To better understand the diverse, changing and even conflicting opportunities and responsibilities of coaching, it may be helpful to identify five distinct models of the objective of sports. Although some ideas in these models overlap, each model is premised on a different conception of the objectives and purpose of athletic competition and the role of a coach. Consequently, each model also reflects different priorities and values.

The simplest and most basic model of sports views athletic competition primarily as a recreational activity involving physical exercise for the purpose of fun and enjoyment. Under this athlete-centered model, the controlling objective of athletic competition is that the athletes experience healthy fun. Coaches, too, ought to enjoy the experience.

Coaches in sports programs adopting the recreational model should emphasize the following values:

Participation of All Athletes. In the recreational model, all participants should have opportunities to play and enjoy themselves. Letting only the best players participate puts undue emphasis on winning and deprives many players and their families of enjoyment. If the balanced team concept is used effectively, playing all athletes results in challenging and competitive games, and everyone has more fun.

Positive Coaching. Though many styles of coaching can produce excellent performance, the recreational model calls for providing a nurturing and affirming atmosphere and a confidence-building experience. Positive coaches always treat their athletes with respect and stress affirmation and praise. They are especially careful to think of improvements in incremental terms and to make their criticisms in a constructive manner.

Under the educational or personal-development model, the major objective of organized sports is to promote the physical, mental, social and moral development of participants. Like the recreational model, the educational model is athlete-centered but personal improvement in skills and character are the critical motivations that either supplement or override concerns about having fun. Under the educational model of sports, coaches are first and foremost teachers. Their success is measured not by victories and records, but by the extent to which they help their athletes improve their skills and become better people.

Placing Athletes' Welfare First. Sports programs sincerely dedicated to the educational model insist that coaches put the overall welfare of the athlete above other considerations.

Sports as a Setting for Learning. Sports provides a receptive setting for teaching and learning. Because the vast majority of youngsters who participate in sports are highly motivated, coaches have unusual influence and authority as educators.

Supporting Academic Goals. Coaches who understand their role as teachers place great emphasis on assuring that the athletic experience supplements and enriches the academic education of student-athletes - it should never undermine it. Thus, coaches must be vigilant to perceive and deal with students who are not giving adequate attention to their schoolwork.

Educational Value of Competing. Many coaches who see themselves as educators overemphasize the importance of winning. They believe that what is important is to teach how to win and that the only true confirmation of the success of educational efforts is winning. This is self-defeating in most cases since most teams or individual athletes don't win. In fact, in terms of life skills, it is even more important that all athletes learn to try their best and to deal with any outcome with grace and dignity.

"Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind. Blending sport with culture and education, Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy found in effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles." (Fundamental Principle 2)

"The goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport...." (Fundamental Principle 6)

"The profession of coaching is a profession of teaching. In addition to teaching the mental and physical dimensions of their sport, coaches through words and example must also strive to build the character of their athletes by teaching them to be trustworthy, respectful, responsible, fair, caring and good citizens." (Arizona Sports Summit Accord ¶16)

"Coaches must play a central role in assuring that educational and character-development missions of the institutions they work for are not compromised to achieve sports performance goals and that the academic, emotional, physical and moral well-being of athletes is always placed above desires and pressures to win." (Arizona Sports Summit Accord ¶9)

The function of the coach is to educate students through participation in the game of football. (Rule #1, Article 2)

"The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well." - Olympic Creed

This classic statement about the nobility and glory of honorable competition offers a third model of sports: competition for its own sake. While this model assumes that competitors will strive for victory with passion and dedication, that they will have an intense desire to win, it is the pursuit of victory, not the victory itself that is the ultimate goal.

A model of sports that is growing in influence even beyond its expected role in professional sports is the business model that views athletic competition as basically a form of entertainment designed to generate revenues and/or good public relations. Under this model, the primary responsibility of athletic directors and coaches is to assure that the sports program produces revenues through such things as attendance, television broadcast contracts, commercial licensing relationships, concessions, sponsorships and alumni contributions.

Organization-Centered. Unlike the athlete-centered recreational, educational and Olympian models of sports, the business/entertainment model is organization-centered. Because the sports program is conducted for the benefit of the organization, coaches and athletes are simply instruments of the financial and public-relations goals of the institution.

Coaches as Business Managers. Coaches are business managers whose compensation and tenure depends on their success in achieving these goals. In the vast majority of cases, winning is the dominant concern of coaches because it is directly related to the bottom-line objectives of the organization.

Athlete Is a Means to an End. Though athletes are a vital business resource, they are simply a means to an end. Thus, in terms of the coach's strategies and decisions, the personal development of individual athletes may or may not be a consideration. If it is, it is generally secondary.

Impact of Business Model. Where sports is treated primarily as a business, a win-at-any-cost mentality develops at the expense of the recreational and educational goals of institutions offering sports programs. One consequence of the intense emphasis on winning is that this model can (and too often does) lead to cheating and other improprieties by coaches and athletes.

Two-Tier System. The business model of sports creates a two-tiered system in most sports programs that results in different expectations and practices in sports that are capable of generating high revenues and publicity. Thus, in many colleges and even high schools, the "high-rev" sports of men's football and basketball are in a very different league than sports like cross-country, gymnastics and baseball. In some schools, soccer and women's basketball also have entered the top tier. This difference is reflected in the energy and financial resources devoted to recruiting athletes and assuring that they remain eligible to play. It is also reflected in the selection and compensation or coaches - the ability to win is more important than the ability to teach.

Sports programs adopting the business model place the highest values on:

Winning. In the business model, a coach's success is measured in terms of revenue generated and/or good publicity to strengthen relationships and fan support. The most important factor in meeting these goals is winning games, meets and championships.

Coach's Ability to Recruit or Develop Exceptional Athletes. In many competitive college programs and even some high school programs coaches are not simply expected to succeed with athletes from the regular student body. They are expected to bring to the school exceptionally talented athletes who can lead the team to victory. This places a high premium on certain types of sale skills for coaches.

Showmanship and "Star Quality." Because fan support and attendance is so important under the business model, there is a high premium on attracting, retaining and even encouraging athletes who excel in showmanship, including grandstanding and taunting.

Violence. As promoters of the Roman gladiator games learned, many people find violence exciting and entertaining. Thus, aggressive and violent play often generates fan support, media attention and higher revenues. Coaches operating under the business model often put the safety and well-being of athletes at risk by placing a high value on being aggressive, hard-hitting and mean.

Commercialization. When sports is viewed as part of the entertainment industry, commercialization of every aspect of the sport centers on sponsorships and licensing arrangements.

The personal-career model of sports for individual athletes and coaches is an outgrowth of the business model for institutions. Just as schools and colleges view certain sports primarily as a source of revenue and public relations, many athletes view sports as their ticket to fame and fortune, a way to get a college scholarship and a high-paying career. Similarly, coaches who are not content with the status of a teacher and are attracted by the great money-making potential of high level coaching view their assignments as steps up a ladder to higher income and peer recognition. Thus, while the recreational, educational and Olympian models are athlete-centered and the business model is institution-centered, the personal-career model for coaches and athletes is self-centered.

Conflicts of Interest for Career-Centered Coaches. Coaches who are preoccupied with developing and advancing their own careers sometimes find their personal interests in direct conflict with the interests of the institutions they work for and the athletes they coach.

Subordinating Responsibilities to Self-Interest. Clearly, coaches who lead their teams to championships make far more money and achieve much greater celebrity than their less successful colleagues. Thus, regardless of the best interests of their athletes and the mission and goals of their institutions, career-minded coaches may sacrifice an athlete or ignore an organizational mission to win games and championships.

Breaking Promises. Coaches may also ignore ethical principles of loyalty and promise-keeping by breaking promises to athletes and contracts with their institutions when it suits their interests.

Producing Stars. Coaches primarily concerned with their own careers often place too much emphasis on producing star athletes even at the cost of other athletes and the whole team.

Conflicts of Interest for Athletes. Athletes who view their participation in sports from a purely self-centered career oriented perspective tend to act as business franchises rather than members of a team. The career-centered athlete is concerned primarily about his or her own performance.

Need for a More Healthy Perspective. Youngsters who get early praise and special treatment because of their sports skills can often fail to develop important qualities of self-control and humility. They often let their success "go to their head" in ways that cause them to greatly distort their values. Coaches should strive to help athletes develop good character and more healthy perspectives about their future.

Unrealistic Expectations. Excellent athletes (and their parents) often develop unrealistic expectations about their future in sports. One responsibility of the coach is to provide facts and candid counseling so that athletes do not neglect their education. Good athletes whose careers end in high school or even college are often unprepared to make a living in other ways.

Inconsistency Between Stated and Operational Values. Though all educational institutions say that the primary goal of their athletic program is to promote the educational and personal development of student-athletes (the rhetoric), many schools have, in fact, been pursuing the business model, treating at least certain sports as a major source of revenue and positive publicity (the reality).

Mission Obligations Take Precedence. Coaches are bound to pursue the stated missions of their institutions regardless of their personal philosophy or the desires of administrators. Just as an assistant coach can't change the basic coaching objectives of the head coach, an athletic director or even the president or principal of a school does not have the right or authority to depart from the official mission and goal statements of their organizations. Thus, even if an administrator wants to subordinate ethics, sportsmanship and the personal-development goals of an educational institution to improve the team's performance, a coach of with integrity will resist.

Olympic Principles Control. Those who coach athletes in sporting events sponsored by the USOC have a duty to follow the letter and spirit of the Olympic Creed and basic principles - even if some within the Olympic movement seem to reflect different values. As such, they are retained to assist the organization achieve its stated goals and purposes of promoting the pursuit of victory with honor.

Dealing With the Reality/Rhetoric Gap. There are tremendously powerful forces in Olympic, collegiate and even high school sports that treat anything short of victory as failure. Despite noble rhetoric to the contrary, coaching jobs, salaries and reputations are usually based almost entirely on winning. Coaches with a talent for teaching and building character are often not appreciated unless they win championships.

The Challenge. The challenge for coaches and athletic administrators is to honestly acknowledge the gap between their institution's stated and operational values and either change the rhetoric, stating forthrightly that sports is primarily a business, or adjust behavior to conform to the educational model.