Sportsmanship at Stake.

Who's in Charge Here Anyway?

Editor's Note: The School Administrator asked two superintendents who have worked with their districts' athletic programs to discuss how school leaders themselves can promote sportsmanship and better understanding of the role of interscholastic athletics.

A few years ago one of our student athletes was nipped at the finish line of a long-distance track event by a competitor from another school. But when the medals were awarded, the competitor had been disqualified for a minor infraction and our athlete was given the first-place medal.

The athlete from our school, without direction or prompting, sought out her fellow competitor and gave her the first-place medal since, on the track, she had been the better contestant that day.

What a wholesome display of sportsmanship and fair play.

However, less than a year later, one of our varsity football players bumped an official during a game, causing a great deal of concern in our community and setting off a flurry of negative press coverage across the state. A lawsuit was filed by the official, which ignited additional media coverage and public commentary that did not paint a positive picture of our school district.

Reputations at Stake

When it comes to sportsmanship, poor behavior always will attract more attention than good behavior. Considering the monumental amount of positive experiences a student athlete will have in a season and the mostly correct decisions a coach will make, human nature seems to drive us to sensationalize the negative aspects of sports.

Our district, located in a working class township of about 88,000 people, has had the good fortune to win several state championships in recent years. Toms River also captured the 1998 championship of the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., marking the town's second appearance in the tournament in the last four years.

Unfortunately, other than our recent moment of baseball fame, only the incident involving a single athlete and the official made network news. One of our tasks, therefore, is to convince our community that day in and day out the vast majority of our athletes, coaches and parents comport themselves exactly as expected and treat their fellow competitors and fans the way they would like to be treated.

As a superintendent who serves on the executive committee of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, which oversees extracurricular programs, I recognize the impact an athletic program has on the reputation of a school environment and community. It is a reputation that is earned through pro-active planning that promotes the positive aspect of interscholastic athletics. And when actions on the field or the sidelines do not measure up to acceptable standards, we must address promptly and purposefully our disappointments, whether it be with staff, students or spectators.

Last fall, the Toms River district was invited to discuss its approach at the first sportsmanship summit convened by the NJSIAA. Betty Vasil, vice president of the Toms River Board of Education, and William J. Lundy, the district's supervisor of athletics, joined me in presenting what we consider a joint district-community approach to improve sportsmanship.

Understanding what sportsmanship is and what role we play seemed simplistic until we recognized we were without a mission statement in our board policy manual. We certainly had distinct thoughts about what constituted good demeanor on the field or in the stands, but with respect to policy and procedure, we found our approach was fragmented.

The athletic department provided some overall direction. However, the widespread assumption seemed to be that only athletes need worry about these important facets of growth and development. If we found a common thread that we could weave through the fabric of our students' learning, we figured that being a good person and playing by the rules would fit the description. This message needed to be shared with the rest of the student body through club and activity advisers and staff.

School board members, superintendents and administrators were assigned to our session at the sportsmanship summit. Extensive discussion centered around what attendees perceived as problems with sportsmanship. The majority believed that schools were doing a reasonable job teaching sportsmanship but that so much more could be done.

While all the participating districts had pieces of plans for addressing sportsmanship, few had committed in writing to defining goals and objectives along with responsibilities for performance by each stakeholder. In addition, school districts need to find ways to measure the success or failure of their sportsmanship objectives--just as we do in others areas of school programs.

Community Connection

While teaching about the ideals of sportsmanship may seem like just another classroom lesson, one cannot overlook the critical role that youth sports leagues in our communities play in fostering appropriate behavior among athletic competitors and spectators. We all have heard the horror stories about youth league parents ranting on the sidelines of their children's games or matches. Unsportsmanlike behavior begins in these youth group circles.

This is not meant to demean all the wonderful people who donate their time and effort to make our communities great places to live and raise children. Many educators can identify parents and participants in community sports programs who exhibit appropriate behavior, while commenting on how out of control high school athletes appear today.

Our central message to summit participants involved a three-pronged approach that would develop:

* a board of education policy specifically addressing sportsmanship as a primary goal of our athletic program and other activities in our schools;

* a plan to implement the policy in the schools and through the community; and

* a method of assessment.

Setting Standards

Our athletic department has taken our initiative on developing sportsmanship to the booster clubs that support our varsity teams as well as to a roundtable of youth league presidents. The goal is to set standards of behavior that we all deem acceptable and, for the first time, develop a relationship between educators and community volunteers based on mutual respect.

In addition, we will refine our sportsmanship initiative in our schools by reaching out to all club and activity advisers so they emphasize good sportsmanship and citizenship as a matter of course.

An ad-hoc committee is being formed among coaches, teachers, administrators and student team leaders to assess where we are and where we wish to be. We know we have the tools to bring sportsmanship to the forefront of our community: We have caring parents, a dynamic staff and a great student body. We have a board of education that demonstrates concern for the education of the whole student and a central administration focused on providing equal and fair opportunities for all students.

All this, combined with community support, leads us to believe we will be successful in developing exemplary sporting behavior among our athletes and the general student body.

Acting on a Challenge

So whose responsibility is it for a sportsmanship initiative in our schools and community? Who is better prepared or more motivated, has the structure in place and has a vested interest in how our students and fans behave? Let me suggest that as chief school administrators, we should be ready to recognize a challenge and offer our support to effect change.

In an era when traditional professional role models are perceived to be shunning their responsibilities, when fans rior while celebrating their team's victory, when athletes or officials are assaulted because of their performance or lack thereof, then it's time to encourage administrators and staff to do what they do best-teach what needs to be taught about sportsmanship.

Michael Ritacco is superintendent of the Toms River Regional Schools, 1144 Hooper Ave., Toms River, N.J. 08753.