Just finished reading Jim Arehart's article in that Referee mag concerning sportsmanship (December '04, Not My Problem). 6000 officials polled; first 550 responses used for development of the article.
Poor Sportsmanship is the #1 problem in our games today? 76% said, Yes.
#1 reason officials quit? 44% said problems with coaches/players/fans.
What effect does poor sportsmanship at higher levels have at the lower levels? 77% said HUGE effect. 22% said some. That's 99% who feel there is an influence.
Do officials and their associations do enough to improve sportsmanship? 65% said NO.
Are officials satisfied with the level of support they receive from their assigners or supervisors? 22% said NO.
Which group of people has the most responsibility of improving sportsmanship? Officials - 2%. Coaches - 64%.
Those were the statistics discussed but other statements made were:
What tool do officials most lack when it comes to making a significant impact on improving sportsmanshsip? COURAGE. 1)Officials lack the courage to use the tools (technical foul in basketball) 2)Officials don't feel their bosses will support them when they do use the tools.
Gary Welchel, commissioner of Arizona Interscholastic Association (past NASO chair) has apparently established a very worthy and strong program within that state.
"In our role as officials we must be part of the solution... we train our officials on what is expected of them... Their job is to set boundaries at the start of the athletic contest that hold the participants accountable for their behavior... they're gone and they sit out the next game. We send a message through our officials that we will not tolerate abuse from the participants.
Because of this program, "We don't have a problem recruiting officials ... because we've addressed the one problem that causes officials to leave - poor sportsmanship."
"What you permit, you promote." Which I paraphrase as Whatever you are willing to tolerate, is exactly what you will have.
"...importantly, we support our officials 100%"
There was also a statement made that Oregon and Florida schools and or players can be "fined significant dollar amounts for such things as ejections or using profanity." Now the fact that players can be fined, I found startling.
"...in the official's role as caretakers of the game, ... officials can help foster an environment that make[s] the games about sportsmanship, ... not about championships."
My comments:
I was shocked that
players can be fined. Is that really true for Oregon and Florida? Any others? I know in Idaho schools can be fined but generally not for ejections or profanity.
I feel officials really have a much much larger responsibility for sportsmanship than the 2% the survey showed.
Coaches' responsibility as 64% is probably true but that is because most of the poor sportsmanship seems to start with poorly acting coaches.
100% support of officials is great. But there are many officials that I know, who I feel, are not worthy of 100% support - they and their poor sportsmanship often creates problems.
I wonder about the 78% that say their bosses adequately support them (22% said no). What if the officials stepped up and started enforcing good sportsmanship; would the officials still feel adequately supported?
Basically would the administrator still support his troops if the technical fouls/complaints/problems/ejections tripled?
Somebody from Arizona tell me/us about your program. The article said their is some manadatory joint training (officials and school representatives) that creates a partnership... and "train our officials on what is expected of them."
What is expected of you? How do you set these "boundaries at the start of the athletic contest that holds the participants acountable for their behavior?"
Any further insight or comments concerning sportsmanship would be appreciated.
Oooh, and I T-boned a childish putz of a coach last night for commenting "Your calling a horrible game." Probably should have just agreed with him and said "You're right. This is a horrible game... Coach."
[Edited by DownTownTonyBrown on Dec 22nd, 2004 at 03:27 PM]