Imitating the Pros

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Education Feature

Imitating the Pros

By

Karen Savage
CWK Producer
 
“There’s nothing wrong with trying to win. There’s nothing wrong with being competitive, but when it slops over into a win-at-all-costs mentality, where anything goes as long as you’re on top, then you get anti-social behaviors. “
–

Jim Thompson, Founder/Director Positive Coaching Alliance

. –

You can go to any playground, any gym and see it: the shoes, the tattoos, the hair, even the moves. Kids trying to look like, act like, play like the professional athletes they see on television and idolize.

The names are familiar. “Tracy McGrady”, “Mia Hamm”, “Michael Vick,” say kids listing their idols. But what’s wrong with kids wanting to be just like the best players in the world?

“There’s nothing wrong with trying to win. There’s nothing wrong with being competitive, but when it slops over into a win-at-all-costs mentality where anything goes as long as you’re on top, then you get anti-social behaviors,” says Jim Thompson, Founder of the Positive Coaching Alliance.

Those behaviors can take many forms, like cheating, fighting, taunting or showing off.

18 year-old Darrell Sims, Jr. sees these behaviors on the basketball courts he plays on. “People you play against – when they score on you, they do all their little [taunts] to try to be like people on tv,” he says.

But on television, there are no consequences. Kids don’t see the fines or suspensions – just the highlights.

“Of course kids are going to emulate that unless somebody intervenes,” says Thompson.

Coaches can intervene by focusing on two goals. “The first goal is winning – they are trying to win, to be competitive. But the second goal is to use sports to teach life lessons. And when those two goals conflict, you always go with the second goal – that life lessons goal,” says Thompson.

Parents can help by teaching kids to honor the game – to respect other players, officials, and themselves.

Thompson encourages parents and coaches to challenge kids to set high standards of conduct for themselves. “So the other team taunts. Do you taunt back? Or do you live up to your own standards? That’s what honoring the game is all about,” says Thompson.

As for the pros who show-off and taunt?

18 year-old Inquoris Johnson holds them to the same standards he has for himself. “If Michael Vick did that, I wouldn’t do it. I’d let him go. He wouldn’t even be my idol no more, you know. I want to look up to somebody that’s got good sportsmanship,” he says.

 
Related
Information

By Larry Eldridge, Jr.
CWK Network, Inc.

Today’s new stories are flooded with examples of bad sportsmanship – from the professional level to youth leagues. It seems that professional athletes no longer care about anyone but themselves. However, there are some bright spots. Consider the examples below:

  • Mats Wilander, a former professional tennis player, was playing in a big match. His opponent served a ball that the line judge called out, giving Wilander the victory. Wilander, however, ran to the referee and explained that the ball was in, thus overruling the call and continuing the match. Wilander still won, however.
  • During the most recent Tour de France, eventual winner Lance Armstrong was racing beside his main competitor, Germany’s Jan Ullrich. Armstrong fell off his bike, giving Ullrich a chance to widen his lead during the stage. Ullrich, however, slowed and waited for Armstrong to get back on his bike and catch up with him.
 

By Larry Eldridge, Jr.
CWK Network, Inc.

There are steps that parents can take to instill good sportsmanship in their children. Besides teaching children how to play a sport or participate in an activity, sports provides coaches and parents an opportunity to teach children life skills. The National Federation of State High School Associations has developed a list of four citizenship qualities and five assets that can be promoted and taught through sports.

Citizenship Characteristics:

  1. Respect: Holding one’s self and others in high regard. Through emphasis on sportsmanship (which has at its heart respect for self and others), athletes can learn valuable lessons about respect, even during the heat of competition. These lessons can extend beyond the playing field to a healthy respect for others’ talents and abilities and a high regard for one’s own integrity. Coaches can help athletes apply these concepts to their lives outside of sports.
  2. Perspective: The ability to rationally recognize the relative importance of events in our lives and make sound judgments based on these priorities. Sports provide an opportunity to develop a healthy perspective on winning and losing and an ability to consider the place of sports in one’s life.
  3. Sportsmanship: Behavior that demonstrates playing by both the spirit and the letter of rules. The word “sportsmanship” is part of our general vocabulary because the values inherent in sportsmanship apply to relationships between people in many areas of endeavor. Coaches teach sportsmanship by what they say and what they do, and they can help athletes explore these values and develop sportsmanship skills.
  4. Teamwork: The ability to work together to accomplish common goals. Teamwork is increasingly valued in business and in families, and can be learned through athletics when coaches intentionally develop and reinforce teamwork skills.

Assets:

  1. The player receives support from additional non-parent adults. Coaches in our society are powerful and influential role models to young people who place importance on sports. Often, coaches are one of the most significant adults in an athlete’s life next to his or her parents.
  2. School provides a caring, encouraging environment. Athletics are often a place where students feel supported and encouraged. Some students may even stay in school when they are not succeeding well academically because they get encouragement and support from their coaches and teammates.
  3. Parent(s) and other adults model positive, responsible behavior. Coaches can be additional positive role models for young people, and, in some cases, show more positive and responsible behavior than is demonstrated in the student’s home or community.
  4. The athlete is actively engaged in learning. Even though athletics present an additional time commitment, some athletes report they do better academically during their athletic season. This may be due to the reinforcement for academics they receive from their coach, or to the increased need for time-management and organization during the season.
  5. Athletes tend to care more about their schools. Because of their extra commitment to co-curricular activities, athletes can become bonded to their team. This bond is often extended to their school and community.

Positive Coach
U.S.A. Sportsmanship Team
Family Education Network
Good Sports