ICT and SPORTS

Ethic in Coaching?

The history of public relations is littered with confirmations and allegations of unethical behavior
demonstrated by coaches and athletes. The latest firing of Indiana University's notorious
Bobby Knight and the suspension of baseball's John Rocker are two recent cases that involved
poor decision making on the part of Knight and Rocker.

 Professionals? One often wonders from what moral foundation do participants in the world of sport chose to make their decisions and subsequently act (1). Their ethical conduct was in question and steps were taken to remedy the situation.

Ethics means more than being honest and obeying the law; it means being morally good (2). Every athlete, every coach has to face the ethical dilemma of "What is ethics and what
criteria should I follow ?" Knowing what is right and what is wrong defines the boundaries of ethics.
Those involved in sport organizations need to be their own public relations expert and make
decisions on what is best for them and their organization. But how many of those involved in
sport know how to deal with a controversial issue, the public, etc? Coaches and athletes need to
be educated in public relations and situations such as Bobby Knight and John Rocker could possibly
be avoided. Managers must help their employees decide what is right and what is wrong.
But how and where do we begin?

The bottom line with regard to ethics rests within the "Golden Rule": Treat others in the
way you would like to be treated. This concept is not new. The principles that shape ethical
conduct have remained constant while people have chosen to manipulate those principles in
ways which foster self-promotion and self-aggrandizement (3). Coaches and athletes should 1 be the most ethical persons in an organization. The public and all of its people are constantly
observing and scrutinizing sport organizations. Sport organizations are in the public eye and the
public should demand nothing less than professionalism from its athletes and coaches.

Everyone knows that athletes and coaches are role models. Any prospective coach or athlete
should be aware of and strive to produce positive images and public relations for the sake of
the sport organization and the community. How a coach proceeds in developing a relationship with
the media and the public is vital. High profile athletes and coaches should realize that public
relations is a major part of their job. Literature points to the fact that coaches need to communicate
their role in society with various groups. Standards and tenets should be used as a guideline
to help develop ethical behavior.

"What is ethics" and how a coach should go about developing a sound ethical sports program
poses a dilemma to any rookie coach or manager. Whose ethics to follow is often in question.
How does one choose? Mark McElreath has identified five factors that one should consider
in developing ethical behavior. Sound ethics can enhance one's athletic program and give a
solid foundation on which to stand and build.

Ethics is defined by Mark McElreath as "a set of criteria by which decisions are made about what is right and what is wrong." The most ethical person in a sport organization should be the coach. How a coach should develop ethical behavior begins by looking at five factors:

1. Tradition
   Ways in which the situation has been viewed or handled in the past.
2. Public Currently acceptable behavior according to the majority of one and Opinion their peers.
3. Law Behaviors that are permissible and those that are prohibited by legislation.
4. Morality Generally, a spiritual or religious prohibition. Immorality is a charge usually leveled in issues on which religious teachings have concentrated.
5. Ethics Standards set by the profession, an organization, or oneself, based on conscience-what is right or fair to others as well as to self (6).

The world of sports is bound by rules and is very fragile in the face of the moral quest for
betterment. Those people in a position of sport leadership must possess a strong sense of priorities,
purpose and ethics for themselves and their programs. The sport participants and the
sport should begin with looking at the coach and the five moral obligations a coach should possess:

1. To ourselves-to preserve our own integrity.
2. To our athletes-to honor their contracts and to use our professional expertise on our athletes behalf.
3. To our sport organization-to adhere to organizational goals and policies.
4. To our profession and our professional colleagues-to uphold the standards of the profession and, by extension, the reputation of our fellow practitioners.
5. To society-to consider social needs and claims (7).

Moral obligations could be considered controversial, yet they are the basis for beginning to establish a noble and virtuous career as a coach. The explicit goal of all competitive sports is to win within the rules. When athletic participants engage in competition for its inherent pleasure, generally very few problems based upon ethical conduct emerges(8).

Any derivation from the inherent pleasures of simple participation intensifies the pressure
to win therein influencing the ethical constraints in decision-making, risking the loss of important
"teachable moments" which make sport the educational tool it can be. Lumpkin (1990)
states: When winning becomes the primary objective, other potential outcomes are lost.

Coaches are usually the ones initially caught up in this win-at-all cost attitude. To fulfill their own
ego needs, coaches too often pressure their young players to play while injured, to violate the
rules to their advantage, and to quit if they are not good enough (9).

When the outcome becomes so highly significant that some or all of the participants employ whatever means possible to achieve success, then the questionable behavior is covertl or overtly employed, to the detriment of values and sound character, and the ideals of sport.

Today's interscholastic sport managers and coaches are faced with more and more difficulty in making ethical decisions and appear to be distancing themselves away from a solid foundation for
making ethical decisions.

A solid foundation begins with building the five factors for ethical behavior and moral obligations.
The adoptions of these five factors could be the beginning of something positive for sports.
If moral and ethical values are to result from athletic programs then coaches must emphasize
them.

One might question if ethics in sport should have principles and values. The principles speak largely to character development, not the accumulation of victories. Four tenets have been identified
and linked to modern sports. These tenets intertwine sport's ideals and ethics. Each tenet
sustains the inherent and traditional values of sports, reinforcing the "goodness" of the experience.

1. Athletes must always be considered ends and not means (10).
2. The competition must be fair (11).
3. Participation, leadership, resources, and rewards must be based on achievement rather than ascribed characteristics(12).
4. The activity must provide for the relative safety of the participants (13).