Sportsmanship – the most important ethical issues facing young athletes

Media portrayals of professional and collegiate athletes and coaches typically highlight inappropriate, sensationalistic, and even selfish behavior that points to troubling examples of acceptable sportsmanship modeled on our youth. While these inappropriate displays of behavior and impressive broadcasts do not reflect the norm in sports, one must recognize that the impact factor of these multimedia-generated stories portrays a misleading example for the major sports industry, especially for youth. In addition, the overwhelming amount of interest in examples of good sporting behavior in the news and media seems to be a symbolic contribution to the regular headlines touting arrests, corruption, cheating and fights by athletes, spectators, parents and, more recently, referees. .

Recent articles (US News and World Report, 2008) and editorials (Fox News, 2008), initiatives (see Sportsmanship/Foul Tracking: Empire 8, 2007; 2008; Game Environment and Sportsmanship Task Force: NCAA, 2005-present; Sportsmanship intervention: Sun Belt Conference, 2008) and research studies (Kendall, 2004; Vermillion, Stoldt & Bass; 2009 under review) have sought to rationalize, identify, address, and recall the ambivalence of perceived lack of sportsmanship, experience, and explanation. Sports at all levels of play.

Exacting the root cause of culture and climate erosion for good sportsmanship remains murky. However, an unprecedented number of contributing factors may be to blame, including:

Early Specialization, Year-round Training and Travel Programs, Maturity Matching, Motivational Climates (Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Orientations for Athletes and Parents), Psychological Stress, Burnout, and Injury (Kontos & Malina, 2006)
* Very competitive team selection (Diaz, 2008)
* Millennials + Baby Boomers = Trophy Babies (Hill, 2008)
* The intercollegiate athletics arms race, new media, and buying coach contracts; Limited oversight of collegiate sports programming (Knight Foundation Commission, 2007)
Marketing, producing, packaging and marketing youth sports as a product, not an experience (Marano, 2008)
* Increase coaching contracts, revenue projections, and tournaments

The scale and depth with which unsportsmanlike behavior was reported provides an annoying double standard for officials; In other words, play and train like your heroes, but don’t act like them. The potential for societal acceptance and reproduction of these behaviors seems evident as normalcy continues to be reported and consumed (see PacMan Jones: LA Times.com, 2008; ESPN.com, 2007).

In light of the paradoxical nature of sport (Eitzen, 1999), as a sport that may promote positive benefits (Vail, 2005; SMG, 2005) and reap severe consequences, it may be correct to characterize athletic behavior as the critical ethical issue facing youth sports today.

Therefore, a critical issue facing researchers and practitioners in the field of youth sports is to formulate a comprehensive perspective on the contributing factors to sports behavior and to engage in behavior modification programs accordingly.