Champion’s Table; Discussions on National Sports Strategy with Experts.

Media personality Jon Willis interviews Dr. Thomas Orr, the Associate Director of the Center on Sport Policy and Conduct in the first edition of our show, which will focus on national and international sports strategy, with particular attention to efforts on policy and conduct. In this episode violence in sports are discussed with many examples from the sport of Ice hockey. Listeners will learn a great deal about a variety of topics that arise from the many experiences and lessons Dr. Orr shares.

 Key Topics:

Violence in hockey

Hockey as a unique business

Background on Expertise of Dr. Thomas Orr

Hockey as a Social Construct and development option

Solutions and Player Safety

Link to share for Jon’s regular podcast;

https://anchor.fm/the-trap-game

A Flashlight in the Dark

A Flashlight in the Dark

I have experienced firsthand both the baseness and the beauty of sports.  As a ten-year-old springboard diver, a coach threw a chair at me while I was in the water.  I left the sport and did not return until four years later when I was a high school freshman searching for a sport I might have a chance of excelling at.  Fortunately, there was a new coach in town and he made all the difference.  Morry not only helped me become a state champion but also a more resilient, confident, and empowered young man.  He was strict and demanding but loving and caring.  He profoundly and irrevocably changed my life for the better. 

Many sports are experiencing a continual decline in youth participation.  The primary reason for this decline is inferior coaching.  Untrained, ill-prepared and ineffective coaches create a disinviting environment that turns kids off to sports.  While some of these young athletes endure and even manage to reach the elite level, even at the elite level we see problems. 

For example, in a recent (preprint non peer-reviewed) study examining mental health, harassment, and abuse of athletes participating in the 2019 FINA Aquatics World Championships, Mountjoy et. al. (2021) found 24.6% classified as depressed, 35% reported an eating disorder, and more than 40% stated they wanted or needed psychotherapeutic support for mental health problems.  Moreover, 14.9% reported experiencing harassment/abuse and 9% had witnessed it in another athlete.  Typically, many aquatic competitors at the World Championships also compete at the Olympic Games, so it isn’t too far a leap to assume that these same results could be found among athletes at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

So how do coaches at all levels create a safe and accepting atmosphere that promotes sound mental health, youth sport participation, and prolonged sport involvement?  In my book Applying Educational Psychology in Coaching Athletes, I provide coaches a variety of approaches based on tested theories, empirical research, and sound data.  In the purest sense, coaching is teaching, whether it is in the classroom or on the pool deck, basketball court, or field of play, and we know quite well the many empirically documented characteristics and behaviors of teachers and coaches of excellence.  Here are just a few.

Create The Salivating Athlete

Like Pavlov’s salivating dogs, coaches can create salivating athletes passionate about their sport and everything associated with their sport.  Through repeated pairing of a neutral stimulus (your sport) with positive unconditioned stimuli such as praise, friendliness, acceptance, and fun, your sport eventually elicits positive conditioned responses such as like, joy, and excitement.  Respondent conditioning (also known as Pavlovian or classical conditioning) is perhaps one of the most important but overlooked theories for motor learning and performance. I spend an entire chapter on this theory in my book.

As you might imagine, when Morry first took over the local program, there were only a few surviving kids on the team.  After several years, however, he had almost one hundred—kids who would sneak in early for practice and have to be kicked out at the end of practice because they didn’t want to stop!  Morry reserved time for deliberate play and made practice demanding but friendly, accepting, and fun.  Even at the elite level, deliberate play and fun should always be part of a coach’s practice plan.  As I told my athletes, teams that work hard and have fun are far more productive and successful than teams that simply work hard. 

Use Humor And Genuinely Care

Part of creating an inviting, warm, and welcoming training environment that promotes good mental health and passionate athletes means using humor and letting athletes know you genuinely care about them as human beings and not just as athletes.  As the saying goes, they don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.  Athletes who know you genuinely care about them are devoted to their coaches.

Humor is important because it keeps things, such as arduous training and stressful competition, in perspective, creates a relaxed, friendly and productive training environment, and diffuses potentially explosive confrontations.  After all, if you can’t have fun, why do it?  Kids engage in sports for many reasons and winning isn’t in the top ten.  Kids get into sports to have fun.  Remember, they play sports, they don’t work sports. Keep it humorous and fun at all levels.

Morry had a terrific sense of humor that permeated his team.  And he cared---boy did he care.  He was like a second father to me and to other teammates.  We fell in love with our sport and a majority of us persisted in the sport. Some became high school and collegiate All Americans, some were national champions, one even made an Olympic Team, and several became coaches like me. 

Be The Coach Kids Deserve And Want

The more coaches know, the more competent they become.  The converse is also true.  Research indicates that incompetent people have difficulty judging their own incompetency.  Research also informs that coaches of excellence are lifelong learners.  Moreover, athletes who perceive their coaches as competent, respect their coaches more and trainer harder for them. 

Competency means seeing the entire spectrum of coach education, inclusive of topics such as pedagogy, motor learning, physiology, physics, psychology, counseling, biomechanics, and sport psychology.  Coaches who see the “Big Picture” create a positive, healthy, and empowering experience that kids deserve and crave—an experience that shapes their athletic careers and that irrevocably alters their lives for the better.

Conclusion

Recently, a coach sent me an email in which he said, “Having had your book, Applying Educational Psychology in Coaching Athletes, for a number of years, I often felt like telling you how much I have found this, not only a flashlight in the dark, but also a companion as I work with my taekwondo athletes.”  When young children engage in sports, they are blank slates, knowing little about sports and, for that matter, knowing little about themselves.  They are in the dark.  The right coach can be a flashlight in the dark for them, revealing the sublime beauty of the sport experience while simultaneously illuminating to athletes their healthy, positive human strengths to not only endure but to prevail both during sports and afterwards.  What coaching achievement could be more important?

Mountjoy, Junge, Magnusson, Shahpar, Lizcano, Varvodic, Wang, Cherif, Hill & Miller (2021).  Beneath the surface: Mental health, and harassment and abuse of athletes participating in the FINA (Aquatics) World Championships, 2019.  MedRxiv, The Preprint Server for Health Sciences (not peer reviewed).

Huber, J.J. (2013). Applying educational psychology in coaching athletes.  Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Huber, J.J. (2016).  Springboard and platform diving.  Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Lessons Learned from Tokyo Olympics

 The Tokyo Olympics, as any widely viewed athletic contest, provided an insight into the sports world of participating countries, the goals of participating athletes, and the nature of competition in a world affected by wars, a major pandemic, and climate change.  This blog introduces a series about what we have learned by this year’s Olympic contest, particularly about new trends and directions, challenges, and the minds of the athletes themselves.  If viewing the Olympics before and now has taught us anything, it is that this ultimate international competition can surprise us in many ways such as more deeply understanding the nature of competition, that athletes come in all sizes, shapes, and aspirations, that historical events play out before our very eyes, and that current issues impact greatly on outcome of competition.  This blog reviews a brief history of the nature of Olympic competition, its challenges, and successes.

When Pierre de Coubertin heralded the development of the modern Olympics in the early 1900’s (1), his intention was to not only establish an international theater for high level competition, but also to establish that sport was for all people.  In doing so, the rise of the modern Olympics also gave opportunity for all countries to develop sports that could reach all citizens.  Thus, the Sport for All movement was conceptualized, even though the concept of sport opportunities for everyone did not become firmly established until much later.   Thus, Olympic competition developed in many ways, country by country, and sport governance was influenced by the ideology of a country, from authoritative or laissez-faire. In the United States, sport competition evolved as a separate sphere of influence, and government policy on sport did and does not exist.  In other countries, sport competition was more top-down with government policy influencing how sports were organized, financially supported, and represented.  Therefore, as national sport organizations (NSOs) formed, governmental policies in many countries developed to provide financial support for training, facilities, and operation. These developments yielded varying ways that governments supported high level sport outcomes, either through close contact or hands-off policy development.  Admirably, the United States, with its fragmented sports network of national and local organizations and minimal oversight by national governing policy, has been exceptionally formidable in the attainment of success at Olympic competitions, partly due to the varying ways that Olympians develop over the many sports and training opportunities that exist in the country.

This series will consist of five blogs that address several notable results and lessons from the Tokyo Olympics including impact of sport competition on the athlete, the nature of sport organizational development, the experience of COVID, unexpected results from this competition, and a summary of lessons learned.

Impact of Sport Competition on Athletes

A strong lesson from the Tokyo Olympics is the view given to the psychological pressures affecting athletes at this level of competition.  Simon Biles’ request to remove herself from competition due to psychological distress was one of the most dramatic issues faced by the modern Olympics.  Her actions and explanations represented a tip of the iceberg regarding what athletes go through at this and other high levels of competition.  She gave us a glimpse of what might be needed to prevent this from happening in the future, and she challenged the sport world to provide better protections for athletes who are expected to compete in a world arena. 

Sport Organizational Development

That said, the fragmented system of national and local sport program delivery is not without its critics.  Of greatest concern being expressed today is the lack of access to sport participation in the widest array of sports by many underserved populations based on race, ethnicity, gender, physical ability, age, sexual orientation, and other factors.  Facilities and programs appear to be distributed unevenly in many cities and towns, so much so that it has taken decades to see diversity in sport competition among many sports.  The Tokyo Olympics, while heralding more competitors who come from underserved populations, still represented much higher percentages of privileged classes of athletes.  Therefore, the challenges of access and opportunity continue today.

Experience of COVID 

The experience of trained athletes competing without audiences was a new one in this Olympic event.  The quiet, even with athletes in the seats cheering their fellow Olympians, was profound, and competitions seemed eerily subdued and surreal.  In addition, athletes had to be tested, socially distanced, masked, and removed from competition if testing positive.  The ultimate stress of these necessary procedures is incalculable.  In addition, the Tokyo Olympics was held in a country where the pandemic had reached high levels, and citizen protests were very prominent before and during the event.

Unexpected Results

Who thought that a swimmer from Tunisia in eighth place would win gold?  This Olympics was full of similar surprises. The blog will contain some of the most unexpected wins and will contain the response of many of those who did not win as expected.  It will include gracious and not so gracious concessions made by athletes, and ultimately demonstrate that the best competitions feature grace under pressure.  The Tokyo Olympics, as well as other international competitions, did not disappoint spectators who saw incredible skill, amazing highs and lows, and ultimately top athletes who will continue to represent this modern competitive event.

Summary

In summarizing the blog series that will appear in the next five installments, lessons from the Tokyo Olympics will be revealed in more detail, and hopefully will provide the reader with the tour de force that a modern Olympics truly is.  It is in the lessons learned, however, that real progress is made toward better opportunities for aspiring athletes, better run competitive events, improved coaching, and better understanding of the health and wellbeing of all athletes.

References

(1) Orr, T. J. & Jamieson, L. M. (2021). Sport and Violence: A Critical Examination of Sport. 2nd Ed. Champaign, IL: Sagamore Venture.

By

Dr. Lynn M. Jamieson

A Flashlight in the Dark

A Flashlight in the Dark

I have experienced firsthand both the baseness and the beauty of sports.  As a ten-year-old springboard diver, a coach threw a chair at me while I was in the water.  I left the sport and did not return until four years later when I was a high school freshman searching for a sport I might have a chance of excelling at.  Fortunately, there was a new coach in town and he made all the difference.  Morry not only helped me become a state champion but also a more resilient, confident, and empowered young man.  He was strict and demanding but loving and caring.  He profoundly and irrevocably changed my life for the better. 

Many sports are experiencing a continual decline in youth participation.  The primary reason for this decline is inferior coaching.  Untrained, ill-prepared and ineffective coaches create a disinviting environment that turns kids off to sports.  While some of these young athletes endure and even manage to reach the elite level, even at the elite level we see problems. 

For example, in a recent (preprint non peer-reviewed) study examining mental health, harassment, and abuse of athletes participating in the 2019 FINA Aquatics World Championships, Mountjoy et. al. (2021) found 24.6% classified as depressed, 35% reported an eating disorder, and more than 40% stated they wanted or needed psychotherapeutic support for mental health problems.  Moreover, 14.9% reported experiencing harassment/abuse and 9% had witnessed it in another athlete.  Typically, many aquatic competitors at the World Championships also compete at the Olympic Games, so it isn’t too far a leap to assume that these same results could be found among athletes at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

So how do coaches at all levels create a safe and accepting atmosphere that promotes sound mental health, youth sport participation, and prolonged sport involvement?  In my book Applying Educational Psychology in Coaching Athletes, I provide coaches a variety of approaches based on tested theories, empirical research, and sound data.  In the purest sense, coaching is teaching, whether it is in the classroom or on the pool deck, basketball court, or field of play, and we know quite well the many empirically documented characteristics and behaviors of teachers and coaches of excellence.  Here are just a few.

Create The Salivating Athlete

Like Pavlov’s salivating dogs, coaches can create salivating athletes passionate about their sport and everything associated with their sport.  Through repeated pairing of a neutral stimulus (your sport) with positive unconditioned stimuli such as praise, friendliness, acceptance, and fun, your sport eventually elicits positive conditioned responses such as like, joy, and excitement.  Respondent conditioning (also known as Pavlovian or classical conditioning) is perhaps one of the most important but overlooked theories for motor learning and performance. I spend an entire chapter on this theory in my book.

As you might imagine, when Morry first took over the local program, there were only a few surviving kids on the team.  After several years, however, he had almost one hundred—kids who would sneak in early for practice and have to be kicked out at the end of practice because they didn’t want to stop!  Morry reserved time for deliberate play and made practice demanding but friendly, accepting, and fun.  Even at the elite level, deliberate play and fun should always be part of a coach’s practice plan.  As I told my athletes, teams that work hard and have fun are far more productive and successful than teams that simply work hard. 

Use Humor And Genuinely Care

Part of creating an inviting, warm, and welcoming training environment that promotes good mental health and passionate athletes means using humor and letting athletes know you genuinely care about them as human beings and not just as athletes.  As the saying goes, they don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.  Athletes who know you genuinely care about them are devoted to their coaches.

Humor is important because it keeps things, such as arduous training and stressful competition, in perspective, creates a relaxed, friendly and productive training environment, and diffuses potentially explosive confrontations.  After all, if you can’t have fun, why do it?  Kids engage in sports for many reasons and winning isn’t in the top ten.  Kids get into sports to have fun.  Remember, they play sports, they don’t work sports. Keep it humorous and fun at all levels.

Morry had a terrific sense of humor that permeated his team.  And he cared---boy did he care.  He was like a second father to me and to other teammates.  We fell in love with our sport and a majority of us persisted in the sport. Some became high school and collegiate All Americans, some were national champions, one even made an Olympic Team, and several became coaches like me. 

Be The Coach Kids Deserve And Want

The more coaches know, the more competent they become.  The converse is also true.  Research indicates that incompetent people have difficulty judging their own incompetency.  Research also informs that coaches of excellence are lifelong learners.  Moreover, athletes who perceive their coaches as competent, respect their coaches more and trainer harder for them. 

Competency means seeing the entire spectrum of coach education, inclusive of topics such as pedagogy, motor learning, physiology, physics, psychology, counseling, biomechanics, and sport psychology.  Coaches who see the “Big Picture” create a positive, healthy, and empowering experience that kids deserve and crave—an experience that shapes their athletic careers and that irrevocably alters their lives for the better.

Conclusion

Recently, a coach sent me an email in which he said, “Having had your book, Applying Educational Psychology in Coaching Athletes, for a number of years, I often felt like telling you how much I have found this, not only a flashlight in the dark, but also a companion as I work with my taekwondo athletes.”  When young children engage in sports, they are blank slates, knowing little about sports and, for that matter, knowing little about themselves.  They are in the dark.  The right coach can be a flashlight in the dark for them, revealing the sublime beauty of the sport experience while simultaneously illuminating to athletes their healthy, positive human strengths to not only endure but to prevail both during sports and afterwards.  What coaching achievement could be more important?

Mountjoy, Junge, Magnusson, Shahpar, Lizcano, Varvodic, Wang, Cherif, Hill & Miller (2021).  Beneath the surface: Mental health, and harassment and abuse of athletes participating in the FINA (Aquatics) World Championships, 2019.  MedRxiv, The Preprint Server for Health Sciences (not peer reviewed).

Huber, J.J. (2013). Applying educational psychology in coaching athletes.  Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Huber, J.J. (2016).  Springboard and platform diving.  Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Jeff Huber, MA, MEd, PhD.

Professor of Practice Emeritus, Psychological & Brain Sciences, Indiana University-Bloomington. Pan American, World University Games, World Championships Coach, USA Olympic Coach 2000, 2004, 2008, B1G, NCAA, USA, USOPC Coach of the Year.

Applying Educational Psychology in Coaching Athletes

Springboard and Platform Diving

Championship Production Videos

Abuse of Officials: A Sign of Poor Sports Management?

By

Dr. Lynn M. Jamieson, Professor Emerita

Indiana University

In an earlier blog post, the role of officials was discussed and included the issue of attrition, pressure, and problems occurring when officials are involved in clashes with players, fans, and others.  In this post, I am sharing levels of abuse that have resulted in injury to officials during and after sport contests.  The focus is mainly on documented incidents where officials have been involved in altercations causing physical injury, and not on the less visible psychological pressures they undergo in the process of trying to officiate fairly and equitably.  

In Orr & Jamieson (2020, p. 13), the following incidents were shown in a table that noted key sport violence issues where officials had been injured by players, fans or other members of the sport environment as follows:

• (Georgia) Enraged mother leaps from stands and chokes teenage umpire over call.

• (Delaware) Argument between coaches and referee in 11-12 game ends in hospital.

• (Pennsylvania) 10-year-old baseball player slugs umpire who made a call against him.

• (Florida) Coach breaks jaw of umpire after disputing call.

• (Texas) Umpire ejects female player for cursing in coed church team after prayer.

• (Texas) Former Texas Ranger puts referee in chokehold following dispute.

• (Pennsylvania) Policeman gives ticket to referee who threw him out of game.

• (North Carolina) A mother charges the field and slaps referee, gets arrested.

• (Wisconsin) Little League umpire assaulted after balk call, receives four stitches.

• (New Jersey) Recreational league hockey player throws skate t referee, injuring him.

• (California) Recreational league basketball official needs 21 stitches to repair cut.

• (Georgia) Youth basketball game of 7–8-year-olds, referee slashes coach with knife.

• (New Mexico) Player smashes aluminum bat into umpire’s face.

• (Pennsylvania)Father of 11-year-old wrestler sentenced 1 year for punching referee.

• (Georgia) Father and son confront referee after wrestling match, then punch those who try to break it up.

Several observations can be made when viewing this small list of abuses that occur between officials and others.  First, the incidents are not confined to a certain area but are distributed throughout the country.  It appears that many incidents occur regardless of where the game is played, and this makes solutions difficult to address since many cities are involved.  Second, many of the reported incidents occur in youth or recreational leagues, and this suggests that something is happening that is not being managed properly.  Finally, the incidents are caused by family members or players becoming irate after a call they did not only dislike, but they also became enraged enough to produce bodily harm.  Lastly, there was only one incident that involved an official lashing out at others.  

Injuries to officials caused by irate players and fans were also documented by Grieb (2015) who noted a particular incident in a high school football game where a player tackled an official and a teammate speared him with his helmet.  This and other incidents have wound up with assault charges made against the perpetrators. The fact that they have continued is problematic, even though many states have addressed laws addressing the problem and noting consequences to the perpetrator if such attacks are reported. There are state laws in many states, and, as noted in a 2002 report by the National Association of Sport Officials, 18 states had enacted laws against this abuse with many other states in the process of enacting legislation to prevent this problem.  Regardless of state law, abuse of officials continues to occur, and this issue is a contributing factor to the declining numbers of qualified officials 

What can sport administrators do to mitigate abuse of officials?  While laws may not fully solve this problem, it is suggested that more stringent management practices be implemented that make it more difficult for officials to be assaulted.  Here are a few suggestions that make sense and can be easily implemented:

1. Early detection and ejection of unruly fans.

2. Development of well publicized codes of conduct.

3. Strict enforcement of codes of conduct.

4. Better ways to address player frustration and anger through training and coaching.

5. Increased presence and action of security personnel.

6. Develop policies in support of state laws to better educate people on the consequences of their actions in intimidating and abusing officials.

Those who officiate games and contests already experience much pressure while becoming knowledgeable and proficient at their skill.  It takes time, money, and practice to become a good official.  Most often, officials get their first jobs with youth and recreational leagues as they progress toward higher levels of competition.  To be injured in a league that should predominantly be for learning and fun causes many people to quit.  It is the responsibility of those managing sports to address this issue with more care and effective policies and procedures.

References

Grieb, C. (2015). High school referee attack among many frightening, sometimes fatal, incidents targeting officials.  Sporting News, vol 09/08/15.

Orr, T. J. & Jamieson, L. M. (2020). Sport and violence: A critical examination of sport. Champaign, IL: Sagamore-Venture.

Still, B. (2002) Officials under Assault: Update 2002. Referee Magazine.  Racine, WI: The National Association of Sport Officials.

OFFICIATING: What is happening to all the good officials?

Dr. Lynn M. Jamieson, Professor Emerita

This is the first article in a series devoted to the practice of officiating.  We will cover this very important, and often overlooked role, of those who are involved with guiding the game and enforcing the rule structure that forms the framework of the competition.  Officials are key to competition that is fair and conducted according to the code of conduct and rules governed by an organization.  This often difficult and taxing role is performed by people who take the time to become certified, often in addition to their “day job”.

 While we address the many management issues affecting sports, particularly in these unusual times during the pandemic, it appears that we are ever more concerned with the role of game officials in providing regulatory actions to adhere to rules and regulations.  The role of the official (referee, umpire, judge) is often understudied and underappreciated.  Their role, however, is perhaps the most important part of the sport environment.  This report will address the current status of sport officials, issues being encountered, and potential solutions.

First and foremost, there is great concern over the attrition of available officials to provide support for sport contests. The issue of sport official attrition was underscored by Warner, Tingle & Kellett (2013) in a study of former basketball referees and why they dropped out.  Key factors included6 key themes:  Problematic social interaction, Training/Mentoring, Lack of referee community Lack of administrator consideration, Administrative decision making, and sport policies. These were said to cause referees to drop out of sport officiating.

Livingston et al, 2017 reported Canadian attrition rates “in excess of 20%” (p.1) means that the dropout rate for officials may be a constant problem now and, in the future, (1).  Noted in their article was the fact that this issue was not really addressed in sport research articles.  By enlisting 20 participants in a consensus-building research exercise, it was found that the topic of sport officiating was “understudied and undervalued” and needed attention.  To underscore the issue of retention, Dosseville, Rioult, & Laborde (n.d) surveyed 1718 sport officials to ascertain their motivation, training, stress, skills, and functionality (2).  It was found that the intention to become a dropout was related not to intrinsic motivation but more to their sense of obligation to fulfill the need, and this acts as a preventive measure for dropping out.

Obviously, the role of the official is complex, and often extremely stressful. Depending upon the sport, training, and development of officials is time-consuming, expensive, and difficult as rule and policy changes require constant surveillance and retraining.  Organizations are constantly in need of upgrading training materials, rule changes that need to be published, and responding to actions that initiate more change. A typical official is not a full-time professional, and lack of time to constantly update oneself and address how the rule changes are implemented can be a major source of stress. Further, the time spent in preparing for officiating roles is not compensated for, and when an official receives payment for a job, the hourly rate is small if the time spent in training were factored in.  As a former gymnastic judge, I spent countless hours going to clinics, studying for exams, and preparing for judging experiences while maintaining a full-time job in the parks and recreation profession and having major family responsibilities as well. As the sport of gymnastics became more and more complex with new moves and faster-moving skills, I could no longer keep up. Even though I fully enjoyed the role of judge, my full-time job commitments and increasing need for training were no longer feasible, so I discontinued my role.

The other factor closer to the main topic of this website and blog is the nature of officiating today.  More and more officials are involved in altercations initiated by irate players, coaches, and fans. Orr and Jamieson (2020) relate many instances of referees being accosted, lock in rooms, vandalized, hit with debris, and placed under extreme pressures to perform (3). Many drop out because the potential violence just simply is not worth it.  A recent example was an Indy Star report about out-of-control parents in Westfield, Indiana who body-slammed an official in a girls’ travel basketball game (4).  In this case, a controversial call resulted in spectators filming the referee at close range, a referee punching a spectator, and people punching the referee. Police were investigating the melee at the time of this writing.

The other little researched area and one that will become a topic for a future paper is the adverse pressure brought on by increased gambling interests.  What is the effect on officials of the increasing presence and involvement of fans in gambling on sports?  Are some officials unduly pressured to shave points, call fouls inconsistently, or other mechanisms that cause the odds to shift?  Is that pressure also a cause for officials to leave the field?

What can we do to encourage people to consider getting the training and opportunity to officiate sport events?  In general, the game environment needs to be re-evaluated to make sure that those who officiate are protected from those who would create a potentially violent episode.  Rules involving spectators should be enforced to prevent officials from verbal or physical attacks.  Some communities require fans to be silent during games. Others remove their children from situations that appear abusive. In the end, everyone needs to be vigilant of abusive behaviors and stop them when they occur. Improved ways to report bad behavior and consequences when these incidents occur can go a long way to preserving players, officials, staff, and fans.  It is a matter of positive governance in sport environments. 

References

(1). Livingston, L. A., Forbes, S. L., Person, N., Camacho, T., Wattie, N, & Varian, P. (2017).  Sport officiating recruitment, development, and retention, A call to action. Current Issues in Sport Science, 2.o11.doi:10.15203/CISS_2017.11.

(2) Warner, S., Tingle, J. K., & Kellett, P. (2013). Officiating attrition: Considering the experiences referees from a sport development lens.  Journal of Sport Management, 27(4), 316-318.

(3). Orr, T. J. & Jamieson L. M. (2020. Sport and Violence: A Critical Examination of Sport. Champaign-Urbans, IL: Sagamore and Venture.

(4). Benbow, D. A. (2021). Brawl erupts at travel girls basketball game in Westfield, ends in ref being body slammed. https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2021/04/15/a-basketball-ends-brawl-involving-ref-spectator/7233512002.

Coachability in Youth Hockey

The term itself has become quite the buzzword in the youth sports community in recent years. It’s a word that most parents want their athletes to embody at a young age. What does this word mean in the world of hockey? Instead of simply throwing the word around, I’d like to break it down into important components and explain ways for kids and young adults to take ownership in one’s own coachability in order to put actions and intent to the buzzword. 

RESPONSIVE: Be open to the message a coach is trying to relay. The biggest hindrance in some athletes is their ego. They may not see their own shortcomings even after feedback from coaches. Caring coaches will offer constructive criticism to the athletes they see as capable to receive and implement it. Take that as a compliment. If a coach is actively taking time out of his or her day to offer feedback, they see something inside an athlete and want to bring it out. For the most part, coaches won’t spend a lot of excess time on players they feel won’t absorb the information or put it to work.

Real Life Example: The first few drills in practice are sloppy and the player is not sharp and ready. The coach may tell the player that they should take some passes prior to practice so that time and drills are not wasted. Instead of viewing this as “more work”, see this as beneficial not only to the player, but the team as a whole. More good reps = better habits = a better player.

SELF-COACHING: Top athletes are always seeking out new ways to improve their game. There are endless resources for drills and exercises online for players to incorporate in their off-ice training or during dead times at practice. Don’t wait for coaches to tell you what to do. Being self-reliant is a way to show a coach the important qualities of commitment and preparation.

Real Life Example: Summer months for hockey players are great for camps, lessons, and extra work. It’s a perfect time to spot areas where attention is needed. By doing this, players are able to use practice time more efficiently, and it also shows a coach the characteristics of responsibility and autonomy. Players who possess these qualities are easy to coach and develop into great athletes.

COMMITTED: There are three things to commit to as a youth hockey player: SELF, TEAM, and COACH. 

-By committing to oneSELF, the development of the player is in the forefront. As stated under self-coaching, constantly seeking out new ways to improve and hone in on working hard mentally and physically are ways to show commitment to one’s self. Not only is this positive for the sport, the value of these qualities later in life is unmatched.

-Committing to a TEAM means that a player and his or her teammates see a common goal and work toward it. Ways to show commitment to a team is: identifying and accepting one’s role, celebrating the successes of others, and elevating teammates both on and off the ice. 

-Showing commitment to a COACH is not only trusting their passion, expertise, and vision, but believing in their mission for the team and convincing others to buy into it. Naturally, some coaches make this aspect difficult, but staying consistent in what coachability means to oneself is the important thing and helps to engrain leadership and resilience.

Real Life Example: A team has lost a string of games, and players are starting to doubt themselves and the system their coach has in place. Moral and energy is low. A committed player recognizes this and knows how to combat it by selflessly working hard on one’s own deficiencies, elevating others by maintaining positivity, and convincing his or her team to stay on track with the coach’s vision.

Coachability is not something I can claim expertise in. Looking back, I was not the most coachable teen by a mile. As the saying goes,” Hindsight is 20/20”. There is no better way to learn and grow than by seeing one’s own shortcomings and mindfully correcting them. Though I come from a non-hockey background, my life has completely revolved around the sport for over 10 years. My husband plays professionally, and my son has started on youth teams with my daughter not far behind. In the summer months, we conduct business as JPL Goaltending, in which we host clinics, lessons, and developmental mentoring for youth to pro goalies. My learning curve for hockey was short and steep. I was thrown in abruptly, but I feel fortunate to understand the inner workings and the mental side of the sport, because it teaches so many lessons that we can all use.

For me, these lessons transpired into a series of children’s books. At the Rink: The Series is a collection of hockey-themed books for kids ranging from birth to new readers. With colorful graphics, big words, and a fun rhyming tone, they have proven to be a wonderful addition to a hockey-loving child’s library while playfully highlighting the topic of coachability as described above. 

Kellie Lamoureux

Links:

Book Series:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08Q6DKTDZ?ref_=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_tpbk&binding=paperback

JPL Goaltending: www.jplgoaltending.com

Confidence vs. Arrogance

Take a look around sports these days and you will find one thing on display in overabundance. Some call it confidence, some call it arrogance and others call it swagger. Whatever your term is, there is no shortage of it.

There has always been and always will be a fine line between believing in yourself and flaunting your ability. You can definitely make the argument that it is nearly impossible to succeed at anything in life if you don’t believe that you can succeed. Self-confidence has to be at the forefront of anything you hope to accomplish.

However, I believe we have reached a period in our society where the pendulum has switched over to the side of complete overconfidence and outright arrogance. Make no mistake, there has always been those larger than life figures whose mouths and actions were almost as legendary as their exploits (think Muhammad Ali). Some even believe that if you can back it up then it really isn’t bragging.

Maybe I’m a bit old-fashioned, but it bothers me when I see showboating and bravado at any level, especially when it filters down to high school and grade school. I recently covered a run of post-season basketball games and there was plenty of “look at me” moments. To me, it takes away from what the team is trying to accomplish and puts the emphasis on individuals rather than teams.

I totally understand the benefits of playing with emotion. In fact, it can be extremely difficult to compete well without any sort of positive energy. But we have now reached a point where everybody feels the need to celebrate ever single shot, every single tackle, every single play at nearly every level of sports. Just watch an NFL game. After nearly every play somebody is making a gesture on offense or defense, drawing attention to himself in every situation, even if it is the middle of the opening quarter of a regular season game.

Is it any wonder why today’s teens act the way they do? Most of them are merely emulating their professional sports heroes. Whatever happened to the guy who makes a routine play and acts like he was doing the job he was getting paid to do?

Personally, it bothers me when athletes make it all about themselves, when I see athletes literally strut onto the court during pre-game lineups, or even worse taunt opposing players and fans. Events can still be fun without people drawing attention to themselves by pounding their chests, pointing to the crowd or doing a variety of actions like blowing smoke rings after making a three-point basket.

I have no problem with sports providing an opportunity for release of joy and happiness. That’s part of the beauty of the game (we’ve all witnessed the sterile environment of empty auditoriums because of COVID). I truly think extraordinary feats should be recognized with unbridled enthusiasm. It’s just that when we exhibit those emotions after a routine play, what do we do when something truly remarkable happens?

There is no question that handling the highs and lows of sports can be a difficult thing for teenage athletes. That’s where mentors (coaches, parents, community members) can help provide advice on personal conduct. There are many life lessons to be learned through competition. Let’s all hope that the lesson on humility tops that list.

The LAST DANCE with Toxic Masculinity; The Hope for the End to Inequity in NCAA Basketball.

By Jason Gonzalez and Dr. Thomas Orr

A recent Tweet containing a tick tok video from Oregon Star Sedona Prince (click here to view her bio) rattled the NCAA administration and the sports world by drawing attention to the perceived inequality of the opportunities and resources afforded to them by their schools and the NCAA. The point was demonstrated even further when compared to the male athletes competing in the same tournament. If a picture says a thousand words, her short video was a mouthful that is leaving the NCAA speechless. 

The differences in the weightroom and space allotted were clear and distinct. The site of a passionate and talented student athlete pleading for equal treatment resonated with NBA stars, coaches of girls youth teams, celebrities, politicians and the common fan. This personal testimonial, coupled with common complaints by athletes, coaches, fans and academics prior to the video is creating a hotbed of issues at a time when the NCAA and its member institutions are trying to celebrate the return and glory of March Madness and the biggest stage to showcase the excellence of our student athletes. Olympic virtues of fair competition, integrity, and ethical performances to inspire future generations are consistently being balanced with the socioeconomic interests of the NCAA, Corporate sponsors, and the colleges that seek to make a profit and benefit themselves. 

Two popular articles entitled, “NCAA March Madness drops the ball for Women’s Basketball with Sexism Outrage” and “How the NCAA Has Been Screwing over Women’s Sports for Years” are filled with criticism beyond the already incriminating title. In the NBC News article many specific problems are chronicled with pictures, quotes, videos and social media reactions that share frustrations towards the status of women’s sports. The NCAA becomes targeted by many arguments that are quickly backed up with quotes and more information brought into this comprehensive article. The second article and many others provide further evidence and accusations geared towards this concept. 

NCAA has a higher standard when it comes to fairness and equality as it relates to gender, because of their affiliation with the federal government and are also beholden to its members who have historically advocated for this critical social value. One particularly strong effort by the NCAA mentioned in Sport and Violence; A Critical Examination of Sport by Drs. Orr and Jamieson states, “The NCAA has initiated programs to improve the general population of athletes by having them attend “YES Clinics” in the town where the Final Four for sports are held. These clinics for large groups of athletes feature athletes attending the Final Four. In addition the NCAA rewards their athletes for being positive role models in their CHAMPS programs. (p. 132) The NCAA has several major prongs of their organization dedicated to inclusion and improving the athletic experience of minorities, which includes an Office of Inclusion.  

The debate on what the NCAA needs to go is now at a crucial point as the attention of the world is on the treatment of our female student athletes. It is imperative for the NCAA to show leadership and stewardship worthy of such a great and worthwhile cause. Professional basketball teams and leagues have had a very difficult time providing an equal playing court for female athletes, however this is one of the few places we can search for best practices and solutions to the problem. According to research into the WNBA the league has also been constrained by a need to produce revenue. The authors outline numerous limitations that WNBA teams have due to the lack of money being generated by each team as well as the league in general (Wakefield et al, 2018). Right now, sponsors like Dick’s Sporting Goods and Orange Theory fitness are offering to help out as a result of this event and provide resources as this not only creates an opportunity to do the right thing, but they are being recognized as businesses that care about women in sports. An international dialogue is raging as stakeholders search for solutions and remedies which include long-term funding. Taking advantage of this momentum and finding consistent and long-term sponsors will be paramount to improving the future of women’s sports. 

ALTERNATIVES TO A SPORT SCHOLARSHIP – RETHINKING THE FINANCING OF A COLLEGE EDUCATION

​As the new normal takes effect in our society as a result of the presence of COVID-19 and its various strains, athletes throughout the world must reconsider the pathway to a college education that may be influenced by a reduction in athletic scholarships in chosen sports, an ever-present online component to attain a degree, and the increasing lack of affordability of a traditional 4-year degree.  Those who are currently affected by the many restrictions imposed on campuses and within sport environments may already be making difficult decisions about how they will attain their degree with or without participation in a collegiate sport.  Others are entering the period of time when they may be considered recruiting material for the many programs that continue to be viable for the foreseeable future.  Younger sport participants may be denied participation in sports that become enjoyable and interesting pursuits.  Regardless of age or involvement, those who participate in sports and look toward securing financial support will find the path increasingly tortuous and difficult. In order to plan for future involvement, it may be wise to broaden the thinking of those who are focused singularly on the pursuit of the almighty athletic scholarship.  Herein are several thoughts regarding the planning for financial support of college education that may not require an athlete to compete for a full ride through sport involvement. Bradley differentiates the athletic from the merit scholarship as follows:

Sports scholarships and academic scholarships share two very important commonalities -- they're offered as a reward for superior performance, and they help to fund education. Sports scholarships are offered to athletes who excel in the athletic arena, while academic scholarships are offered to scholars who excel in the academic arena. However, there are some distinct differences. For instance, the level of objectivity in the selection process and the retention criteria are vastly different (1).

An article on the Varsity.com website points to the difficulty regarding getting athletic scholarship and/or merit aid (given to students with high grade point averages) as follows:

We believe the best path to success in the college selection and athletic recruiting process is to be the very best academic student you can be, the very best athlete you can be and then try to find colleges where those attributes will be a better fit. If you are able to find colleges off the beaten path that are trying to attract successful academic students and college coaches that are trying to attract good athletes from your region (yes coaches like to recruit in new or different regions), then you will increase your chances of receiving Merit aid and you will potentially increase your chances of playing meaningful minutes as a college athlete (2).

1. There are many other ways to pursue a college education and afford the costs. For example, as mentioned in an earlier blog, parents and guardians are wise to set up a college fund upon the birth of their children. Investing regularly and wisely in this fund can offset the fiscal challenges of a college education. These college savings funds can gain interest over the years and be very useful to pay for the many costs of attending college. If parents and guardians invested one half of the total funds set aside for their children’s sport involvement, the college savings fund may be enough to allow for the child to have many options for where to attend school.

2. Academic scholarships for good grades are much more plentiful than athletic scholarships, and there are many more varieties available for full rides or partial support. Many college scholarships are not awarded due to a lack of applicants, or many are easy to secure if grades have been reasonable in K-12.

3. Redesigning what comprises getting a good college education is also important. With the rise of online courses and the continuance of advanced placement courses in high school, students may be able to pursue part of their college education without actually having to attend a campus in residence. This may allow students to be employed while they simultaneously pursue 1-2 years of college, perhaps at a local community college or online with the campus where one eventually wishes to reside. The advantages of this arrangement are numerous: lower costs due to lack of residency fees, working while learning in order to save funds for eventual college residency, and being able to develop maturity while still in a support network of family, friends and community. Options for sport participation are not denied because a local community college may have sport participation opportunities, or one may participate in advanced levels of sport offered by clubs and agencies in the community.

Re-evaluating the path to a degree that is less dependent on a sport scholarship has many advantages:  1) It takes a great deal of pressure off the athlete, family, coach and others to win and succeed for a scholarship alone, 2) It resets the original purpose of a college education as EDUCATION, and 3) It may offset the many disappointments that occur when an athlete does not make the grade for an athletic scholarship.  

Granted, rethinking what comprises a well-funded college degree is in order. Difficulties with establishing new models of how to get a degree will certainly prevail; however, colleges and universities will also be adapting to the need to provide all students with an affordable path to a college education, and many changes are anticipated as we all adjust to a NEW NORMAL in sport and academic goal setting.

References

1. Bradley, K. Sports scholarships vs. Academic Scholarships.(2021) The Classroom (Retrieved02/22/21atfile://Sports%20Scholarships%20vs.%20Academic%20Scholarships.html.

2. No Author. (2019). Merit aid vs. Scholarship Money. Varsity Edge. (Retrieved 02/22/21 at Merit%20aid%20vs.%20Athletic%20Scholarship%20Aid%20%7C%20Varsityedge.html#. YDQQoi2cZBw