CHARACTER COUNTS! Sports

SUGGESTED STRATEGIES
 For Implementing the
Arizona Sports Summit Accord

 

CC! SPORTS

Click here to read more about how the Josephson Institute and its CC! project are using sports as a means of helping young people develop strong ethical values.

ARIZONA SPORTS
SUMMIT ACCORD

Click here to read the declaration signed by nearly 50 leading figures in sports who attended a May 1999 summit conference on "Pursuing Victory With Honor." Click here for the press release announcing the Accord and click here for a list of strategies for achieving the Accord's objectives.

TALK ABOUT IT!

Click here to go to the CHARACTER COUNTS! to share your thoughts on helping young athletes develop strong character.

TRAINING COURSES

The CHARACTER COUNTS! Sports "Pursuing Victory With Honor" sportsmanship campaign includes a two-day certification training and a one-day community sportsmanship awareness summit.

The CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition's Character Development Seminars prepare educators and youth-service professionals to develop a systematic approach to character education in their schools and organizations. Click here to read more about this program.

The Josephson Institute’s Ethics in the Workplace seminars prepare professionals to design ethics programs (or improve existing ones). Click here to read more about this program.

These strategies are suggestions for achieving goals set forth in the Arizona Sports Summit Accord. They are not part of the Accord and are not necessarily endorsed by the signatories to the Accord. The suggested strategies will be revised on an ongoing basis. This version was last updated  03/10/04.

PRINCIPLE: Promote sportsmanship and foster good character by teaching, enforcing, advocating and modeling the "Six Pillars of Character": trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and good citizenship. (Arizona Sports Summit Accord, #2)

STRATEGIES:

  1. Develop and enforce a written code of conduct that stresses the importance of good character and specifies ethical obligations and sportsmanship expectations. (Arizona Sports Summit Accord, ¶ #5)
  2. Prominently discuss the importance of character, ethics and sportsmanship during the recruiting process and in promotional and descriptive materials. (Arizona Sports Summit Accord, ¶ #8)
  3. Incorporate explicit language in the job descriptions and contracts of athletic administrators, coaches and others involved in the sports program stating the obligation to promote sportsmanship and foster good character by teaching, enforcing, advocating and modeling trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and good citizenship.
  4. Incorporate explicit incentives and disincentives in the contracts of athletic administrators, coaches and others involved in the sports program relating to desired and undesired behavior beyond sports performance. (These might include incentives for grade point averages, graduation rates, games free of sportsmanship-related penalties; disincentives for NCAA, conference, league or school rule violations, discrediting on-field conduct (technical fouls, unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, discrediting off-field conduct ) drug use, DUI, assaults, gambling). Financial and other consequences relating to these sorts of factors must be significant in relation to the overall compensation package and reflect the high degree of importance associated with the sportsmanship and character-building goals of the program.
  5. Coaches should be hired and retained not merely on their capacity to develop winning teams and high performing athletes but upon their interest in and ability as teachers to support the educational and character-building goals of the institution.
  6. In negotiating contracts with coaches, administrators of educational institutions must be conscious of the message sent by compensation structures that substantially exceed those offered to educators and administrators directly involved in the pursuit of the educational mission of the institution.
  7. Devote a substantial portion of each yearly pre-season meeting to stressing the importance of good character and ethical and sportsmanship expectations.
  8. Teach athletes to discern and deal with ethical and sportsmanship issues by discussing these issues in relation to actual and hypothetical situations occurring or likely to occur in practice or game situations.
  9. Teach athletes that good character, ethics and sportsmanship are essential to honorable athletic competition and that victory attained in any other way is empty and unworthy.
  10. In communicating to athletes and to others about the athletic program, regularly use the language and concepts of character, ethics and sportsmanship including: integrity, honor, honesty, respectfulness, courtesy, civility, class, responsibility, duty, accountability, fair play, empathy, compassion, kindness, unselfishness, teamwork and playing by the rules.
  11. Establish and regularly practice rituals and traditions that reinforce the principles of sportsmanship.
  12. Establish and discuss guidelines for dealing with unethical and unsportsmanlike behavior by athletes and impose sanctions regardless of the competitive impact.
  13. Communicate the importance of sportsmanship to parents and spectators by frequent public announcements, by posted signs and on programs and other written materials.
  14. Establish and enforce guidelines for dealing with unsportsmanlike conduct by coaches, parents, spectators, cheerleaders and other spirit groups.
  15. Develop a league- or campus-wide educational campaign promoting sportsmanship and celebrating the positive aspects of athletic competition beyond winning.
  16. Insist that coaches and athletes avoid displays of emotional immaturity after a bad play or losing a game.

PRINCIPLE: Conduct sports programs in a manner that enhances the mental, social and moral development of athletes and teaches them positive life skills that will help them become personally successful and socially responsible. (Arizona Sports Summit Accord. #3)

STRATEGIES:

  1. Assure that coaches consider that they are, first and foremost, teachers. (see Arizona Sports Summit Accord, #16)
  2. Coaches and others must demonstrate a genuine and continual interest in each athlete as a person and be willing to counsel, advise, encourage and console without regard to athletic performance.
  3. Develop comprehensive support programs for athletes that can deal with academic, emotional, social and ethical issues that may arise.
  4. Encourage student-athletes to think of themselves as students first and athletes second. Be sure they have a realistic understanding of the remoteness of making a living as a professional athlete and the average career lengths of those who do.
  5. Wherever possible, integrate student-athletes into the general student population.
  6. Develop and continually refine a life skills program for athletes that acknowledges and helps them anticipate and effectively deal with the special stresses, conflicts and temptations that confront athletes including:
    1. time pressures and the need to juggle school, home and social responsibilities with athletic demands
    2. social issues including the potential of peer adulation to make the athlete conceited, self-absorbed, unkind, snobbish, arrogant and/or abusive
    3. difficulties some young people have keeping their athletic goals in proper perspective
    4. possible temptations relating to sex, drugs and alcohol
    5. special compensation and other rules that may apply to them as athletes
    6. possible contacts from agents or gamblers
  7. Develop and continually refine a life skills program for athletes that includes career counseling and training in leadership, time management, goal setting, ethical decision making, self-control and conflict resolution.
  8. Encourage character and good sportsmanship by praise and formal awards.
    9.

PRINCIPLE: Consistently demonstrate and demand scrupulous integrity and observe and enforce the spirit as well as the letter of the rules. (Arizona Sports Summit Accord, #6)

STRATEGIES:

  1. In relation to the traditions and accepted customs of each sport, coaches and athletic administrators should discuss, determine and publish their program’s attitudes and values regarding:
    1. efforts to evade restrictions or rules that involve oral or written communications designed to misrepresent, mislead or deceive (e.g., re: disabled lists; residence, age, or academic eligibility; physical condition of players; height and weight of athletes)
    2. deliberate violations of game rules (e.g., intentional fouls in basketball, delay of game in football, intentionally behaving in ways to get ejected for morale reasons; use of injury time-outs for other purposes, etc.)
    3. attempts to mislead or deceive referees or umpires (e.g., re: who touched ball last, whether a player touched a ball, faking fouls, whether a ball hit a runner, whether a ball was caught as opposed to trapped, whether a player stepped out of bounds, etc.)
    4. efforts to evade rules by artifice or stealth (e.g., recruiting limitations, practice or playing time restrictions, use of substances like silicon on uniforms or stick-em on hands, etc.)
    5. when, if ever, athletes or coaches are expected to affirmatively call, or admit if asked, whether they touched or were touched by a ball, were out of bounds, touched a base, etc.)
  2. Speak openly to athletes during practices and training to assure that they know the letter and spirit of the rules and what they are expected and permitted to do.
  3. Establish clear consequences for violations of rules and expectations that reinforce the value and discourage future violations.
    4.

PRINCIPLE: The highest administrative officer of organizations offering sports programs must maintain ultimate responsibility for the integrity and quality of those programs. Such officers must assure that education and character-development responsibilities 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)

STRATEGIES:

  1. The governing boards of organizations offering sports programs (e.g., Boards of Education, Boards of Trustees, Boards of Regents, etc.) should review the overall mission of the organization and the role its athletic programs play (and should play) in pursuing that mission. These boards should establish clear policies and standards of accountability directed to the highest administrative officer of the organization (e.g., principal, superintendent, president, chancellor, executive director, CEO).
  2. Every three years the highest administrative officer should report to the governing board regarding the role the athletic program has played in advancing the education and character-building goals of the organization.
  3. The highest administrative officer should require that athletic administrators and/or program directors report annually on the role the athletic program has played in advancing the education and character-building goals of the organization.
  4. The highest administrative officer should establish clear goals and standards of accountability with regard to the education and character-building goals of the organization.
  5. Campus and outside press should hold the highest administrative officer accountable for any inconsistencies between the education and character-building goals of the organization and actual behavior within the athletic program.
  6. The highest administrative officer should review and approve all athletic contracts and assure that the overall compensation as well as specific incentives and disincentives are consistent with and likely to achieve the education and character-building goals of the athletic program.
  7. The highest administrative officer should assure that the personal conduct and teaching practices of coaches are consistent with all the standards of the Arizona Sports Summit Accord and additional standards of the organization.
    8.

PRINCIPLE: Prominently discuss the importance of character, ethics and sportsmanship during the recruiting process and in promotional and descriptive materials, and specifically determine that the athlete has or will develop the character to succeed. (Arizona Sports Summit Accord, ¶¶ #7-8)

STRATEGIES:

  1. Instruct recruiters to be explicit about the institution’s expectations that athletes and coaches exemplify good character and conduct themselves, on and off the field, as role models. ( #4)
  2. Assure that high school and club coaches know and pass on to athletes your institution’s expectations regarding character and ethics.
  3. Specifically inquire of coaches, teachers and others to determine whether a prospective recruit has any history regarding criminal arrests or convictions, drug or alcohol use, gang involvement, fighting or violence, academic cheating, school disciplinary actions or any other form of misconduct that might indicate a character problem. If such information exists, make additional inquiries of the athlete and discuss the issues openly so that a specific finding can be made as to whether the athlete has or will develop the character to succeed.
    1. If recruiters cannot conclude with a high degree of confidence that the athlete will be no danger to other students, the athlete should not be recommended for scholarship.
    2. If recruiters cannot conclude with a high degree of confidence that the athlete will stay our of trouble and avoid actions that would compromise the reputation of the athletic program, the athlete should not be recommended for scholarship.
  4. If athletes with past character problems are brought to campus, assure they are continually counseled, supported and monitored to help them strengthen their characters.
  5. The faculties and staff of educational institutions must be directly involved in and committed to the character-building goals of the institution. (Arizona Sports Summit Accord, #10)

PRINCIPLE: Specifically determine during the recruiting process whether an athlete is seriously committed to getting an education and has or will develop the academic skills to succeed. (Arizona Sports Summit Accord #8)

STRATEGIES:

  1. Before making a recommendation for scholarship and admission, recruiters should make an initial determination that the athlete is seriously interested in getting an education and that he or she will work diligently toward that end. If recruiters cannot conclude with confidence that the athlete is serious about getting an education and is not simply seeking a scholarship as a means to play sports professionally, the athlete should not be recommended for scholarship.
  2. Before making a recommendation for scholarship and admission, recruiters should make an initial determination that the athlete has or will develop the academic skills to succeed at the institution.
    1. Minimal eligibility requirements according to NCAA requirements are not always sufficient. Recruiters must take into account any disparity in preparation, ability, aptitude, and prior knowledge between the athlete and the average non-scholarship student at the institution. Recruiters should determine that the athlete can compete academically and earn a degree.
    2. If the ability of the athlete to succeed academically is questionable, the athlete should be recommended for scholarship and admission only on restricted conditions including ineligibility to compete during the freshman year.
  3. The faculties and staff of educational institutions must be directly involved in and committed to the academic success of student athletes. (Arizona Sports Summit Accord, #10)

PRINCIPLE: The leadership of sports programs at all levels must ensure that coaches, whether paid or voluntary, are competent to coach in three areas: 1) character-building and sportsmanship, 2) first-aid and the physical capacities and limitations of the age group coached, and 3) coaching principles and the rules and strategies of the sport, (Arizona Sports Summit Accord #12)

STRATEGIES:

  1. Athletic administrators should assess the competency of each applicant or recruit for a coaching position to determine whether he or she has at least a basic knowledge of: the content and techniques of character-building in sport; the safety, first-aid and understanding of the physical capacities and limitations of the age-group to be coached; and basic principles of coaching including techniques of motivation, conditioning and discipline as well as knowledge of rules and strategies of the game. A significant deficiency in any of these three areas should preclude employment unless the institution can otherwise ensure that the coach will gain the required competency before or within the first 60 days of coaching.
    1. Athletic administrators should not take for granted that those who apply for or are currently serving as coaches possess minimal competency in all three critical areas. Even highly experienced coaches may lack the knowledge or interest in attaining or maintaining competence in one or more of these critical areas.
    2. Competency in the character-building and physical safety dimensions of coaching is especially important for those who coach young children whose values and attitudes about life and sports are not fully formed. The difficulty in getting qualified coaches in youth leagues and for certain middle and high school sports is a critical problem but it is vital that unqualified coaches are not given the responsibility of guiding youngsters. In this context, an interested, caring adult with good values—and a concern with conveying them—usually can be taught what needs to be known about first-aid, physical limitations and the basics of coaching and the sport. The tendency to employ a person with so called Xs and Os knowledge but who may be a poor role model or an indifferent character teacher should be consciously avoided.
    3. A major factor in hiring and retaining coaches should be their commitment to develop and advance their coaching competence in all three areas through experience, reading or professional development courses.

CHARACTER COUNTS! respinsibility, caring, citizenship, fairness©2004 / Josephson Institute

Lost your way? Click here for a map of the entire site.