NCAA: Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct

Best Practices Tool Kit

All administrators would relish having their campus labeled as a tough place to play for the opposing team, not because of a hostile atmosphere, but because of highly spirited teams and fans whose cheers for the home team are so passionate and they inspire the team to play at the highest level.

No administrators want to be labeled as the campus that chants vulgarities towards the opposing team, throws bottles or trash at opposing players or even doesn't treat opposing teams fairly in terms of facilities (e.g. showers, locker rooms) or common courtesy.

Achieving and sustaining good sportsmanship starts with campus and conference administration by setting the course; establishing expectations of student-athletes, coaches, fans, spirit groups, and other student groups; dedicating sufficient resources to implement sportsmanship initiatives; holding groups accountable that don't meet the established expectations and recognizing those who exemplify true sportsmanship.

Does your conference or campus meet this test?

Student Athletes

Meet with local elementary schools and university booster groups to encourage and promote good sportsmanship.
Create a letter from the team captain to rest of team.
Develop a program that will acknowledge the student-athletes that follow good sportsmanship. Sportsmanship awards (team winner, institutional winner, individual winner).
Letter to student-athlete.
Develop and promote captains roundtable - everything is open for discussion.
Shake hands with opposing team before and after game; make this a procedure for all games.
Require student-athletes to read aloud a sportsmanship pledge before each competition.
Create a sportsmanship oath to be signed by student-athletes at the start of the academic year. It should cover participant and spectator behavior.
For teams who post signs at sports games other than their own or who attend games or matches they have never been to before, recognize the team during game breaks, in the school newspaper or attend one of their games in support of their actions.
Ask fans to nominate a "sports person of the year" and have a member of the community present the award to the player or sponsor a donation in that student-athlete's name.
Create a practice rule that requires student-athletes and coaches to donate a quarter to a collection box each time they curse. Ask teammates to hold each other accountable. The money collected could be donated to charity or other campus organizations. This will help get student-athletes out of the habit of cursing and hopefully carry over into games. It will also benefit another group outside of the team.
Ask the athletics department or SAAC to set student-athlete guidelines or commitments on how they may approach an official to question a call (e.g., frame the issue as a question, do not raise your voice, no hand gestures). Design penalties to be used if these guidelines/ commitments are violated.
Meet with team captains, leaders and coaches to discuss sportsmanship. Develop a group committed to leading by example and who is comfortable talking with teammates when negative sportsmanship is displayed.
Petition for a university wide "no tolerance" policy regarding student-athletes criticizing the game's officiating in the media. Ask the SAAC to hold student-athletes accountable.

Coaches

Encourage coaches to incorporate good sportsmanship themes in competition.
Communicate with players. Communicate expectations before the problem occurs. A letter shows added support and commitment from coach.
Teach team the importance of being gracious in both victory and defeat.
Set a prime example for the players and fans (shaking hands of officials and coaches in front of crowd).
Instruct participants and spectators to make sportsmanship No.1 priority.
Provide regional and national awards given by some coaches associations to student-athletes at the sport's championship.
Conduct pre-season conference call with conference office.
Review coaches association's expectations and involvement.
Provide positive game demeanor:
- Engage student affairs,
- Signage,
- Student union,
- Academic divisions create program,
- Engage faculty in discussions about the program.
Positive interaction with officials. Treat with respect.
Display respect for security and officials.
Provide a game coordinator/manager, who serves as host.
Facilities: While you can't provide what you like to, at least you are providing something. A facility you'd expect on the road.
Create a list of speaking points about sportsmanship for coaches to use with the media/press.
Ask the SAAC to help design a nomination process where student-athletes can nominate their coach for a sportsmanship award and honor him/her at an end of the year banquet.
Write a letter to the director of athletics (copying the conference commissioner) outlining the coaches' positive sportsmanship. Also, encourage the athletics staff to recognize coaches who consistently display positive sportsmanship.
Encourage coaches to have the team develop their own rules on how teammates will be held accountable for negative remarks or actions; or coaches with the help of the SAAC or director of athletics should establish team rules and enforce them (e.g., immediate dismissal from the game).
Video tape the coaches poor behavior (yelling negative remarks at student-athletes, opposing teams, referees and opposing coaches during practices or games) and replay it back to them at a coaches meeting.
Use faculty athletics representative as a resource. They may be able to speak with the director of athletics or university chancellor or president about poor behavior by a coach.
Ask the SAAC to outline their expectations of coach behavior, what is acceptable or unacceptable. For instance, if a coach displays this behavior, he or she should be suspended for one game. The committee could then forward their statements to the SAAC advisor and director of athletics for support and request a meeting with both individuals to discuss how student-athletes or the SAAC can help the athletics department with this issue.

Administration

Implement accountability program to address unsportsmanlike behavior (e.g., Empire 8 model).
Educate security staff about what to address, (e.g., "this is your role�.") and review roles and expectations.
University president communicates vision and expectations to coaches and staff.
Develop a program that will acknowledge the staff that follow good sportsmanship.
Develop a letter for Board of Trustees/ university administration updating and educating about sportsmanship.
Discuss the value of sportsmanship with other schools in same league, examples:
- SAAC,
- Presidents Council,
- Compliance,
- Coaches, and
- Ethical conduct committee.
Establish a sportsmanship page on school and athletics department Web site:
- Expectations,
- Conference Web site,
- Pre-game announcements and NCAA statements.
Invite guest speakers:
- Dan Doyle,
- Chuck Mitrano,
- Ron Stratten,
- Institute for International Sport, or
- Law Enforcement.
Establish penalties for general student body as well as any fan who exhibits negative sportsmanship at an athletics contest. Accountability for what takes place in stands.
Develop a program that teaches and promotes the ideals and fundamentals of good sportsmanship within school.
Emphasize the "college athletics" brand and why it is different from professional sports from a sportsmanship angle.
Mission statement.
Encourage the two opposing schools to interact respectfully before the games where president's group/alumni group/senior members of opposing teams are also invited. Make sure college president is visible.
Follow-up with people who had been obstructive.
Create a sportsmanship report card, for representative of opposing team to complete. "Real time" drop off or submit to conference office after contests.
Signage/rating.
Visibility in game programs.
Challenge each team viewing the sportsmanship video/materials from the national office/ conference to implement its own plan of acting on sportsmanship and develop standards and/or consequences.
Videotape contests/ matches so that any negative incidents are recorded. This recording should cover from the time the team takes the field/ice/court until the time it leaves.
Emphasize that achieving and maintaining sportsmanship is a collective responsibility.
Prohibit visiting team from inappropriate celebrations (list of discouraged ideas) on home team's court/field.
Build off the NCAA ad campaigns "�There are 350,000 student-athletes majoring in something beside sport�" Include a sportsmanship piece.
Create a resource page with links to consultants and have access to NCAA Web site.
Incorporate from each sports rule book, the applicable provisions of sportsmanship because across sports it is inconsistent.
Work with coaches associations to get back to coaches being teachers/educators.
Involve risk managers about sportsmanship policies (videotaping fans, etc.).
Meet with event stakeholders (event manager, security staff, ushers, and director of athletics) to put together a game day plan.
Rival games - directors of athletics call each other to prepare (i.e. added security issues, etc.).
Treat opponents like you would like to be treated - "Soap Test."
Police escort of officials to court, locker room, etc.
Who is responsible for enforcement of coaching behavior? Fine against a coach for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Have safety officer position.
Have an event command center.
Have a five-minute debriefing session of administrators and security officers after every event.
Football - security stands in front of field to keep people off.
Try to separate fans.
Station people at baskets.
Delay access to parking lots and access to facility.
Provide event personnel and local law officials the authority to deny entrance into the facility and/or removal from the event facility.
Review of institution's pass-out policy, specifically not allowing re-entrance.
Sale of alchol should not be permitted. If permitted, sale of alchol should stop at the conclusion of half-time or earlier.
Consideration of implementing collapsible goal posts or goal posts that cannot be removed.
All athletics events must be staffed by a game-day administrator.
Members are required to read the crowd control disclaimer statement before games and strictly enforce its contents. Members also should include the crowd control statement in its game programs, handouts, and ons-site signage. Further, each member should follow the student-athlete sportmanship pledge program as applicable.
Intercede and eject fans displaying unacceptable forms of behavior.
Create an ambassador program to have individuals attend athletics events who are expected to remain visible during the various athletics contests as a way to curb unsportsmanlike behavior.
While the greatest need for ambassadors will be at highly attended events with a greater likelihood of volatility, ambassadors should be encouraged to attend any and all athletics events hosted by our institutions.
Ambassadors are not expected to act as event security. Their primary role is to act as a department by virtue of being visible and in position to identity to game management any individuals who are behaving in an unacceptable manner. As such, ambassadors are expected to position themselves in seating or fan areas wherein problems may or often do occur.
Each school will be expected to designate as many as 12 individuals to serve as their ambassadors for each sports season.
Play the visitors' fight song after sportsmanship message.
Partner with National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) to get the message to high schools.
Adopt specific expectations related to the behavior of fans at campus athletics events.

Fans

Fans can develop a student spirit group that sit together in stands at games and engage in only positive conduct.
Share expectations of fans and support groups before each game. For example, prior to a game, have a group of student-athletes and students outline their fan behavior expectations.
Points of emphasis on sportsmanship in each sport.
Encourage fans to root for their team and not against their opponent. For example, supply fans with newspapers with cheers on the inside and "good luck" on the outside. This will encourage fans to either remain quiet by showing the newspaper or chant positive cheers. It supplies a positive resource for fans to use during games.
Seat them away from opposing team's bench. Reserve seating behind visiting team for visiting fans. This offers a nice gesture from the school to the visiting fans and limits the amount of heckling home fans can give to visiting student-athletes.
Discuss appropriate and inappropriate cheers and the consequences for inappropriate behavior (e.g., loss of season ticket privileges, removal from the game, etc.).
Adopt specific expectations related to the behavior of fans at campus athletics events.
Intercede and eject fans displaying unacceptable forms of behavior.
Train gate and security personnel to deny admission or eject fans exhibiting behaviors attributable to alcohol use.
Nominate and honor a male and female "fan of the year" for acts of positive sportsmanship. Institutions could also nominate and honor "fan groups of the year." SAAC could help designate and honor these individuals or groups.
Develop a listserve where student-athletes and coaches can communicate about specific fans who exhibited positive sportsmanship (e.g., explain what they did and offer a name if known so that the individual may be recognized with a thank you letter). It promotes positive dialogue around sportsmanship, shares examples of positive behaviors with others and recognizes the individual.
Make signs appreciating the fans to hang up at games or thank them publicly after the game.
Give t-shirts to "super-fans."
Offer a chance to win a seat on the "super fan" couch. The couch should be placed in a prime seating area. The fan who displays the most positive spirit or sportsmanship during a game should be recognized at the end of that game by being awarded a seat on the couch for the next game.
Host a competition for best decorated sign (given it is clean and appropriate) and honor the individual with an award.

Game Officials

Develop a card to present to officials that work home events, providing them with expectations when dealing with unsportsmanlike conduct.
Educate and empower officials for dealing with unsportsmanlike conduct.
Maintain confidence and poise, controlling contest from start to finish.
After each game have officials fill out a short evaluation form about the teams, votes will be tallied throughout year and winner receives an incentive to perform well again in the years to come.
Encourage officials to have conversation with student-athletes before and during competition.
How would John Wooden, Jordan, Peyton, etc treat an official?
Use them as a professional example of excelling, while still showing respect.
Conduct campaign to show respect to opponents as well as officials.

Boosters and Alumni

Newsletters.
Meetings.
Educational contacts.
Alumni mailing.
Season ticket holder mailings.

Spirit Groupts

Spirit Groups

Create a list of guidelines and preferred activities for institutional mascots by highlighting the positives.
Home school should provide hospitality room for opposing spirit groups at stadium.
Home team's representative should meet and escort opposing team's spirit group to stadium.
Home school should provide all in-stadium logistics to the opposing spirit team one week prior to game (includes parking, where stationed on sideline).
Spirit groups should possibly stand next to each other during national anthem.
The spirit squads should be used to discourage unsportsmanlike conduct by the student section.
All cheers and chants should positively support the respective sports teams.
There should be no taunting of players or officials by spirit group members during the game.
There should be no disrespect of opposing team's symbols or traditions during the game.
Visiting spirit squads should be escorted off the field by home spirit team at the end of the game.
No taunting of opposing players or crowds after the game.
The spirit squad coach and the appropriate athletics department administrator should clearly define expected behavior to all spirit squad members and should be responsible for compliance in this regard.
Have cheerleaders go into stands chanting positive cheers during games
Play the visitors' fight song after sportsmanship message.

Parents

Seating of parents is important at games; putting them behind home team bench.
Post national letter-of-intent signing letter to parents.
National letter-of-intent code of conduct (sample from Empire 8).
Provide Power Point presentation to parents of student-athletes.
Create parents pledge to support team in a positive manner.
Encourage sportsmanship discussions between parents and student-athletes by establishing roundtable discussion groups.
Preseason meetings - provide assistance to better interact with team (parents weekend).
Outline a segment for general students and parents on fan behavior and expectations for freshman orientation.

Media

Create a letter to media about sportsmanship expectations, ongoing messages and press releases, standard line. (Sample from Big Sky Conference.)
Public Service Announcement before every game with announcer stating expectations and consequences.
Promote ideals and fundamentals of good sportsmanship letters from captains.
Make announcements of sportsmanship over public address system and in game programs.
Invite media to kick-off functions with officials so they understand the rules and any new rule changes.
Request media to not show the negative (i.e. running on field, etc.) and unsportsmanship actions (tearing down goal posts).
Provide community service press releases and press releases related to good sportsmanship acts by teams.
Partner with National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) to get the message to high schools.

Campus Organizations

One week promotion for good sportsmanship and receive prize at assembly/event/contest.
Select a "good sport" of the week/month.
Create ongoing program that will acknowledge student body for sportsmanship.
Create banners that convey sportsmanship message and welcomes opponents to the school.
Acknowledge visible signs of sportsmanship.
Circulate institutional e-mail that outlines game expectations (goes to student, staff, and faculty).
Athletics department engages dialogue with outside organizations such as fraternity groups and spirit groups.
Campus newspaper editorials and stories.
Create an ambassador program to have individuals attend athletics events who are expected to remain visible during the various athletics contests as a way to curb unsportsmanlike behavior.
While the greatest need for ambassadors will be at highly attended events with a greater likelihood of volatility, ambassadors should be encouraged to attend any and all athletics events hosted by our institutions.
Ambassadors are not expected to act as event security. Their primary role is to act as a department by virtue of being visible and in position to identify to game management any individuals who are behaving in an unacceptable manner. As such, ambassadors are expected to position themselves in seating or fan areas wherein problems may or often do occur.
Each school will be expected to designate as many as 12 individuals to serve as their ambassadors for each sports season.

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