Treasure the kids; respect the game

Another season of competition is winding down and very soon the tournament season will start in swimming, wrestling, and basketball. Enthusiasm and emotions are peaking as many teams go after the same prize. With that in mind, the following thoughts take on added meaning.
For 100 years, the Board of Control of the Iowa High School Athletic Association has always emphasized the educational values of sportsmanship and citizenship in athletic programs. Inappropriate conduct, no matter how rare, does occur. When reports of such behavior surface, it can easily distort the state of high school sports. Association policies are in place to deal with unsportsmanlike behavior for players and coaches, while school policies govern inappropriate behavior of fans.
Good sportsmanship is such a well known expectation today that poor sportsmanship by a few at any level of athletics can "steal the ink." Sadly, there have been incidents in professional and collegiate athletics, and some in high school, that today's youth, coaches, and fans do not need to embrace.
Sportsmanship embodies the values of why kids participate in interscholastic athletics. Winning, which should be a goal of everyone who competes, does not fragment those values, but sometimes how a team wins or loses does.
That is why the IHSAA Board of Control desires to remind all that the basic premise of the Association's programs is "Treasure the kids; respect the game." This premise separates interscholastic athletics from collegiate and professional contests, where athletes, coaches, and fans sometimes send the wrong message to those who cherish the high school experience.
Unlike collegiate and professional sports driven by money, interscholastic competition is an integral part of the educational program in each community. There is a need and an urgency to remember the difference. The "feel good stories" are abundant in our schools, where enjoying the process of competing is more important than winning.
The coach in the movie "Friday Night Lights" stated it in another way. He tells his team to be perfect, and explains that it is not about winning. It is about "looking your teammates in the eye, keeping them in your heart, and letting them know that your effort was the best you had."
Once upon a time in recent memory the public expected all athletes and coaches to stand for certain ideals of civility, self mastery, respectability and fair play and thus provide an example for all citizens. When a number of professional and collegiate athletes shirked that charge, a "winning isn't everything, it is the only thing" mentality swept through all of sports in the 1960s. Upon seeing how that mentality changed the face of sports in America, Vince Lombardi, in 1970, renounced what he had said. "I wish I had never said the damned thing. I meant the effort . . . I meant having a goal. . . I sure didn't mean for people to crush human values and morality."
However, by then the toothpaste was out of the tube. From 24-hour sports programming, talk shows, and pay-to-play club sports for youth a counter culture of fans was born. At the collegiate and professional level, they adopted the "just win, baby" mantle. In the process unsportsmanlike acts got blurred and rationalized with the question, "how can you blame them?" When the resulting negative behavior flowed to the high schools, the IHSAA rallied the state's secondary schools with a renewed emphasis on sportsmanship.
Iowans, for the most part, are a fair and good-minded people. By and large they love high school sports. They treasure the young people playing and the memories that accompany their participation. They respect the game. Many follow the words of Walter Camp speaking in 1893 to non-contestants (fans), "Be courteous. It is not courtesy to cheer an error by opponents. If it is on your grounds, it is the worst kind of boorishness. Moreover, if there are remarkable plays made by your rivals, you should cheer and conceal any chagrin you may feel at the loss it may be to your side. With regards to celebrating I beg you, do not do anything because it looks smart. Enjoy yourself, but do not try to show off."
Because of the sanctions for poor sportsmanship and the fact that prep players and coaches have worked hard on good sportsmanship, the Board of Control believes that players and coaches will show the way late in the season and at tournament time. It truly is up to the fans to "seal the deal" and demonstrate their respect for their team, the opponent, and the officials by embracing the values of sportsmanship and the game. If that is done, the kids and the experience will become an important treasured memory no matter what the scoreboard says.