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Sportsmanship is a Way of Life

January 4, 2013

Twenty years ago the MHSAA received a plaque from a member school that I continue to prize above all other awards our organization has received.  The plaque reads:  “In recognition of outstanding contributions to interscholastic athletics, and for promotion of sportsmanship as a way of life for all young athletes.”

There are no words I would more prefer to describe the work of the MHSAA then and now than those highlighted words.  No work we do is any more important than promoting sportsmanship as a way of life.  Reduced to a phrase, that’s our most essential purpose; that’s our product.

Not victories, titles or championships, but sportsmanship.  Not awards or records, but sportsmanship.

It’s teaching and learning sportsmanship more than speed and strength; sportsmanship more than coordination and conditioning; sportsmanship more than skills and strategies.  Even more than teamwork, hard work, discipline and dedication, it’s sportsmanship we teach and learn.

In Discovery of Morals, the sociologist author (not a sportsman) writes, “Sportsmanship is probably the clearest and most popular expression of morals.  Sportsmanship is a thing of the spirit.  It is timeless and endless; and we should strive to make it universal to all races, creeds and walks in life.”

Sportsmanship is more than a list of do’s and don’ts; more than grace in victory and defeat; more than how we play the game and watch the games.  It’s how we live our lives.

Sportsmanship begins in our homes.  We work on it in practice.  It extends to games.  It reaches up to the crowd.  It permeates the school halls and shopping malls.  And it begins to affect society for good, or for bad.

Members of the Same Team

April 2, 2013

The Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan (BCAM) is a leader among our state’s high school coaches associations, as well as of its counterpart organizations for the sport of basketball across the US.

The MHSAA has partnered with BCAM in numerous ways, including the “Reaching Higher” program to help prepare high school student-athletes for the college experience and in the “Top Shooters” and clinic aspects of the “March Magic Hoopfest” which will return in 2014 after taking a year off due to facility conflicts at Michigan State University.

One of the longest MHSAA-BCAM partnerships has been the Basketball Officials and Coaches Communications Committee (BOCCC).  One of the committee members, Mitch Hubbard of Reading High School, offered these candid and insightful comments in BCAM’s March 2013 Monthly Report:

Look Through Someone Else’s Window

Look through someone else’s window was the name of our Sunday school lesson.  The entire lesson was about how we should stop and try to see things the way others do.

I sat through the class nodding my head in agreement.  I kept thinking of situations where if people would do this, many conflicts could be avoided.  If only people would look at both sides of things, then the world would be a better place.

I then thought about the relationships that I have had with officials for the last 27 years.  I have never stopped to think about what the official was thinking or what they might be going through.  I have never even cared much about their feelings or their life happenings.  It has always been about me, my team, and my situation.  I usually think that the “refs” are against me and my team.  How could they call that?  What are they looking at?  What have I ever done to him?  These are the thoughts that led to my usual obnoxious comments or statements.

This season I took on the position of athletic director.  Part of the job is to greet the officials and escort them back and forth to the locker room.  For the first time in my career, I have had good, honest, open conversations with guys that I have known for years.  I found out that these guys have families, careers, injuries, honors, and all kinds of day-to-day happenings.  Some live close by and some travel long distances to referee.  I was amazed as to just how much these guys were like me!

If only I had stopped and taken the time to have a normal conversation with these guys years before, my perception may have been different.  If I would “look through someone else’s window” and realize that officials are normal people, maybe some uncomfortable situations could have been avoided.  I suppose the same goes for officials.  If they would try to see things through the window of the coach, they might see more than a screaming madman.

Officials and coaches want the same thing.  They both love the sport and want to protect it.  We need to work together to improve and enhance the game.  Communication and relationships between officials and coaches is critical.  We need to stop and take the time to “look through someone else’s window” and appreciate them.