Four First Steps of a Youth League Philosophy
By Dan Doyle
(This op-ed piece appeared in the Hartford Courant)
Step I – The Value of Team
An essential goal of youth league administrators and coaches is to foster
within young players (and parents) an appreciation for the value and
responsibilities of being on a team. This objective can be achieved by
setting team-building goals to which every team member can aspire. Player
goals include:
1. Put team goals ahead of personal goals.
2. Try to be the hardest worker on the team.
3. Try to be the most enthusiastic player on the team.
4. Try to be the most coachable player on the team.
5. Try to maintain a positive attitude which will help energize both
you and your teammates.
6. Most importantly, care about your teammates, including those with
whom you have little in common. The coach can draw a “circle of caring” and
explain that on a new team a player may already know and care about a few
teammates, but players should work to widen that circle of caring to include
every team member.
Step II – The Role of the Parents
League administrators should make parents aware of their team-building
objective, and establish clear expectations for league parents and families.
· The league welcomes parental input regarding concerns of ethics,
sportsmanship or the safety of a child.
· The league respectfully asks families not to intrude upon “coach
domain” issues such as playing time, playing position or strategy, because
parental intrusion hinders team building and creates ill will.
Step III – The Journey Toward Proficiency
The third step involves facilitating a youngster’s development of
proficiency in a sport. The following steps are helpful:
1. All youth league coaches should learn how to teach the core
fundamentals of the sport. The coach plans fun, purposeful practice sessions
during which a block of time is always devoted to fundamentals.
2. In youth leagues, a coach’s focus should be on encouraging skill
development/performance goals. The coach needs to teach the distinction
between skill development/performance goals such as “follow through on every
shot,” or “hustle on every play,” and outcome goals such as earning a spot
on the All-Star team. Committing to skill development/performance goals will
always help a player achieve broader outcome goals.
3. Teach the value of delayed gratification. The coach should remind
the players and parents that one of the most valuable benefits of sports is
understanding that results do not come instantly. The coach’s consistent
message should be that improvement is a gradual process requiring effort and
focus, and that success and satisfaction will often follow.
Step IV – Fair Play
The coach makes sportsmanship a consistent priority, and reminds players and
parents that playing energetically, but within the rules, is at the core of
good sportsmanship – as is self-control when things do not go your way!
THE PRACTICAL VALUE OF GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP
By Dan Doyle
(This op-ed piece appeared in the Providence Journal)
In 1989, I approached Rhode Island Senators Claiborne Pell and John Chafee
regarding the creation of a National Sportsmanship Day. Both Senators
expressed support for the idea, and encouraged me to research the extent to
which sportsmanship initiatives were being administered in schools
throughout the country. The Senators offered to assist by appointing a team
of staffers to help me analyze the level of sportsmanship activities in
American schools.
The research, which took place over a six-month period, made it clear that
virtually no formal attention was being paid to sportsmanship in schools or
leagues at that time. Based on this information, Senators Chafee and Pell
hosted a press conference in the Senate chambers to announce the official
creation of National Sportsmanship Day, and the appointment of the Institute
for International Sport as the administrators of this annual program, to be
celebrated on the first Tuesday of each March. The first National
Sportsmanship Day was held on March 5, 1991 in approximately 3,000 schools.
On March 6, 2007, the 17th annual National Sportsmanship Day will be
celebrated in approximately 13,500 schools throughout the United States and
in many other countries, including Australia, Nigeria, Ghana and Ireland. By
visiting our website, www.internationalsport.com/nsd a school, travel team,
or club team can plan National Sportsmanship Day activities, either on March
6th or at some point in the future, as NSD is truly a year-round initiative.
Mark Twain once observed that travel is fatal to prejudice. Over the years,
we have found that good discussion is fatal to bad sportsmanship. A key
objective of National Sportsmanship Day is to encourage student-athletes,
coaches, parents and administrators to engage in dialogue on key
sportsmanship issues. The website presents many age-based discussion topics
for athletes from elementary through university, including a special
discussion for high school and university students on the Fourth Amendment
and performance enhancing drugs.
Here are four examples of the practical value of good sportsmanship that
parents may wish to impart to their children, and consider themselves.
I. Competitive Self-Restraint
My forthcoming book, the Encyclopedia of Sport’s Parenting, includes a
survey of 500 highly successful individuals, ranging from US Senators to
CEOs. Eighty-six percent of those surveyed told us that they had played
sports in their youth. Many indicated that learning to compete hard while
maintaining self-control was a benefit they had carried forward in life. In
the Encyclopedia, I have coined the phrase “Competitive Self-Restraint” to
describe this invaluable quality.
People who are able to employ this mindset – whether on the field or in a
professional environment - almost always have a clear advantage over those
who are unable to control their emotions.
Lesson: Parents should foster the practice of competitive self-restraint in
their young athletes, and make clear that a loss of self-control will result
in clearly stated consequences, such as being pulled out of the next game or
practice. Taking away a practice or game will almost surely cool the fiery
temper of a young player in need of such a life lesson.
II. Parent Behavior at Games
When parents attend a game in which their child is competing, their self-
restraint is likely to be challenged, sometimes severely. Many parents
identify so closely with their child’s performance that they take it very
personally when a “bad call” or rough play occurs.
Pearl Buck once wrote that, “Every great mistake has a halfway moment, a
split second when it can be recalled and perhaps remedied.” Whenever parents
feel that they are about to lose control, they should consider the
unfortunate consequences that result from irate behavior, including the fact
that parent outbursts at games are now a media lightening rod.
Lesson: Never have I seen the decision by a parent to enter a conflict at a
sporting event prove to be a better one than to retreat from a conflict!
III. Integrity Conflicts with Gamesmanship
· Integrity:
“Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.”
· Gamesmanship:
“The art or practice of winning games by use of questionable expedients.”1
While writing the Encyclopedia over the last seven years, I have spoken at
approximately 80 colleges and universities on behalf of the NCAA Foundation.
Two clear points have emerged from these experiences:
1. While most college students can offer a clear definition of
sportsmanship, few even know the meaning of gamesmanship, and still fewer
have considered how gamesmanship clashes with integrity.
2. Review of the surveys and personal interviews we have conducted for
the Encyclopedia shows that there is a definite correlation between
gamesmanship practices in sports and “shortcuts” in other phases of one’s
life.
Lesson: Parents must help young athletes understand the meaning of
gamesmanship as it applies to their sport(s), and that maintaining one’s
integrity begins with adhering not only to the rules of the sports, but to
the spirit of the rules. Parents (and coaches) should share with young
athletes a point from ethicist Michael Josephson: “Victory without honor is
profoundly unsatisfying.”
Our book surveys and interviews make clear that this statement is
particularly true when one reaches adulthood.
IV. Empathy and the Sports Experience
Some athletes and coaches believe that empathy toward opponents gets in the
way of winning. Yet many of the greatest coaches and players are empathetic
people who are discerning enough to respect the boundaries of fierce
competition.
Young athletes should be presented with these simple guidelines:
I. During the Game:
· Compete hard but within the rules.
· Know when victory is secured; do not embarrass an opponent who is
already beaten.
II. After the Game:
· Always treat your opponent with civility and respect.
Lesson: Every parent and coach should make clear to a young athlete that
empathy is not only at the core of a moral society, but an essential
ingredient to fixing and maintaining relationships. A child who learns
empathy will have a richer life than one who fails to cultivate this vital
character trait.
A poem in the Encyclopedia concludes with these stanzas:
The honorable competitor
Is quick to discern
A valuable lesson
All players need learn
The noble effort
Required to win
Stops at the point
Of rubbing it in.
The Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activity Association (OSSAA) requires each
student participant to have a current physical on file at his or her
school. This applies to all sports offered at MNMS: football, volleyball,
softball, cross-country, basketball, wrestling, track, tennis, golf, and
cheerleading. If you got a physical at the district wide physical day in
May you are set for the year. If you didn’t get one you will need a
physical and a parent release form filled out and signed by a parent or
guardian before you can participate in practice. You may obtain these forms
in the office at Mustang North. The forms are also available online at the
OSSAA website -
http://www.ossaa.com/partners/ossaa/forms/physical_form.pdf
