From the Heart

 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. 

Fair Play All Around

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.

Gay Athletes and the Ongoing Challenge of Full Acceptance

Play Like a Champion Founder 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.

Modeling Sportsmanship from the Sidelines

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.  

Where Does Coaching Responsibility Lie in Smart's Dumb Move?

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 19^th 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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Sochi Olympics

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.

Special Olympic Moment

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.

Image compliments of Masters in Special Education Degrees

Big Wins and the Bigger Picture

Today's blog post was written by Quentin Collie, a senior English major at the University of Notre Dame. Quentin is a student in the Social Foundations of Coaching course taught by Play Like a Champion Today founder and directors Prof. Clark Power and Kristin Sheehan.

The Seattle Seahawks just delivered a dominant performance in their 43-8 win over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII.  The Super Bowl is one of the great American sporting events.  Millions of people gather in living rooms and restaurants, food and drink abundant, to watch the game.  Friends, family, strangers.  People all connect and share in this experience, regardless of whose team is competing for the Lombardi Trophy.  When the lights are brightest, the commercials are loudest, and the smells of hot wings and pizza fill the air, it can be easy to get caught up in the commercialization and pure entertainment aspects of the sport.  We should not forget, however, the power of community and inspiration that these sports possess.

This inspirational and bonding power of sports is exemplified in the story of Kevin Lee and his experience with Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks on a segment of ESPN’s “My Wish” from August of this year.

Though Peyton Manning, because of his age-defying comeback from injury and record-breaking season, garnered much of the media attention during the two weeks leading up to the game, it was second-year Seahawk QB Russell Wilson who came out of the game victorious.  Though Wilson has made a big splash in the NFL in his first two seasons, he has faced great amounts of doubt throughout his career.  Much of this adversity and doubt stemmed from Wilson’s height.  Standing at 5’11”, Wilson’s frame is less than optimal for an NFL quarterback.  Despite this, Wilson has now achieved the greatest feat in his sport by leading his team to a victory in the Super Bowl.

Russell Wilson’s attitude and perseverance serve as examples and inspirations for not only athletes, but for all those who face challenges and have a passion for the game.  One person who Wilson has personally inspired is twelve-year-old Kevin Lee.  One of the main reasons that Kevin feels like he has been able to relate to Wilson is their height.  Just as Wilson has a short stature for his position, Kevin stands at 4’4”, a short height for his age.   Kevin’s challenges and struggles, however, extend beyond his height, as his short stature is a result of a rare heart condition that has caused much trouble throughout his life and prevented him from playing contact sports.  In addition, Kevin was born legally blind.  As a result, Kevin has been battling since he was born, displaying a positive attitude, resilience, and will that is not matched by many people.

Despite his limitations and challenges, Kevin has still developed a passion for a major contact sport: football.  This past summer, through ESPN’s “My Wish,” Kevin got the opportunity to meet and hangout with Russell Wilson and the rest of the Seattle Seahawks.  From viewing Kevin’s interactions with Wilson, head coach Pete Carroll, and other players, it is apparent how much joy Kevin received from the experience.  You can see how he looks up to these players as role models, friends, and inspiration and finds importance and joy through football. 

While the image of the Seahawks players celebrating their championship on a confetti-covered field is a meaningful moment, we should also remember moments such as Kevin’s practice with these same Seahawk players and think about the personal inspiration and bonding experience that these moments and sports can provide.

Photo courtesy of ESPN

And by the way, Kevin predicted a Seahawks’ Super Bowl victory before the season even started.