The Ohio Athletic Conference recently marked its 101st birthday by giving back to the community.

During the week of October 6, the student-athlete advisory councils at each of the conference's 10 member schools launched Operation GoodSport, a program designed to emphasize the importance of good sportsmanship and respect.

Aimed at school-aged children from elementary through high school, Operation GoodSport called for the SAACs to contact and schedule visits at schools in their communities to spread the gospel of good sportsmanship and respect. The OAC also used an NCAA Division III conference SAAC grant to purchase T-shirts and print posters that schools could display with the date and time of scheduled presentations.

The program is the brainchild of Tim Gleason, OAC commissioner, who said he proposed the idea during a conference SAAC meeting last fall. Gleason said the group decided then to focus on sportsmanship.

"There are examples of poor sportsmanship that we need to nip in the bud," Gleason said. "I think it's a concern for all of us in college athletics and we wanted to do something to promote good sportsmanship."

At the heart of Operation GoodSport are the 10 Canons of Sportsmanship. Developed by the conference office, they offer advice such as to always play by the rules, to cheer on teammates and to avoid emulating acts shown on television.

Heidelberg College student-athletes focused on fourth through eighth graders, according to Athletics Director Jerry McDonald, with the thought that they are at an impressionable age.

"We did a series of skits where we displayed poor sportsmanship and then talked to the students about why that was disrespectful," he said. "Then we did the same situation in a sportsmanship-type approach."

Terry Rupert, athletics director at Wilmington College (Ohio), said student-athletes there designed a presentation for third through fifth graders around a Harry Potter theme. Rupert gave credit to Quyen Tran, senior woman administrator, SAAC advisor and head softball coach at the school, for coming up with the idea.

Tran said they chose Harry Potter because most kids are familiar with the character.

"The big game in the movie is Quidditch," she said, referring to a game played in the movie. "In the movie clips, all they do is pretty much beat each other up. Those are excellent examples of unsportsmanlike conduct."

Although Operation GoodSport was slated to run through October, it is clear from reviews that it will have a lasting impact on everyone involved. Gleason said the conference office received numerous calls from high-school athletics directors and principals who were pleased with the program.

"They were very excited about this program because they, too, believe sportsmanship is an issue on their levels," he said.

McDonald said he has fielded positive responses from principals and teachers and has had requests for a repeat performance next year.

"All the feedback has been good," he said "Some have even asked us to come monitor the playground during some of their recess periods or things like that to maybe step in when we see somebody acting disrespectful."

The SAAC at Capital University presented Operation GoodSport to high-school students. Student-athletes spoke to an entire ninth-grade class at one school and worked with juniors and seniors along with their parents at another school. Dixie Jeffers, associate athletics director and head women's basketball coach at Capital, said the students were receptive because the message was coming from individuals close to the students' ages.

"They were not hearing it from another coach, another parent, another so-called adult. They were hearing it from kids close to their own age about how it reflects on the schools," Jeffers said.

Marietta College senior volleyball student-athlete Ali Ruff, who also is president of the college's SAAC, said the younger students not only enjoyed the attention from the college athletes, but also seemed to grasp the message.

"They seemed to understand what is right and wrong and they asked questions about what we would do in certain situations," she said.

Ruff said school students aren't the only ones receiving the benefits from Operation GoodSport's powerful message.

"I've had wonderful responses from our student-athletes and their enjoyment in going to visit the schools and 'hanging out,' " she said. "It has been such a good source of mentorship and positive influence. We also have seen support from the schools that we've visited at our athletics events."

Jeffers said the student-athletes at Capital were excited about the program as well because the message it carried was so important.

"Our student-athletes were really excited about doing it because they feel that sportsmanship has deteriorated among the fans, among the student-athletes themselves," Jeffers said.

According to Wilmington's Tran, she has seen a change in student-athletes' behavior on the field and gives Operation GoodSport an assist in the transformation.

"I think it helped our athletes because when I've gone to see them play it actually calmed their behavior down on the field. I've seen it," Tran said.

As for the future of Operation GoodSport beyond October, Gleason said sportsmanship will continue to be a focus for the conference.

"I don't think sportsmanship is a one-time project," he said. "Long after the trophies and the victories and the losses and the games are over, what will remain with these young people are the lessons they learned, and there is no greater lesson than the lesson of sportsmanship. "