In the last two weeks, a college soccer player has kicked a ball into an opponent’s face, an NFL player punched an opponent in the face, and an NFL coach attempted to fight opposing players. These recent occurrences are only a snapshot of a year that has included many stories of poor sportsmanship.
The incident with the soccer player has been a hot topic, because throughout the game she had been shoving and throwing players to the floor after an altercation early in the game. She was not ejected until late in the game after kicking the ball.
Broadcast journalism major and soccer player Aliyah Glenn was shocked at how long the girl was allowed to play in the game.
“I was surprised to see those blatant fouls in a game,” Glenn said. “And I was even more surprised by the referee not taking her out of the game much earlier. Most people I have seen ejected from games committed fouls that were not nearly as bad as the things that girl was doing. I have never seen anyone act like her.”
Howard does have a program to emphasize proper conduct to its athletes. The Student Athletic Advisory Committee addresses sportsmanship and other issues.
Glenn said that good sportsmanship comes mostly from the individual teams. “Our coaches constantly remind us that we represent Howard in everything we do,” Glenn said. “So we always have to be a positive example on and off the field.”
Coaches in high school and little league sports constantly complain about how the lack of sportsmanship athletes show on television affects the way their players act on the field.
How is a coach supposed to tell a child to show proper sportsmanship when LeBron James walks off the court without shaking hands on national primetime television?
Senior film major Pendarvis Harshaw mentors many youths including athletes. He believes in order to teach proper sportsmanship, youths have to keep the game in proper perspective.
“When we teach the kids the game we have to keep the purpose of competition at the forefront,” Harshaw said. “The purpose is to test skills and show teamwork.”
Some states have started major programs to help emphasize sportsmanship to their high school athletes. Illinois has one of the largest programs with their “Do What’s Right!” program.
This program has been in effect for three years and has participation from a third of the conferences in the state. It is made up of various principles and athletic directors.
Also, Illinois is the first state to have a sportsmanship mascot to show up at events who is known as Add A. Tude.
Assistant executive director, Beth Sauser, said the program emphasizes sportsmanship to everyone involved with high school sporting events. “We want the players, the coaches and the fans all on the same page,” Sauser said. “We want them to cheer for their teams, recognize good performance by the other teams, and understand that sporting events are just that.”
Sauser believes there is a lot of good sportsmanship shown, but it is underreported.
“The story when the softball players helped the girl around the bases that was great and got a lot of coverage,” Sauser said. “There are other stories like that. Those stories don’t get the attention the negative stories get.”
Sauser also said Illinois has teamed up with Minnesota and Michigan with the Lets Get Connected Conference. They are hoping to one day make a national sportsmanship program.
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