Rethinking Sports: What Bounties Tell Youth

The recent news of bounty programs (informal arrangements where players get paid cash for injuring opposing players) in the National Football League have certainly been unsettling for a host of moral, legal, and humane reasons, but it is certainly not a surprise to parties inside or outside the league. Our national underdog demeanor, combined with our entrepreneurial mindset have enabled bounty programs like this to exist without a check, aside from an occasional suspension or fine being levied.

As terrifying as the hits we see NFL players take on Sundays are, the broader impact that bounty programs have on our country’s youth is what frightens so many. When our children watch professional sports, and they see the hardest hitters be rewarded with Pro-Bowl Selections, and now learning of their monetary benefits, it is not hard to imagine the pressure they feel to perform with the same kind of intensity. Unfortunately, we don’t have to look very far to see young people’s lives being irreparably damaged by physical injuries, and by overly aggressive behavioral problems in their personal lives. We know there is an inherent danger in contact sports (and that it is a part of the appeal of the sport), but as parents, coaches, athletes, and fans, we must be thoughtful in drawing the line between healthy aggression and physical danger.

We are at a point in the history of our country where there is enough negative attention mounting against the physical detriments of contact sports to justify action against programs that would encourage more damage. We can choose to continue to allow these types of bounty programs to exist in the name of “manliness,” or we can do some pragmatic soul-searching within our culture to see what sort of values we want to bring out of sport. In the arena of sport, how can we bring out the American underdog spirit, but also bring out the ideals of justice, camaraderie, and health?

Play Like a Champion, as always, believes that people need to be educated on these issues. First and foremost, these bounty programs need to be stopped, and awareness of their existence needs to be heightened and exposed. More thoughtfully though, we need to explore the values that we are trying to promote in sports, both at the youth and professional level. Are we trying to promote personal growth, teamwork, fairness, and fun, or are we trying to merely put on a show, where the strongest, fastest, and toughest are rewarded for their barbaric acts in the name of high entertainment value?

Hustling to the Tournament

            When I was younger, I participated in gymnastics.   The beginning reason of my enrollment of the gymnastics was so that I learned a sense of self -discipline.  I was rather tall for my age, and very lanky for the sport.  I absolutely loved my first two years, but as I got taller, I began to get worse and worse at gymnastics.  I knew I wasn’t as good as the other girls, but my parents encouraged me to stick with it and said that I was pretty good at it.  I then decided when I reached the age of eight, I decided to try to pursue in a more team dependent sport.  When I moved to Mississippi, I joined my very first competitive basketball league.  It was my very first time playing a competitive sport, and I was playing against girls two years older than me.  Before every game my parents would tell me not to worry about the score, but to just go out there and work hard.  I was in second grade playing against third and fourth graders.  Although I was one of the tallest girls on the court, I was petrified the first couple of games.  These girls were so aggressive, and they knew what they were doing and how to shoot shots.  I knew basically nothing, where I came from we were definitely not as competitive as all these girls, and on top of that I knew almost nothing about basketball besides the fundamentals that I learned in pre-school.  After the first couple of games I wanted to quit, and I didn’t like it.  My parents told me that this was a good sport for me because I was very athletic and tall, and most basketball players were tall.  They started rewarding me for little hustle things that I would do on the court, like rebounding or diving for the ball, they would take me to waffle house after the games.  Eventually I became a really physical player and one of the players known for doing the dirty work.  At the end of the year banquet they have for all the teams, each coach announced awards given out for best offensive player, best defensive player, and most valuable player on the team.  I won the most valuable player award, and my parents had to explain to me what that meant, because on that particular day I was a little upset they did not give out a hustle award.  My parents told me that my award was basically like the hustle award, which made me feel better.  After that I had this strong desire to practice and get better at this sport.  I immediately fell in love with the sport of basketball and stuck with it all the way up to where I am now in college.  If the past has taught me anything it is definitely that once you find a certain sport that you love to play, you have to stick with it.  Now, even as a college athlete I know that my playing days are numbered, and when it comes to senior year and we are in the NCAA tournament, I will literally be playing as if each game could be my last.

Ariel Braker, ND Women's Basketball, Class of 2014

Social Foundations of Coaching Course