National Collegiate Athletic Association
NCAA News Archive - 2007
« back to 2007 | Back to NCAA News Archive Index
Auburn program spreads sportsmanship message
|
By Jack Smith
Auburn University
Special to The NCAA News
Special to The NCAA News
Auburn University student-athletes have created a new program for 2007-08 that promotes good sportsmanship among players, coaches, staff and fans.
Named “Auburn Pride,” the program was initiated and created by the Auburn Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
The program was introduced when the Auburn volleyball team recently hosted the War Eagle Invitational and at football’s home opener against Kansas State University.
Auburn SAAC Chair Summer Ragsdale, a soccer player, and other student-athlete leaders launched the program after meeting with Director of Athletics Jay Jacobs last winter. Jacobs asked the student-athletes what they wanted their legacy to be when they left Auburn.
Their answer? Sportsmanship and community service.
“As a group we decided that sportsmanship and community service were two things that Auburn student-athletes wanted to be remembered for,” Ragsdale said. “It is so important to be respectful of others, especially on the playing field.”
Ragsdale also cited a discussion with NCAA President Myles Brand as a motivating factor in launching a sportsmanship initiative. Brand visited the Auburn campus last year and discussed, among other things, the on-field fight during the Miami (Florida)-Florida International football game. His questions to the group stirred some interesting dialogue, Ragsdale said.
“We really started thinking about the need to do something when President Brand visited with us,” she said. “He talked about how the media focused on what the punishment should be after an event like that instead of asking the more important question of why events like that happen in the first place and what can be done to try and prevent them.”
Auburn’s effort includes a sportsmanship code written by SAAC members that will be read at every Auburn athletics event this year.
It reads, “Auburn University is committed to sportsmanship among its coaches, student-athletes, staff and supporters. We believe that sportsmanship is playing fairly, acting respectfully toward others, and promoting the interest and good name of Auburn University on and off the field of play.”
The program encourages all 21 Auburn teams to congratulate opponents in victory and defeat, celebrate victories without disrespecting the opponent and show respect to teammates by hustling and working hard. Each team at Auburn also has been challenged to generate at least two other ways of displaying good sportsmanship that fit their individual sports.
Student-athletes and administrators at Auburn can now be seen wearing orange wristbands with the name of the program and its four components: Competition, Tradition, The Moment and The Opponent. Posters promoting sportsmanship will be displayed at all Auburn athletics facilities, including the home and visiting locker rooms.
The posters emphasize specific areas in the sportsmanship code:
Ragsdale said more focused community-service opportunities for student-athletes also would reinforce the same values Auburn Pride promotes.
“We do a lot of community service already,” Ragsdale said. “But we want to do more, and we want to look for more opportunities for student-athletes from different teams to work together.”
Auburn stepped up its already extensive community-service efforts last spring after a deadly tornado devastated Enterprise, a small town in southeast Alabama. After the initial response to the disaster waned, more than 50 Auburn student-athletes and athletics department staff members spent a Saturday clearing debris from two homes destroyed by the tornado and helped boost the town’s spirits.
The momentum from last spring has carried over into the new academic year. Academic counselors in the department recently organized the department’s first school-supply drive for Loachapoka Elementary School, a small school in rural Lee County where more than 90 percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunches.
Two Auburn soccer players and swimmers joined the academic counselors in delivering the school supplies.
SAAC leaders already are planning other outreach efforts, including a canned food drive to support the War on Hunger program.
“It’s exciting to be a part of a new sportsmanship program and to watch our community-service efforts grow,” Ragsdale said. “I look forward to seeing where this initiative goes.”
Jack Smith is a public relations officer at Auburn University.
Named “Auburn Pride,” the program was initiated and created by the Auburn Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
The program was introduced when the Auburn volleyball team recently hosted the War Eagle Invitational and at football’s home opener against Kansas State University.
Auburn SAAC Chair Summer Ragsdale, a soccer player, and other student-athlete leaders launched the program after meeting with Director of Athletics Jay Jacobs last winter. Jacobs asked the student-athletes what they wanted their legacy to be when they left Auburn.
Their answer? Sportsmanship and community service.
“As a group we decided that sportsmanship and community service were two things that Auburn student-athletes wanted to be remembered for,” Ragsdale said. “It is so important to be respectful of others, especially on the playing field.”
Ragsdale also cited a discussion with NCAA President Myles Brand as a motivating factor in launching a sportsmanship initiative. Brand visited the Auburn campus last year and discussed, among other things, the on-field fight during the Miami (Florida)-Florida International football game. His questions to the group stirred some interesting dialogue, Ragsdale said.
“We really started thinking about the need to do something when President Brand visited with us,” she said. “He talked about how the media focused on what the punishment should be after an event like that instead of asking the more important question of why events like that happen in the first place and what can be done to try and prevent them.”
Auburn’s effort includes a sportsmanship code written by SAAC members that will be read at every Auburn athletics event this year.
It reads, “Auburn University is committed to sportsmanship among its coaches, student-athletes, staff and supporters. We believe that sportsmanship is playing fairly, acting respectfully toward others, and promoting the interest and good name of Auburn University on and off the field of play.”
The program encourages all 21 Auburn teams to congratulate opponents in victory and defeat, celebrate victories without disrespecting the opponent and show respect to teammates by hustling and working hard. Each team at Auburn also has been challenged to generate at least two other ways of displaying good sportsmanship that fit their individual sports.
Student-athletes and administrators at Auburn can now be seen wearing orange wristbands with the name of the program and its four components: Competition, Tradition, The Moment and The Opponent. Posters promoting sportsmanship will be displayed at all Auburn athletics facilities, including the home and visiting locker rooms.
The posters emphasize specific areas in the sportsmanship code:
- Accountability: Be responsible for one’s actions.
- Understanding: Work to obtain knowledge in and out of the classroom.
- Belief: Be trustworthy and confident in yourself and others.
- Unity: Teamwork through service in the pursuit of development and victory.
- Respect: Have dignity and honor while being considerate to others.
- Nobility: Have integrity and a moral purpose to do no harm.
Ragsdale said more focused community-service opportunities for student-athletes also would reinforce the same values Auburn Pride promotes.
“We do a lot of community service already,” Ragsdale said. “But we want to do more, and we want to look for more opportunities for student-athletes from different teams to work together.”
Auburn stepped up its already extensive community-service efforts last spring after a deadly tornado devastated Enterprise, a small town in southeast Alabama. After the initial response to the disaster waned, more than 50 Auburn student-athletes and athletics department staff members spent a Saturday clearing debris from two homes destroyed by the tornado and helped boost the town’s spirits.
The momentum from last spring has carried over into the new academic year. Academic counselors in the department recently organized the department’s first school-supply drive for Loachapoka Elementary School, a small school in rural Lee County where more than 90 percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunches.
Two Auburn soccer players and swimmers joined the academic counselors in delivering the school supplies.
SAAC leaders already are planning other outreach efforts, including a canned food drive to support the War on Hunger program.
“It’s exciting to be a part of a new sportsmanship program and to watch our community-service efforts grow,” Ragsdale said. “I look forward to seeing where this initiative goes.”
Jack Smith is a public relations officer at Auburn University.
© 2010 The National Collegiate Athletic Association
Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy