Today's blog was written by Tony Kim, an intern with Play Like a Champion Today and a senior psychology major at Purdue North Central.
After
14th seed Mercer upset powerhouse Duke in the first round of the NCAA
Championship and ruined many billion-dollar brackets, the living legend of a
Coach Mike Krzyzewski personally went to the Mercer locker room to congratulate
the winning team.Even though he was
distraught from his young team losing to the Mercer Bears, Coach Krzyzewski
knew that after such a comeback in the dying minutes of the second half—the Mercer team
deserved to be commended on their performance.
From
the start, it is safe to say that no one would have predicted that Krzyzewski’s team would have
been knocked out in the first round by a seemingly unknown team such as the
Mercer Bears. Not only did he display an act of sportsmanship that exceeded
most expectations of coaches or players on-court, but he displayed humility in
the face of defeat—showing great
sportsmanship in the game of basketball and his love of the game above all
else.
Today's blog post was written by Tony Kim. Tony is a senior psychology major at Purdue North Central and is an intern for Play Like a Champion Today. In a previous post, Tony pledged his support for Manchester United, although he supports displays of sportsmanship from all teams in all sports.
In this month of celebrating all things Irish, there was more going in Ireland than just celebrations of
St. Patrick. Adam O’Reilly, an under-14 youth soccer
player for the Ringmahon Rangers, took the ball at the spot in the 18 yard box.
Instead of burying it in the bottom corner, top shelf, or side netting of the
goal—he simply passed it
into the hands of the opposing team’s goalkeeper. Without context, this
would seem like a blunder on his part. The story, though, proves quite the
contrary.
Facing
the division leaders, O’Reilly’s Rangers were
losing 1-0 when their opponents goalkeeper injured himself with the ball in the
box. Without a thought, one of the goalkeeper’s defenders threw the ball off
the pitch. Even though the injury was one that should have stopped play, the
defender never waited for the the whistle to blow to indicate stoppage. Thus,
the referee had no choice but to award a penalty to the Rangers for the blatant
handball.
Here
comes the kicker—pun definitely intended.
Receiving
the nod to take the penalty with explicit instructions from his coaches, young
O’Reilly stepped up
to the spot. Understanding that the penalty was given on a play where relief
for an injured player was sought, he passed it right back to the goalkeeper to
have play continue as it should have after the injury.
Even
though it would have leveled the game at 1-1, O’Reilly and his coaches knew that it
giving the ball back and not pursuing a goal from a necessary stoppage of the
game was the right thing to do. O’Reilly, his coaches, and the Rangers
have shown us not only that soccer is not as pitiless as professionals show us—but that good
ethics and sportsmanship is being taught at the all-important youth levels of
sports.
Today's blog was written by Jim Keena, a senior IT Management major at the University of Notre Dame. Jim is a student in the Social Foundations of Coaching, a course taught by Play Like a Champion Today co-directors Professor Clark Power and Kristin Sheehan.
One
of the important duties of a youth sports coach is to teach players how to be
better people, both on and off the field. Sometimes, a coach neglects that duty,
and qualities such as sportsmanship and respect go unlearned. But other times,
it is the player who ends up teaching the coach.
12-year-old
Matt Marotta did just that last month during his final hockey match of the
Coca-Cola Classic International Peewee Tournament in British Columbia, Canada.
After a controversial call by the referees at the end of the game, Matt’s
teammates, led by their coaching staff, walked off the ice without lining up to
shake hands with the other team’s players. To the astonishment of the crowd,
however, Matt remained on the ice, alone, to shake hands with every one of the
other team’s players and coaches, even as his coaches yelled at him to follow
them off the ice.
Photo courtesy of Boston University Hockey
What
Matt did is one of the hardest things to do in sports: defying not just his
coaches, who are in control of his playing time, but also his teammates, who are
undoubtedly a big source of peer pressure in his life.
What
he showed was that when a coach falls short of the ideals of sportsmanship,
that does not mean that his players need follow suit. Just because a coach
fails to teach a lesson to his players does not mean that the lesson should not
be taught.
In
the coach’s defense, he later owned up to his mistake and said that he would
accept any punishment that was handed down to him. He also claimed that his
actions were meant to protest the decision of the officials, and that they were
in no way intended to be a slight to the other team. From what I have heard
from players, parents, and fans, it really seems like this is a great group of
both players and coaches that simply made a mistake in the heat of the moment.
So the focus here should not be on what was done wrong, but on what was done
right.
Another
thing that Matt demonstrated is that the oft-repeated John Wooden quote is
accurate: sports do not build character, they reveal it (at least, sports can
either build character or reveal it).
His actions might therefore have served as a wakeup call to the other players,
or to their parents. If Matt had the courage and the character to stay and
shake hands despite the protestations of his coaches, why did no one else? Now,
I will not blame the other players for simply following their coaches off of
the ice; I think what Matt did is something that even the most respectful of
kids might not have had the courage to do. Nor will I suggest that they have
bad parents. But this does show that sportsmanship and respect are two things
that can be taught at home as well as on the field.
So
the next time that your son, your daughter, or one of the players that you are
coaching takes the field, remember that good sportsmanship is a product of all
facets of a child’s upbringing, and it is not something that should be
neglected no matter the timing, circumstances, or the arena. We can all take a
lesson from Matt Marotta.
Today’s blog post
was written by Phoenix Harris, a senior at the University of Notre Dame.
Phoenix is a Film, Television, and Theatre major and a student in the Social
Foundations of Coaching, a course taught by Play Like a Champion Today
directors Professor Clark Power and Kristin Sheehan.
Last week, two Minnesota high school
wrestlers sent the Internet into frenzy. Both Mitchell McKee and Malik Stewart are
considered the top competitors in their division, and were competing for the
120-pound state title at a Class 3A tournament on behalf of their high schools.
One minute and 22 seconds into their match, McKee had Stewart pinned on the
mat.
While the competition may have been short, the
aftermath will definitely be remembered for years to come.
Despite being defeated, Stewart got up from the
mat, hugged McKee, and then went over to the crowd and hugged Mr. McKee –
Mitchell’s father who is suffering from cancer. “He won and
I knew he was pretty proud and his dad was pretty proud so I went over there
and shook his hand and embraced him a little bit. I told him to stay strong and
that everybody loves him,” says Stewart.
Prior to the state-title match, McKee had told
the media he wanted to win the title for his father, that they’d both fought
hard to get to this point today and he wanted him to be able to see him get the
victory. Stewart said he knew McKee was a great competitor and that he’d have
to be on his game to defeat him.
Even though he was unable to, he still showed
characteristics of victory in another sense by embracing McKee’s father.
Those watching were moved to tears and a
standing ovation. The most surprised was the new state title-holder himself. “It
was a big match for him and to be able to hug my dad like that, and not be mad
and storm off like a lot of kids do,” said McKee. “Really respectful.”
Stewart’s coach, Josh Prokosh, is quick to
point out that the incident was all Stewart’s doing. “He took that upon himself
to run over,” Prokosh says. “He knew Mitchell’s father was over there and he
ran over, gave him a hug, and congratulated him.” But Stewart is quick to explain that his
actions had nothing to do with him, “I heard a couple people as I did it say,
‘that was pretty classy.’ But I just did it straight from the heart.” Stewart's
father passed away when he was just seven-years old from a heart attack. Not
only did the two boys share commonality in competing for the state title, but
they both also understood what it would mean for their families.
The truth is, sports can be much more than
recreation. Sports can be a tool used to help a person grow or get a
family through a hard time. At its worse state sporting events can be an excuse to glorify
winning in spite of what it takes to get there.
At a time when the media glamorizes the ruthlessness and unforgiving competitive nature of even the youngest athletes (think Esquire Network's Friday Night Tykes or Lifetime's Dance Moms) it is
refreshing to see an example of healthy and positive competition in sports. McKee
was right, many kids are taught that winning is everything. Many kids storm off
the field, or the mat, after a loss and forget about sportsmanship altogether.
Stewart’s ability to see the bigger picture despite losing what he’d been
working all year for is impressive, respectful, and inspiring.
Almost as surprising as
Stewart’s maturity, was the speed at which his and McKee’s story hit the
Internet. Within hours, thousands upon thousands of social media users had
shared it. All were praising the boys’ actions and sending well wishes to McKee
and his father. In a way, Stewart’s actions were able to create an enormous
pool of support for the McKee family as they go through this trying time.
Both Mitchell McKee and Malik
Stewart are only sophomores in high school wrestling, but they show compassion
and sportsmanship well beyond their years. Even though only one of them won the
state title, I would argue that there were two, if not three winners after this
state match – Malik, Mitchell, AND Mr. McKee.
Today's blog post was written by Tony Kim. Tony is an intern with Play Like a Champion Today, and a senior Psychology Major at Purdue North Central. In his spare time, Tony loyally supports Manchester United.
In a game riddled
with heels being clipped, shirts being tugged, pushing, pulling, diving for
penalties in the box, and discretely doing any and everything to gain an
advantage for your team—honesty is rarely seen in soccer
today. That is why the actions of Werder Bremen’s midfielder Aaron
Hunt and Nuremberg FC’s
Hiroshi Kiyotake in their team’s match against one another this past weekend was
refreshing, to say the least.
With a
2-0 lead, Hunt received the ball from the left-winger, took a touch that had
him charging into the box, and before anyone knew otherwise, he was on the
ground with the official blowing the whistle and pointing to the penalty spot. With the Nuremberg
players protesting the official's call, Hunt sought the referee’s
attention, and told him that it was not a penalty
and that he had fallen on his own. The
referee, then, reversed his decision and dropped the ball at the goalkeeper’s
feet for a drop ball to be put back into play as Nuremberg players gave
gestures of approval and thanks to Hunt.
Hunt’s
act of honesty and fair play was not the only one of the game. On the other end of the field
as Bremen’s defender Prödl
slid in to tackle Hiroshi Kiyotake, a corner kick was initially awarded to
Nuremberg. That decision was also reversed as Kiyotake volunteered that it should not be a
corner and that he was the last to touch the ball. With gestures of approval
for his behavior by both the official and Bremen’s
players, the game went on with a goal kick for Bremen. (Bremen ended up winning the match.)
As both of
these players have shown, acts of good character can still be seen in the game
of soccer today. Even with displays of dishonesty with players diving for fouls
(yes, I’m talking about you Luis Suarez), the
game is still one of beauty and honor.
Even with the threat of relegation into lower leagues, these two teams
and their players truly Played Like Champions, showing that character always comes first.
Play Like a ChampionFounder and Director Professor Clark Power recently published a piece on athletes who are gay in the Huffington Post. The original post can be found here, or is excerpted below.
Media attention has rightly focused on Jason Collins and Michael Sam who have courageously confronted a homophobic professional sports culture. Like Jackie Robinson, they have exposed the intolerant underside not only of NBA and NFL locker rooms, but of American culture itself.
This week, University of Notre Dame varsity tennis player, Matt Dooley, joined Jason Collins and Michael Sam by coming out publicly as a gay male. In a brutally honest first-person account of his agonized struggle for self-acceptance, Matt Dooley illustrates the challenge of self-acceptance in a hostile environment. As he wrestled with his sexual identity, his Catholic education made him feel even more apprehensive about his future: "The Church's teachings were not exactly adding up with where my life was headed."
Matt writes that he never fully acknowledged to himself that he was gay until his sophomore year in college. That realization brought with it self-condemnation: "I was wrong, undeserving of respect, and I had a life that was not worth living." In his sophomore year, Matt attempted suicide: "Death was better than accepting -- or revealing -- that I was gay."
After he left the psychiatric ward, Matt's tennis team became his lifeline. As the second anniversary of his suicide attempt approached in September, he came out to his team. To his surprise, they all embraced him. Matt's life changed from one of despair to hope. He and his team both became stronger. Matt is now involved with others at Notre Dame in reaching out to other gay athletes.
Like Jason Collins and Michael Sam, Matt Dooley asks for nothing more or less than the respect that any human being deserves. Yet, as Matt Dooley's story demonstrates, one cannot demand respect from others until one comes to respect oneself. Self-respect is nurtured in groups, like the Notre Dame Tennis team, where morality matters and coaches and players commit themselves to care for and trust in each other.
Educational and religious leaders have a responsibility to make schools and churches places where young people, whatever their sexuality, can learn to study, play, pray and love with self-respect, gratitude and hope.
Today's blog post was written by Tony Kim. Tony is an intern with Play Like a Champion Today and a senior at Purdue North Central majoring in psychology.
In the midst of a Cincinnati 51-45 loss to UConn this weekend, Cincinnati
coach Mick Cronin went into a frenzy after an out of bounds call in which he
thought, “the ball was out on them,”went the other way. Even though the call was not one that decisively
influenced game’s outcome in which both teams had
(frankly) atrocious offensive showings—it was enough to poke and burst the
bubble of frustration inflated within Cronin.
As Cronin ran
rampant along the sideline, Referee Ted Valentine met face to face with him as the two confronted one
another about the call. Even after Valentine walked away to carry on with the
game, Cronin incessantly verbally berated Valentine. Cronin’s continual conduct
caused coaches and players alike restrain him and get him away from Valentine
to get the game back on track.
Ironically,
UConn Coach Kevin Ollie was on the other end of the sideline, watching as the
incident occurred. As some may recall, Ollie was involved in a similar incident
where a call made by the referee was angrily contested—resulting in him
receiving a technical foul, charging towards the referee for receiving
the technical foul, another technical issued for his confrontational actions,
and finally his ejection from the game.
Unfortunately,
these incidents involving these two coaches are not isolated. Outbursts by
basketball coaches have been happening even with prominent names such as Jim
Boeheim. As those who follow Collegiate
Men’s Basketball saw in the news late this past February, the
typically stoic and silent Boeheim furiously erupted after a call that he
thought was a blocking foul was called as a charge. The game against Duke went on to be a the
second straight loss of the season for the, then, ranked #1 Syracuse Orange,
as they went on to suffer a double technical foul on Coach Boeheim.
With all of
these recent outbursts by coaches toward the officiating staff, we have to
wonder: if the coaching staff can’t set the example for sportsmanship
for their players, who will? Thankfully, Cronin's own players were aware enough to prevent their coach's actions from escalating further, but they likely still had an impact on the team. From Cronin, to Ollie, and even Boeheim, we’ve
seen outbursts that not only cost the team and its players points on the board—but
also negatively taxes the programs which they represent. It distracts from the
intrinsic joy that comes from playing the game and the spirit of competition
between teams. Hopefully, this trend in outright shameful behavior by coaches
is one that buzzes out.
Today's blog post was written by Kyle McDonald, a junior at the Univeristy of Notre Dame. Kyle is a math major and is a student in the Social Foundations of Coaching, a course taught by Play Like a Champion Today directors Professor Clark Power and Kristin Sheehan.
On February 8, Oklahoma State University basketball
player Marcus Smart made waves across the nation during a game against Texas
Tech. It was not for an electric play or stat sheet-decorating performance
befitting of a player projected to be a high pick in this year’s NBA draft.
Rather, after ending up in some courtside seats after a hustle play, he turned
around to confront a fan who allegedly taunted him, and Smart shoved the fan.
With the difference in score being only two points with
just seconds remaining in the game, Smart’s push warranted a technical foul from
the officials but no ejection. Oklahoma State, ranked 19th in the
nation, went on to lose to an unranked Texas Tech squad. The next day, the Big
12 Conference, the athletic league of both of the schools, handed down a
three-game suspension to Smart, effective immediately.
By
no means is this incident neither the start nor the end of Marcus Smart’s
narrative. Just weeks earlier, he kicked a chair on the bench after receiving a
foul. He could have opted not to attend Oklahoma State for his sophomore season
and still have been selected relatively high in last year’s draft. He is the
most talented player on his team and arguably the most instrumental one to its
success.
Amidst
the criticism of the player’s actions, however, there also resides the action,
or, rather, inaction, of Oklahoma State’s men’s basketball coach, Travis Ford.
Even though Smart was not ejected for what little remained in the game, Ford
did not speak to his player, instead discussing the merits of the foul with an
official. He did not send him to the locker room early. In a press conference
regarding the incident, Ford said: “[Smart] made a
serious mistake, He's proven to us many times what a great person he is, and we
need to help him learn from this. Hopefully we will give him support, because I
do truly think he's learned a valuable lesson.”
Ford’s response comes off as soft and
over-apologetic to some, avoiding the opportunity to publicly reprimand his
player’s actions and instead continuing to make excuses for them. It is a
response that has prompted some to call for his firing. It has prompted discussion on where the morality of
coaches lie, and how crises like this can reveal the true nature of a coach,
whether he or she generally prioritizes youth development or is instead willing
to win at any cost and overlook any internal polemics.
It’s an issue that goes far beyond college
athletics, as well. Personalities on a high school or youth team can be just as
diverse as any university squad. What happens when a player engages an opposing
fan whose primary objective is to instigate? Many coaches would like to say
that the solution is to speak with their player about his or her mistake and then
to let his or her team, fans, and the public know that this type of behavior
has no place on his or her team. Does the decision to park the player for the
remainder of a game or for the next few games change at all if it’s a star
player whose presence is vital for an upcoming rivalry game, playoff push, or
tournament? Or at the youth and high school levels, when a suspension could
face resistance from the player’s parents? Coaches would like to say no, but
when the situation presents itself like it did in front of Travis Ford, it’s
easier to air on the side of inactivity.
Ford’s detractors will criticize him for
placing too much of an emphasis on winning, doing the bare minimum to
acknowledge the situation while still making sure Marcus Smart was eligible as
college basketball advances towards March Madness. His errors as a coach,
however, go farther than just having priorities out of order. The general
negative PR surrounding his team is a distraction for his players. It endangers
the future state of his team, as a black eye such as this incident may give
recruits less reason to attend Oklahoma State and more ammunition for their
rivals in their pitches. Travis Ford missed his chance to take his stand as a
coach and be the leader and catalyst of development that his team needs.
Unfortunately, it may just be that missed chance that Oklahoma State’s season,
Smart, and Ford are all remembered for.
Play Like a Champion Founder and Director Professor Clark Power recently published a commentary on the Sochi Olympics on the Huffington Post. The original post can be found here, or is summarized below.
On Monday, February 10th, after a weekend of Olympic competition, Clark Power wrote: In spite of the protests over gay rights, threats of
terrorism, and complaints about the extravagant cost the Sochi Olympics will celebrate
what is at the heart of the Olympic movement itself– the capacity of the human spirit to
transcend seemingly unsurmountable physical and social barriers.The Olympic Games are and have always been a
demonstration of how sports can elevate human achievement, foster a sense of
friendship, and forge enduring bonds of friendship across national, ethnic, and
religious differences.
Although the Games involve a relatively small number (2,850)of the most elite of athletes, an estimated 3 billion people worldwide will
watch the games on television.Participants and spectators alike will share in the triumphs and
disappointments of athletes.Together we
will realize to a degree Coubertin’s dream of world peace based on a common
love of sport and of the struggle for excellence.
At the core of the Olympic Charter is the bold assertion:“The practice of sport is a human
right.”The
games belong to all the people of the world, and the right to participate in
sport is a universal one. To read the full text of Professor Power's article, please click here.
The Olympics to begin next week, as we have been reminded by the Olympic-themed commercials that inspire us to support team USA and buy batteries or chicken nuggets. The Olympics are filled with memorable moments--from the Miracle on Ice, Mary Lou Retton's perfect score, the Dream Team, Dorothy Hamill's gold medal, to the more recent Apolo Anton Ohno and Michael Phelps claiming multiple gold medals in their respective sports.
As the Olympics begin, we must remember not just the media darlings, but all of the athletes who have devoted much of their lives to their sport. The sacrifices made by these athletes are amazing, and many toil in anonymity for years before and after representing their country in this global fortnight of sport. Play Like a Champion Today supports the ideals of the Olympics--sportsmanship and fair play and the unifying presence of sport. We support all of the athletes, their coaches, and their families who have worked so hard and sacrificed so much for Olympic dreams to become reality. Today, we would like to highlight the work of a fellow sport-support organization and send a shout-out to the Paralympic Athletes--whose games will follow the Olympic Games in early March.
The first official Paralympic Games were held following the London Olympics of 1948, and the event was geared towards WWII veterans who had been injured during the war. By 1960, the games were formalized and open to more participants, and have grown since then. To learn more about the Paralympic Games, please click here.
