The domino effects of disciplinary problems. (Career Development).

MOST ATHLETES WHO break team rules give little thought to the longterm consequences of their actions. "Who am I hurting?" is a favorite cop-out for the disregard of a standard, principle, or rule established by the coach or school.

It can be a small thing or a consequential thing, but it is almost always irritating and potentially harmful. Anything that involves a breach of a code can undermine a team's approach to the game and impair its efficiency.

How does a coach deal with such problems--and avoid having them snowball into disasters? Five general areas of concern must be dealt with in the approach to disciplinary problems.

The first and most obvious area of concern deals with the offending athlete.

Coaches spend considerable time building team morale, ethical behavior, and positive attitudes. The good of the team must be placed before personal desires, personal goals, and accomplishments.

The first question asked by anyone who hasn't seen a particular game is, "Who won?" Not who scored the most points or got the most hits.

Whenever an athlete consciously violates team policy, he is basically saying that anything he does is more important to him than the team's performance.

The question is then raised: Why does an athlete do anything that can get him punished, suspended, or even dismissed from the team?

The answer is simple: The athlete feels that he is superior to everyone else. Other athletes may get caught, but not him. Whenever the coach catches him in a violation, the athlete is surprised that anyone could be that clever and he immediately begins formulating ways of escaping the penalty.

What the coach will be looking for is a confession of guilt and an acceptance of the consequences--the kind of responses that can serve as a wake-up call for the athlete.

More often than not, it would signal the end of the coach's problems with him.

Unfortunately, such resolutions rarely happen. The athlete will attempt to rationalize his actions by making excuses. One of the most common excuses is, "Since everyone else is doing the same thing, why am I being treated as a scapegoat?"

What the athlete is obviously attempting to do is cast doubt about the fairness of the situation.

In another plan of defense, the athlete will deny that the violation was against team policy--even though the rule had been presented in writing and in speeches during team meetings.

When the pleading of innocence does not work, prevarication becomes the final plan of attack. The athlete will look at the coach remorsefully and present an inspired mockery of an excuse.

Regardless of which plan is used by the athlete, the character traits of honest, loyalty, integrity, and accountability will remain foremost in the coach's mind. The question he will eventually have to ask himself is: "Can this person be trusted not to let his teammates down again?"

The second area of concern deals with the effects that the violation will have on the team.

Since many schools do not have an abundance of players, the suspension of a player may affect the entire management of the team. Suddenly the coach may not have enough players to conduct good practice sessions or replace a suspended key defensive player.

Individual team members are also put into difficult positions by rules breakers. They may not like what the rule-breaker is doing and may believe that he is being selfish--only thinking of himself.

For a variety of reasons, they will not report the violation Cs). A common reason for this is the fear of losing a key player by suspension. ("Whom will I be punishing if I report this player to the coach? The player or the team?")

Some athletes will not care what their teammates do as long as they do not get caught doing it. But once the violator is caught, they will come to his aid rather than support the victim.

Astonishingly, the player who does the right thing (by reporting the violation) will often be treated as the guilty person. Rather than face the wrath of teammates, the player may choose to ignore the violation, encouraging the violator to continue his misbehavior. Why not? He has never had to face the consequences for his inappropriate behavior.

The third area of concern is the effect of the rules violations upon the coach.

When disciplinary concerns arise, they must take precedence in the coach's routine. He has to put aside his study of game films, practice schedules, or any other thing he is working on to attend to the immediate disciplinary problem.

The coach must assume at least four roles during the investigation:

His second role is as a prosecutor. After collecting the facts, the coach must confront the athlete and make him aware of the possible charges and the possible repercussions resulting from the charges.

First is his role as an investigator. The coach must try to discover the facts based on first-hand information. Hearsay and secondary information are not acceptable in the investigative process.

The coach's third role is as defense attorney/counselor. Because of his loyalty to his athletic program and his players, the coach may choose to switch to the other side of the courtroom and discuss the available alternatives.

His fourth role is donning the judicial robe and serving as judge. The undeniable facts against and the defense presented by the accused athlete are now weighed on the scales of justice and a decision rendered by the coach.

If the verdict is guilty, the coach will often impose penalties before the higher school authorities intervene. If the higher authorities rule first, many coaches will impose further penalties.

A final possible role would be that of executioner. This is the hardest job of all. Dismissing an athlete from the team is never easy. A coach will agonize over giving up on a player. He will wonder if he has exhausted every possible option.

If the player has consistently tested the coach's patience and authority, there will come a time when the coach has to say enough is enough, and remove the athlete from the team.

The fourth area of concern has to do with the relationship between the coach and athlete and/or family.

Disciplinary violations can often create stressful situations between coach and athlete.

What once appeared to be a trustworthy bond has been broken because of the athlete's failure to respect the coach's authority. What remains is the apprehension that in a crucial time or situation, the individual might very well let the team down again.

Enforcing disciplinary violations also affects the relationship between the coach and the athlete's family. The parents may assume a belligerent and accusatory attitude toward the coach: "You are being unfair in disciplining our child. Where have you left your compassion and understanding?"

The aforementioned statement will be followed by yet another: "Our son is definitely innocent of all charges because he has told us so and he does not lie."

Their final comment: "Lots of athletes have exhibited worse behavior than our son. Why are you picking on him?"

Note: Rarely does a coach receive a word of appreciation from the parents for making their child accountable for his actions.

Relationships with other academic or service departments can be harmfully affected by disciplinary problems.

The failure of athletes academically may cause faculty members to question the necessity of an interscholastic sports' program.

The continual abuse of school equipment may cause stress between the athletic and maintenance departments to the point where needed improvements may be delayed.

Bad publicity from rule violations may affect the school's administrative decisions on budget increases and facility improvements.

As can be readily seen, inappropriate behavior does not only affect the offender. It can spread throughout the entire school community.

The fifth and final area of concern over the disciplinary violations by the athletes is image.

A coach wants his players to represent their team to the best of their physical and emotional abilities because their behavior in athletic competition is constantly being evaluated and judged by the public.

When an athlete violates team policies, he is essentially saying that he doesn't care how the coach, his teammates, and public perceive his actions. The athlete is only thinking of himself and his immediate gratifications.

Even if the team performance is unaffected by the coach's disciplinary action, the emotional bonds between players and coach have to suffer. Team unity and trustworthiness can be fragmented--groups can begin choosing sides and making judgments.

Many athletic contests and even championships have been lost because of the athletes' failure to observe team rules.