Lesson 10- Reading #1

What is Sportsmanship?

Sportspersonship - Dr. Shields is using the politically correct form of sports-personship instead of sportsmanship. Considering that Dr. Shields is a noted authority in developing multicultural atmospheres - we will follow his example in this article.

...First, with regard to the nature of sports-personship, competitors tend to adopt a moral view of sports-personship; they are fundamentally guided in their actions by the ideals of fairness, respect, and non-injurious play.  Upholding the spirit of competition (as opposed to de-competition) – even when not required by the rules – is the core of sports-personship.   In contrast, de-competitors tend to adopt a conventional or non-moral view of sports-personship.  By this I mean that sports-personship, to the extent that it is considered at all, is viewed as behavior that conforms to the minimal demands of politeness, civility, and rule obedience...

-David Light Shields, Ph. D

Why do we play sport?  What is the purpose of the activity?  Shields (2001), discusses how in competition the act of sportspersonship is really an afterthought.  If all other demands of pursuing victory are met by the competitors than minimal demands to demonstrate sportspersonship follow. 

...true competitors tend to view rules as essential, but imperfect, expressions of the effort to establish and sustain a fair and safe contest.  Thus, upholding the rules is viewed as the minimal demand of good sport behavior.  But if a situation arises in which fairness requires going beyond simple rule obedience, the requirements of fairness take priority.  In other words, when moral norms conflict with strategic interests, the moral norms are upheld regardless of whether the rules require that or not.  For de-competitors, rules are partially tolerated restraints, and circumvention of rules is to be expected when detection is unlikely.  Thus, rather than rules providing the minimal floor for sports-personship, they provide its maximal ceiling.  Rule adherence is probably the very most we can expect of the de-competitor, and even rule obedience cannot be expected if there are informal norms allowing for rule deviation...

  -David Light Shields, Ph. D

"If you ain't cheatin' you ain't trying," is an anonymous phrase often repeated in coaching circles.  How do you view rules?  Are they an obstacle to victory or do they provide a "level" playing field?  Shields (2001) mentions that strict rule adherence is unlikely when the quest to win is first on your list. 

When Royce Waltman was fired from his position as Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Indiana State University after 20 seasons, he made the following comments about the pressure to win in college coaching:
...Well, I can’t get a head coaching job, because if you get fired for cheating you can get hired right back again. But if you get fired for losing you’re like you’ve got leprosy. Young coaches need to keep that in mind. Cheating and not graduating players will not get you into trouble, but boy losing will.” (ESPN, 2007)...
 

Officials

...officials are viewed as personal agents who share an important role in the process of competition by seeking to ensure equality of opportunity and treatment and minimization of risk.  Within de-competition, officials are tolerated, because even the de-competitor recognizes that the adversary – the opponent – needs to be restrained!  While the officials are there to enable or facilitate the game for the competitor, in an odd sort of way the officials become indistinguishable from the game for the de-competitor; outwitting the officials is just one more game strategy.  Officials are part of the opposition...

-David Light Shield, Ph. D

Discussion:

"We'll it was 7 on 5," quipped the basketball coach after losing the game.  The role of an official is to govern the game.  They are given complete authority to ensure a fair contest will be conducted.  Shields (2001) suggests that we frequently focus on the official as the opposition and 'working' the officials to get a good call is part of the game.