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It is important to keep in mind and realize that the most important reason we spend thousands of dollars of taxpayer money to support high school sports is to help students be successful later in life in whatever vocation they choose to pursue. The goal of high school sports is to instill in young people the values of teamwork, determination, trustworthiness, respect, responsibility and fairness ... not just to win and seek individual glory.
I realize that our society puts a constant emphasis on winning and thus we often believe winning is everything. But the fact is, not everyone can win all of his or her games all of the time. It seems that over time, many well-intended people have lost sight of the fact that the true purpose of having high school sports is to educate young people. The true purpose is not all about championships or remote dreams of earning scholarships to college. It appears that winning and the dream of an athletic college scholarship has clouded the vision of many in this area.
Over the past several years there has been a concerted effort at the national, state and local level to educate students, coaches, spectators and parents on the true meaning of high school athletics and to promote sportsmanship in that area. I believe that despite these efforts, we still have much work to do. We need to continue to concentrate not only on students and coaches, but also on the behavior of spectators and parents. I believe most of our spectators and parents understand how to behave at high school events and we appreciate their conduct. However, it seems to me that we have a vocal minority of our spectators and parents who have lost the proper perspective of what the games are all about.
As I stated above, I believe that the majority of spectators and parents act appropriately at our events. For those who need assistance, however, here are a few simple guidelines that people should adhere to as spectators at high school and middle school sporting events:
* The Golden Rule points out clearly that you should treat others the way you wish to be treated. The same holds true at sporting events. I doubt very much that being a 16-year old who is publicly badmouthed due to his or her performance is how any of us wish to be treated, much less how parents want their son or daughter to be treated.
* Do not confront a coach on the sideline, in the locker room, or anywhere else for that matter, whether it is before, during or after a contest or on evenings or weekends in the community. Just as confronting a math teacher in the classroom, hallway, or at the grocery store is not acceptable, neither is doing so with a coach. Call the school, set up a meeting with the coach or administrator, and go from there.
* Encourage good sportsmanship by demonstrating support for all athletes, coaches, and officials at every game, practice, or event and give them all the proper respect.
I realize that some will accuse me of targeting the wrong group, or unfairly "beating up" on spectators and parents as a group, but I am willing to take that chance to try and raise the level of expectations on behavior for all of us at high school events. To show that there is no intent to pass the buck to spectators and parents, I want everyone to know that we will also hold school personnel to a high standard. This is what we expect of coaches:
* Encourage good sportsmanship by demonstrating support for all athletes, coaches and officials at all games, practices, and other events.
* Place the emotional and physical well being of players ahead of a personal desire to win.
* Treat each player with respect and provide a safe environment for all players.
* Teach athletes to play by the rules and to resolve conflicts with civility and without resorting to hostility or violence.
* Be a positive role model for players and not engage in unsportsmanlike conduct with any official, coach, player, parent, or spectator.
* Demand a drug, tobacco, and alcohol-free sports environment.
* Communicate expectations to athletes and parents regarding coaching philosophy, roles for all team members, locations and times of practices and contests, team rules and requirements, emergency procedures, and the consequences for violation of rules.
Athletic events are learning experiences for student-athletes. A ticket to a contest is a privilege to observe athletic tests of skills, not to verbally assault others or to
generally be obnoxious. Audiences need to keep in mind that high school competitors have not reached mature physical performance, so errors can be expected. A display of good sportsmanship and conducting yourself accordingly will say positive things about you, our schools, our teams, and hopefully remind us all that in the end, high school sports are meant to be educational, fun, and for the enjoyment of student-athletes.
