Utah Coach Suspends Team as a Character Lesson

Two weeks ago, a football coach in Utah did something that is rare in this age of high pressure high school athletics.  He suspended his entire team the week before homecoming. He didn’t suspend the team for any on-field issues (although the decision was announced following a loss.)  And he didn’t suspend the team for any academic failings or team-wide disciplinary issues (although both issues contributed to the decision.) Instead, Coach Matt Labrum of Union High School in Roosevelt, Utah suspended his team of boys to “create great men.”

In the process, Coach Labrum created a media firestorm, sparked a national conversation, and hopefully taught his team and community a valuable lesson on the importance of character.  The Union High School team had reportedly been having assorted academic and disciplinary issues for much of the season, but was disbanded for cyber-bullying committed by unknown team members.  After a post-game meeting on Friday night where the coaching staff announced the decision, the team met the next morning to  learn how to regain a spot on the team.  For the next few days, the team practiced, but instead of practicing pass routes and zone defense, the team practiced character.  To be eligible to play the next week, every player had to participate in community service projects, be in good academic standing, and have a signed note from a parent attesting to good behavior at home. While several players were initially upset by the temporary loss of football, the coach had the support of parents and school officials.  He also had the support of the team, as all but 9 of the 41 players suspended were reinstated on Wednesday afternoon.     

 In explaining his decision to the media, Coach Labrum said “Hey, we need to focus on some other things that are more important than winning a football game,”  and he’s right.    At Play Like a Champion Today, we are fortunate enough to work with coaches just like Matt Labrum.  These coaches want their teams to DO WELL on the field and to DO GOOD off the field. Like Coach Labrum, Coaches for Character want their teams “to be an asset” to their schools and communities.  Like the parents at Union High, parents involved in Play Like a Champion Today want their children to be more than good football players, they want their children to “to some good in the community.” And like the students at Union High, student athletes trained by Play Like a Champion Today now see that “It’s not all about football.” 

 Practicing character should not be a national news story.  Practicing character should not be done solely to earn a spot on a team or to impress a coach.  Play Like a Champion works to promote a positive sports culture for all young people, and we applaud Coach Labrum for the work he is doing in Utah, and wish his team luck for the rest of the season, and hope that the character lessons instilled last month will endure in the team’s memory long after the season has ended.

For more on the events in Utah, the Deseret News has provided excellent coverage: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865587020/Taking-a-stand-Union-High-coach-suspends-entire-football-team-in-lesson-about-character.html?pg=all

Opponents become Friends: The Beauty of Sport Relationships

As a lacrosse player I’ve always sought to play the game with sportsmanship and integrity. As a lacrosse coach I’ve always tried to emphasize sportsmanship and fair play with my players.

 One of the more inspiring examples of sportsmanship to which I’ve been a party was actually a series of events, specifically a series of dinners that brought strangers together.

Each year during spring break my high school lacrosse team would travel out of state for a few scrimmages before our season began back in Minnesota. I traveled to both Colorado and New York on these team trips. On each trip we would set up in a certain part of the state where we had arranged to play several local teams and would play nearly every day during our week-long stay.

In addition to the hard-fought scrimmages with each team, we would have a dinner for both teams provided by the parents or school of the local team. I was both humbled by the generosity, because it is no small task to prepare and serve dinner to 50-some tired, sweaty, hungry teenage boys.

In my experience, lacrosse has always had a stronger sense of community and fraternity than the other sports I played growing up, and that was borne out in the generosity of these lacrosse communities that hosted our team. It was also evidenced in how quickly we took to talking, joking and laughing with the team we had just battled on the field.

I remember at Yorktown high school in New York how at one of the long tables our two teams were indistinguishably intermingled and engaged in animate conversation, even though half an hour earlier two players from each team had exchanged some significant body checks.

I also remember playing nearby John Jay high school in a fog so thick I had no idea what was happening anytime our offense brought the ball past midfield and then learning the ins-and-outs of NYC from our opponents after the game.

From our time in Colorado, I remember eating with the Kent Denver team  when our coach, who is originally from Colorado, learning that a friend he met on a travelling team still lived in the same house and his son attended the school.

I could go on, but suffice it to say these meals were rewarding experiences and embodied a sportsmanship that ought to be at the heart of all athletics, especially at the youth and high school levels.

By: Christian Myers

Notre Dame Club Lacrosse Secretary
Social Foundations of Coaching Student, Education Schools and Society at Notre Dame

Back to School Sports: Five “To-Dos” for Every Athletic Director

As students are heading back to school, Athletic Directors are scrambling to finalize schedules, fill coaching vacancies, and distribute uniforms and equipment.  We are living in a Post-Penn State and Rutgers environment in which all sports organizations are being called far greater moral and legal accountability than ever before. Make sure that you leave time to take these five steps to prepare for the year ahead.

• Provide a safe athletic environment for all your athletes.  Sexual, physical, and psychological abuse are real threats. Before working with student athletes, all coaches should have been finger-printed and have had a background check.  All coaches and anyone who works directly with a minor should also have had abuse awareness and reporting training.  Note that many states now consider coaches “mandatory reporters.”  Coaches also need to know how to respond to possible concussions and how to prevent over-use injuries. 
• Meet at the beginning of the year or each sports season with your coaches to explain your mission, values, and code of conduct.   Emphasize the importance of playing-time and of developing each player’s talents. 
• Schedule a parent meeting as early as possible.  Parents and guardians need to know what is expected of them and their children.  Helping parents to understand how they can support their children, especially through their sideline behavior will make a big difference throughout the sports season. 
• Provide mission-oriented coach education every year.  Coaches, like teachers, need continuing education to work effectively with children and adolescents. 
• Guarantee that each student-athlete has a quality sports experience.  At the elementary school level.

We appreciate the growing responsibilities of athletic directors, especially in a litigious society.  Today more than ever before administrators, coaches, and parents need the best possible educational programming to serve our children.  Let us know how we can help you by contacting  Play Like a Champion Today.

Where do our Priorities Lie?

Play Like a Champion Director Clark Power offers some insight on the current storm at Rutgers, and how it reflects the current state of college athletics.

Once again President Robert Barachi is on the hot seat. He chose Julie Hermann as Rutgers' new Athletic Director in a move designed to restore integrity to Rutgers' beleaguered athletic department. Hermann replaces Tim Pernetti, who resigned under pressure for not responding more decisively to a videotape showing basketball coach, Mike Rice shoving his players, throwing basketballs at their heads, and berating them with slurs. Maybe Barachi wishes he had Pernetti back. Hermann, it appears, may have been abusive herself, something that Rutgers' search committee was unaware of when they hired her. The search committee, in fact, viewed Hermann as the answer to an athletic department culture more protective of coaches than players. In a press release announcing the search committee's decision, Kate Sweeney, the co-chair, noted that the "committee was particularly impressed with Julie Hermann's student-centered approach to athletics."

Less than two weeks after Herrmann's selection, Hermann's "student-centered approach to athletics" was challenged in a New Jersey Star-Ledger story, which published a copy of 16-year-old letter written by former student athletes, who alleged that they suffered "unbearable mental cruelty" while Hermann was their volleyball coach. Players recalled reading that letter to Hermann and the women's athletic director, Joan Cronan, in an intense and uncomfortable meeting. Hermann denies knowing about that letter. She also denies the allegation in the letter that she called her players "whores, alcoholics and learning disabled." "For sure, I was an intense coach," she explained, "but there is a vast difference between high intensity and abusive behavior."

Cronan couldn't have been too bothered by the student athletes' discontent because Hermann went on to become an assistant coach for USA Volleyball before becoming an Assistant Athletic Director at the University of Louisville. Louisville Athletic Director, Tom Jurich, who hired Hermann admits knowing that "things didn't end well at Tennessee" but that "everything was clear sailing" after speaking with the AD at Tennessee and the coach of the Olympic Team under whom Hermann coached while still at Tennessee. He admitted, "She is intense" but added, "I don't know a coach who isn't."

Kim Tibbits, Hermann' assistant coach at Tennessee upholds Hermann's side of the story, "I was by Julie's side in every meeting and every practice, and she never did what they're saying. What they are saying is not true. She was the most supportive coach. She loved those kids. What I'm hearing and seeing now is just shocking." Cronan said that couldn't recall the letter itself or the high drama of the team meeting that precipitated Hermann's departure. She does remember, however, that the players were somewhat "disgruntled." But she attributed their displeasure as due to "frustration" at their team's lack of athletic success.

Those who defend Hermann, including Hermann herself, see her as the real victim in all of this. Without a videotape like the one that led to Rice's demise there is no way of verifying the players' story. All we have is the testimony of the student athletes themselves, all of whom received counseling following their unanimous expression of "irreconcilable differences with their coach." The only uncontroverted part of this unfolding story is that none of the administrators, who vetted Hermann as she rose up the administrative ladder, ever bothered to ask her players why "things didn't turn out well" at Tennessee.

If we can learn anything from this latest Rutgers controversy, it is that in a "student-centered" athletic environment, the student athletes ought to be consulted and taken seriously, particularly when allegations of abuse arise. Students may well be in the best position to help the athletic community to determine the difference between being intense and being abusive.

Learning as an Official

Today's blog comes to us from Social Foundations of Coaching student Liam Madden. Liam reflects on his experiences as a basketball official and how his decisions affect his coaching strategy. To learn about Play Like a Champion Today's Official's Workshop, check out our website.

I had the chance to officiate an extramural basketball tournament at Oakland University in Michigan and dealt with many hot-tempered coaches, whom we are trained as officials to communicate with.  However, in the men’s semifinal game of the tournament, in a close game that would crush the hopes of one college club team and advance the other to the highly-coveted championship game, I was in a bind that changed the way I view coaching from the sidelines.    

After another official on my crew called an intentional foul on a player who clearly hacked an opponent on a fast break, the fouling player’s coach began a tirade on the sideline and contested that the play was not overly violent (the coach clearly misunderstood the difference between an intentional foul and a flagrant foul).  The third official on my crew gave the coach a much-deserved technical foul and told him that he had to sit down, or else he would be kicked out of the game.

The coach proceeded to continue standing and arguing, and I went over to him and warned him that he had to sit down or I’d eject him.  At this point, his team was down 12 points with under a minute left and was clearly going to lose, yet he refused to give in to our instructions.  His team wanted to get the game over with and his team captain yelled at him to sit down because he was embarrassing the team and they wanted to finish the game.  I did not eject the coach, which the NCAA official evaluating me told me was the biggest mistake I made all game because it compromised my authority as an official.

What I learned from the whole situation is that a coach’s conduct not only influences his reputation among officials and fans but also reflects the whole team, and in youth sports coaches must be role models for their players.  After the game, the team’s captain came up to our officiating crew and apologized on behalf of his coach and said the whole team was embarrassed by his behavior.  As a coach, especially at an amateur level, one must be respectful of officials and set a good example for his or her team.  In the future when I coach youth sports, I will always remember this lesson I learned from a coach’s extremely poor sportsmanship.

As a basketball official, I have dealt with many coaches who do not hesitate to spew criticisms, even at the youth level and have learned that coaches not only must be professional in conduct and demeanor but also must set a standard for communicating with officials that their players can follow.  In pre-game captains meetings, I always make it clear that as officials we are glad to answer any questions about specific calls but will not respond to obnoxious statements about our officiating.  Coaches, as role models for their players, must demonstrate the proper way to deal with officials so their players do not feel they have the option to act disrespectfully towards referees.

Youth Sports Tragedy

On May 5, Ricardo Portilla died in a coma ten days after being punched for giving a yellow card in a recreational league soccer game.  This was not the first time that he had been attacked, and his family had had begged him to give up officiating for fear that he would sustain a serious injury.  The incident occurred not in a tournament or state championship but in a recreational league game! The league’s “no tolerance policy” for player violence didn’t deter the angry outburst.

           

The abuse of referees is rampant throughout sports at all ages and competitive levels.   It starts with the coaches and fans.  Eventually the children follow.  Insults, intimidation, and occasional threats are the rule.  We generally look the other way until the abuse becomes physical.  Six weeks earlier, CNN broke a story about soccer referees in Europe being “under siege,” (http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/14/sport/football/referee-violence-spain-football).   That story featured an incident in the Netherlands in which a group of adolescent players beat a volunteer linesman to death.  

           

Let’s hope that the youth sports community in the United States will respond to Ricardo Portilla’s death with the moral outrage expressed throughout Europe.  The problem of referee abuse lies with an adult-constructed youth sports environment in which respect for rules, referees, and fairness seems quaint.  Getting away with as much as possible and manipulating referees is the now the norm.  Ricardo Portilla refereed recreational soccer because he loved the game and those who played it.  We owe it to him and to our children to change the toxic culture that foments violence and disrespect.

98

Jason Collins admitted that he struggled for years for self acceptance.   When he joined the Celtics this year, he began wearing “98” as a “small gesture of solidarity” with the gay community.  Collins noted that the year 1998 has a double significance. It marks not only the year of Matthew Shepherd’s cruel death but also the founding of the Trevor Project, the leading national organization providing crisis intervention to LGBTQ youth, who account for 30% of adolescent suicides.  To understand the significance of Jason Collins’s revelation, we must walk in the shoes of those countless children who have experienced humiliation, ostracization, bullying, and torture for their perceived sexuality.  Sports have bred homophobia for generations. We all know the demeaning jeers and slurs that are embedded in the culture of youth as well as professional sports.   Defensive lineman, Esera Tusalo, explained after he came out, “It [sport] is a place for gladiators and gladiators aren’t supposed to be gay.” He lived in terror and nearly committed suicide for fear that his sexual identity would be revealed.   Jason Collins suffered in lonely silence long enough. 

By coming out he claimed his full personhood and as his aspirations to love faithfully and to start a family.  He also invited those of us who coach young people to embrace the full significance of “98” and to build a sports culture that goes beyond tolerance to acceptance and compassion.  

Tragedy in Boston, Triumph in Sport

6 down, 20 to go!

The bombings at the Boston Marathon on Monday tragically killed 3 people and injured hundreds. Play Like a Champion Today Associate Director, Damian Kearney ran the race. He offers his insight on the day's events.

I ran the Boston Marathon on Monday. I ran through some of the most beautiful towns in America, I reunited with old friends I haven’t seen in years, and I got to participate in the premiere event for the sport that I love. It was one of the best experiences of my life. I emerged from the finishers areas half an hour later to meet my family, and went to the Prudential Center for some much deserved pizza.

After enjoying some slices, we heard a big boom. A few people went outside. Then another boom, this time about 200 yards from where I was eating. Then panic. People in the food court were turning over tables, screaming, running outside. It was the first “mob scene” I had ever witnessed first-hand.

Then confusion. A quarter million people having no idea what to do, where to go, or what to expect, wandering around in search of answers. What happened? Where do I go? Where’s my stuff? Are we safe?

Trained staff and onlookers chipped in to help victims injured in the now infamous explosions. Completed marathoners gave blood to assist the traumatized (because they’re the last people that need fresh oxygen flowing, right?!). People opened their doors to strangers in need of a warm building. Concerned citizens gave unfinished runners food, phones, and blankets as they tried to piece together the events that had just transpired (take it from me that the last quarter mile of a marathon is already pretty hazy).

Amidst an act of terror, thousands of acts of kindness emerged.

These acts of kindness will not bring back any of the lives that were taken, or replace any of the limbs that were lost, but they are an example of sport at its best. Sport at its best, is unitive, heroic, and uplifting. A team getting pulling together in a comeback; a bench-player defying the scouting report; “winning one for the Gipper.” On Monday, I saw best of sport. For 4 hours and 50 minutes, millions of people had fun, supported each other, and strode to fundraise for noble causes. For the rest of the day, the best of sport continued in the streets of Boston, Massachusetts.

People could have taken advantage of others’ weakness on Monday, but people chose to do good rather than ill. I do not believe that it was just sport that brought people together on Monday. I think we are all naturally empathetic and come together in times of trouble. But I do believe that sport is ultimately a reflection of the society we live in.

People, just like sports, have the potential to do great things, or do terrible things. We saw both on Monday. Thirteen seconds of violence were surrounded by minutes, hours, even months of passion and compassion. This is at the core of why sport is noble. In sport, just like life, we are provided with a forum to do good or evil. What I saw on Monday was that our natural inclination is to do good, despite one person’s choice to do the opposite.

As we coach, play, and watch sports, let’s remember what we saw on Monday. In the face of darkness, we chose light.

Integrity and Honesty In Sport

In most sports, athletes let the officials take responsibility for upholding the rules. In fact in most sports, athletes and coaches “play the refs” and try to get away with as much as they can. Not so in golf. Golf is one of the few sports to have developed a culture that demands that athletes take responsibility for upholding the rules and for reporting even their inadvertent violations of the letter of the law. Golf demonstrates that the honor code really works, even when the stakes are high and no one is looking. In the playoff for the Horizon Heritage Tournament title with over $400,000 on the line, Brian Davis of England called a two-stroke penalty on himself for accidentally nicking a reed on the backswing of his recovery shot from a hazard to the left of the 18th green. Only Davis was aware that he had barely touched the overhang, yet he did not hesitate to make his infraction known to an official. The reaction of the golf community was not surprise but affirmation. “What Davis did was what probably 90 percent of the players on the tour would have done” wrote Larry Dorman (2010). Dorman went on to recount golf’s proud history of self-reporting going back to the legendary Bobby Jones, who in 1925 after calling the same penalty on himself said, “You may as well praise a man for not robbing a bank.” Few would fault Tiger Woods for doing what athletes in all other sports do – let the rules committee take responsibility for deciding whether to give him a two stroke penalty or disqualify him. But this is not all other sports; this is golf. Tiger missed an opportunity to do something far more significant and memorable than winning another major.

Bye Bye Big East

The Notre Dame Basketball programs played their last games as members of the Big East conference last week. Social Foundations of Coaching student Tom VanSlochem comments.

On Friday night, the Fighting Irish fell to the Louisville Cardinals in the Big East Championship Semifinals. After the loss Mike Brey told the media, “I’m thrilled that we played in the semis in such a magical night here. It’s a little bit of unfinished business, but we’ll get over it quickly and get ready for next week.” Notre Dame started off the tournament with a great win over Rutgers and an upset of No. 12 Marquette in the quarterfinals. However, the Irish couldn’t get into a rhythm against Louisville – committing 16 turnovers and shooting 36.5 percent overall. While this was the third straight year Notre Dame has lost to Louisville in the Big East semifinals, it was their fourth straight semifinal appearance. The loss was also Notre Dame’s final game as a member of the Big East, with the team moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference next season.

"I can't say enough about the Big East. I don't think it's really hit me yet," Mike Brey said, following the game. "The Big East has kind of made me. I've always said I've been as proud of being a Big East guy as I am a Notre Dame guy. We'll miss that." Brey was not the only head coach who said a few words about the demise of the Big East. Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), Rick Pitino (Louisville), and John Thompson III (Georgetown) also shared the sentiment that the end of the Big East was bittersweet. “It’s sad for me because I was there at the start [1979] when they put the league together,” said Boeheim. Thompson, longtime friend and rival of Boeheim, said, “Change is here. But the Big East is something that I know, that we know, and it’s going to be missed.”

The 2013 Big East Championship Tournament marks the end of the Big East as we know it. Next season, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse will join the ACC and the Catholic Seven – Georgetown, DePaul, Marquette, Villanova, Seton Hall, Providence, and St. John’s – will form a new conference under the Big East name. The remaining members of the current Big East are still trying to work out the details for the 2013-2014 season. Nevertheless, Irish fans should look forward to the upcoming season in the ACC with its high level of competition and exciting matchups.