how her players should act toward the media. "We want them to be able to go off the court and into the media room and represent not just themselves and not just Tennessee, but to represent the women's game," Summitt said.

"It starts with the coach. I'm not going to go into a press conference and criticize an opponent. You have to respect your opponent and give credit where credit is due.

"You have to win with class. Winning and losing doesn't make you a better coach or a better person, and it shouldn't give you any leverage to behave a certain way when you win."

Summitt doesn't overlook how her players act while they're on the bench, either.

"I talk to our players about their bench conduct," she said. "How you conduct yourself on the bench and when you come out of the game, the respect you show your own teammates -- all of that is important.

"I think players will do whatever they can get away with, because they're young and impressionable. To me, it's just up to the head coach, that's just how I see it."

Robert E. Frederick, athletics director at the University of Kansas, agrees that the head coach plays an important role.

"There is a lot of evidence that when the head coach sets the tone, we can make a difference in academics, in sportsmanship, in a lot of areas," he said.

"The coach can set the tone by his or her conduct or by what he or she says," he said. "It even works for a student body. For example, in Allen Fieldhouse, when there's a bad call and things start coming out of the stands, (men's basketball coach) Roy Williams stands up and looks at them and they stop."

Frederick says all of the coaches at Kansas sign a code of sportsmanship and ethical conduct at the beginning of each year. Then, sportsmanship is emphasized during the team meetings at the beginning of the year.

In previous years, the Kansas athletics department has created a poster and ads in the student newspaper. The design featured Williams and "Roy's Rules," which spelled out the responsible conduct Williams expected from the fans. Frederick said those types of efforts made an immediate difference.

Frederick also says the notion that good sports can't win is a misconception. "I think coaches who teach their student-athletes to play hard and to play hard all the time, but to respect their opponents, can have teams that are very sportsmanlike," he said.

Frederick points to two former Kansas players, Jacque Vaughn (now with the Utah Jazz) and Jerod Haase, as examples of intense competitors who were also excellent students and good sports. "Jerod was particularly aggressive, but never did he cross the line," Frederick said. "He was always sportsmanlike."

Lee Ellis, who coaches women's soccer and is an assistant baseball coach at Principia College, has a unique perspective because he's also an assistant professor of sports management who teaches classes on the ethical issues of sport.

"You play hard and aggressive and obviously you want to win," Ellis said. "But that's not the only reason you play. If you only play because you like to win, you've missed what sports is about.

"You can't coach winning and losing, because sometimes it's out of your control. Sometimes you can play your best and still lose. How you handle that -- and how your team handles that -- is really important."

Talking about sportsmanship is fine, Ellis says, but if the athletics community is serious about elevating it, it has to be serious about enforcing it.

"If we want to change the way things are going, then I think we have to put some teeth into all these things we're talking about," Ellis said.

"So far, I don't see any organization following up enough. Until governing bodies like the NCAA, like Major League Baseball, say, 'character counts and sportsmanship matters,' and they put some teeth in that, nothing's going to change."

It must be a priority at the top

As important a role as coaches play, they can't bring about change by themselves. They have to have support from the athletics administration, as well as from the leadership of the institution.

"I think it does rest on the institution," Frederick said. "It starts with the chancellor and he or she needs to hire an athletics director who is committed to hiring quality people as coaches who must then set the standard in a lot of areas, but one of them is sportsmanship."

Conferences can make a difference too. Beebe said a sportsmanship statement that the Ohio Valley Conference adopted in 1994 has made a difference.

"It outlines expectations, and it has resulted in a lot better behavior on the part of our players and on the part of our coaches toward officials," he said. "Our fans have lagged behind, though.

"All of us in intercollegiate athletics have spent too many years trying to create bad behavior in fans. It's not going to change overnight, but we have to keep working on it."

Vic Bubas, former head men's basketball coach at Duke University and former commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference, says it is going to take commitment at the top.

"I think college presidents, commissioners, mayors, athletics directors, governors and others, must have courage," he said. "They must have the courage to spot problems early, especially when it comes to crowds, and remove the person before the scene gets out of hand."

Bubas says that it may mean some tough choices, and it may mean asking alumni and boosters to control themselves -- or be ejected. "We've got to say, we're so serious about it, if it means losing your contributions as a donor, then that's how it is," Bubas said.

Florida State's Minnix says he always brings up the subject of sportsmanship when he addresses groups of boosters and alumni.

"We try to emphasize to them that, not only do we demand a certain type of demeanor from the student-athletes and the coaches, but also from you the fan, the alumni, the booster," Minnix said. "They can embarrass us just as much as anybody else."

Ron Suran, who has coached Division III football and high-school football and baseball in Ohio, found out the hard way that boosters and community members can have a negative impact.

Suran was trying to build a football program at a high school that had averaged a new coach every two years, and he found that the community simply was not interested in sportsmanship.

"I had people shouting obscenities in the stands. I was breaking up fights on the field. In a small community like this, it's not the kids, it's the fans -- it's the parents. Community support makes a big difference," Suran said.

Suran doesn't coach football there anymore, but he still prizes an officials' report that says his team showed the best sportsmanship that official had seen in 18 years of officiating.

Nor will Suran be swayed from his belief that sportsmanship is vital. "You have to teach the kids to treat each other and their teammates with respect," he said. "But it's an uphill battle if their parents are teaching them something else."

Take a proactive approach

The high-school federation's Heeney agrees that sportsmanship is an initiative that must permeate the community.

"Coaches, administrators, athletes and communities need to work together to make this happen," he said. "And we need to work with parents and with youth organizations to make sure they're on the same page."

Gough says administrators must take a proactive approach with fans. "When it comes to fans, they've just never been held accountable," he said. "Many coaches, presidents, and athletics directors are afraid to take steps for fear of lawsuits."

Gough advises administrators to run plans for enforcement past university counsel to make sure that they are fair and legal. Then remove fans who are disruptive. "We've got to have the courage to hold people accountable," he said. "We've got to do that for the sake of our sport, our fans and our student-athletes."

Frederick cautions that those efforts need to be carefully thought out. "We used to confiscate signs that were brought in," he said. "That was challenged this year in the student newspaper."

One of the confiscated signs said: "I'm blind. I'm deaf. I want to be a ref."

After the university's general counsel expressed concern that taking the sign might be a violation of First Amendment rights, the athletics department changed its policy. This year the athletics department is developing a code of conduct for fans that will be prominently displayed.

"We've had a lot of success using our coaches to set the tone for our fan behavior, and we expect to do that again," Frederick said.

What does the future hold?

A great many national organizations have recognized that sportsmanship is an important issue, and initiatives from alliances to sportsmanship summits are now under way.

Intercollegiate athletics may be the perfect place to begin, Gough says.

"What do we do? There are no magical answers," he said. "But from fans to coaches to athletes to administrators to the media, we have to stress the absolute necessity of good sportsmanship.

"At the very least, we've got a lot of education to do at all levels, from the Little League to the big leagues. Perhaps intercollegiate athletics can lead the way."

Citizenship Through Sports Alliance provides national forum for sportsmanship issues

To make a difference in the national state of sportsmanship, a concerted effort is necessary from the most pivotal organizations on a national level.

In the last year and a half, such an effort has been initiated by the Citizenship Through Sports Alliance (CTSA), which seeks to improve the state of sportsmanship at all levels of competition.

The emphasis on citizenship and community has not been lost on the CTSA, which is a broad-based, national joint effort to promote the values of citizenship that are realized through sportsmanship and ethical play in athletics.

Its members, in addition to the NCAA, are: Major League Baseball, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, the National Basketball Association, the National Federation of State High School Associations, the National Football League, the National Hockey League, the National Junior College Athletic Association, the United States Olympic Committee and the Women's National Basketball Association.

While CTSA is still in its infancy, having grown from other initiatives a little more than a year ago, it represents the first major alliance of sports organizations that share concerns about issues of sportsmanship and citizenship.

CTSA's programming includes a national awareness campaign, "Focus on Respect," that will debut with public service announcements during the WNBA season; the development of citizenship curricula for high schools and middle schools; a 1999 conference focusing on citizenship and sportsmanship issues; and continued collaborations with individuals and organizations that are interested in this initiative.

"What we're trying to do as an alliance is to be a repository for good ideas," said Ronald J. Stratten, NCAA group executive director for educational services and staff liaison to the NCAA Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct Committee.

"The CTSA is an umbrella group that is looking at the issue from the youth level all the way up to the pro level. We think that there is a way to do something to improve the situation at all levels," Stratten said.

Stratten pointed out that the NCAA Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct Committee is the contact point between the alliance and the Association. The committee has met twice since its recent inception, and a third meeting will take place later this month. The committee's mission is "to improve the condition of sportsmanship and ethical conduct in all aspects of intercollegiate athletics by developing and implementing strategies that foster greater acceptance of the values of respect, fairness, civility, honesty and responsibility."

"We're looking at what we can do to enhance sportsmanship through educational programs, award programs, building constituent relationships and building media and corporate relationships," said committee chair Robert J. Minnix, associate director of athletics at Florida State University.

"I think our committee would like to become proactive rather than reactive," said committee member Robert E. Frederick, director of athletics at the University of Kansas. "We'd like to foster some positive changes without having an embarrassing incident on national television. There are so many good things happening in intercollegiate athletics. We just need to put our best foot forward."

Sportsmanship resources

For more information, write to the CTSA at 11724 NW Plaza Circle, Kansas City, MO 65153-1158 or call 816/464-5400.

Books

"Character is Everything: Promoting Ethical Excellence in Sports," by Russell W. Gough. Published by Harcourt Brace. To order a copy, call 800/782-4479.

"Coaching for Character: Reclaiming the Principles of Sportsmanship," by Craig Clifford and Randoph M. Feezell. Published by Human Kinetics Publishers Inc.

Websites

www.charactermatters.com (Maintained by Gough, this site also features a detailed resources list.)

www.nfsha.org (National Federation of State High School Associations)

www.asep.com (American Sports Education Program)

www.sportsmanship.org (CTSA)

www.internationalsport.com (Institute for International Sport)

Other

For a copy of the Ohio Valley Conference Sportsmanship Statement, call the OVC office at 615/371-1698.

The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) offers a citizenship curriculum that emphasizes sportsmanship, and the organization also offers a coaches' education program of national workshops that emphasizes citizenship, coaching principles, sport first-aid and drug in sports. For more information, contact NFHS at 816/464-5400.