Moral Development and Sport

Fair play: Its Origins and Meanings in Sport and Society by Roland Renson states it is important to teach boys how to win as well as how to lose. It is important for athletes to have dignity and poses good sportsmanship. Worldwide in sport fair play is respect for others and respect for rules, whether on the sporting field or in business or other competitive endeavors.

Two essential elements of sport is respect for others and respect for self.  I do agree that to be a good athlete you must have respect. You have to respect the game and respect the rules of the game.  To be a good athlete you must also have enough respect to prepare yourself for the games and respect everyone involved which includes the team, the coach, the opponents and the spectators. Athletes are held at a high regard. To be a good athlete you must know the game, train for the game, practice and keep a good image. As an athlete people will always watch your behavior so it is important to always be on your best behavior to keep fans, the interest of teams and also the interest of possible endorsers.

It is important to win with dignity and to lose with the same dignity. Great athlete’s show good sportsmanship when they win a game. It is important to show good sportsmanship because as an athlete you know how hard the opponent trained and you want to be respectful and mindful of all the dedication that goes into playing the sport. It is just as important to loose with the same dignity. Great athletes play for the love of the game and understand that sometime you will win and sometime you will lose but as long as you try your best that’s all you can do.

Fair play also insists on equality. Equality is important in sport because it is important that teams are equal and that the conditions for competition are the same for everyone. Equality is important because it makes the competition more interesting when teams are equally divided and everyone is following the same standards. Although equality is important in sport many teams do not have equal talent. Many times during games officials miscall plays and athletes often get away with bending the rules of the game. My question to the author would be could sports really be equally fair? Many factors contribute to sports and playing a game. With all factors included can games really be 100 percent equal for each team and all players involved?

When athletes or officials cheat it ruins the quality of the game. People come to see a fair, non bias, fun and entertaining game. When cheating becomes involved people are discouraged from watching the game because the results are no longer accurate. Athletes are expected to over- conform. Over- conforming put athletes in a place to do anything to win the game. Over conforming can sometime become border line cheating. When athletes’ over- conform they often bend the rules and go beyond what is allowed to win the game. A common form of over conforming to win the game would be using steroids to improve personal performance.

Fairness is important in sport. As an athlete you may feel you are the best and you may think you are the best person to win a game for your team. In sports it is important to be fair to your teammates. You can be the best player on a team but no one can win a game alone it takes a team. No one wants to play with an unfair irrational person. All great players are honored by the team and honored by opponents. Honor plays a huge role in sports. When an athlete gains the honor of his team and his coach he is held at a high respect and the team believes in his actions to win the game. At the end of the fourth quarter and the Lakers are down by two the team will always throw the ball to Kobe Bryant because they believe in him enough to trust that he will win the game for the team. Honor and fairness are important factors of playing any sport. Honor and fairness should not only be applied to sport but also to life and fundamental survival. Athletes put trust and belief in the team. Athletes trust teammates to make smart decisions and play the game the best of their ability. Coaches are trusted to make the best decisions for the team and officials are trusted to pay attention to the game and make the right calls. Honor and fairness are important factors of playing any sport. Honor and fairness should not only be applied to sport but also to life and fundamental survival.

Professional athletes are professionals so they are expected to act as such. Athletes are expected to follow the morals of sport but many athletes are full of jealousy and boastfulness. For instance I was reading an article about Kobe Bryant saying now I have one more ring than Shaquille O’ Neal and Shaquille O’ Neal going to the Boston Celtics because he felt that with the Celtics he has the best chance of getting another ring and catching up to Kobe Bryant. Even though Bryant and O’ Neal both have championship rings and are no longer on the same team the element of competition, jealousy and boastfulness still exist between the two. In serious sport the element of jealousy and boastfulness is always present.

Athletes have codes of ethics they must follow. Sport managers and coaches must be role models for athletes so they must also have codes of ethics that they should also follow. It is important for sport managers and coaches to follow their codes of ethics because if they are not ethical players will not be ethical which will discredit the integrity of the organization.

The American Football Coaches Association codes of ethics list and describe good codes of ethics that should be followed by all football coaches. It is important for coaches to be ethical because coaches should lead the team by example. The coaches coach the team on how to play the game and how to abide by the rules so they should also have rules and obligations to abide by. The coaches are the leaders of the team therefore it will be great if these codes of ethics were followed by all football coaches but today I don’t believe that all coaches are following the code of ethics.

The ethical standards require coaches to keep education in the foreground. Many coaches do not keep education in the foreground. Many coaches are more concerned with wining the game rather than the education of the athlete. A good coach is concerned with making sure an athlete learn from every practice and every game. A good coach is concerned with the development of the athlete and the development of the team on and off the court.

The coaches are also to give all reasonable support to the officials in charge of the game but many times coaches do not respect the decision of the officials and go against the officials call. It goes without saying that football coaches and coaches of every sport should have ethics but the code of ethics should be updated on a regular basis. From year to year rules change and everything needs to be updated to supplement the changes. It is a privilege as well as a huge responsibility to coach any football team therefore a code of ethics should be followed by every football coach and strict penalties should be given as violation if the code of ethics are not followed.

Sport managers play an important role to the athlete. It is important for sport managers to follow ethics because sport managers have a very important role that must be taken seriously and sport managers must understand the concept of what is right and what is wrong in the profession. Sport managers have the welfare of the clients in their hands so they must be loyal and fair to the client at all times.

Sport managers have the trust of the client therefore it is important for sport managers to respect the privacy of the athlete and hold in confidence all information obtained in the course of professional service. The sport manager is primarily responsible for representing the client. It is the job of the sport manager to be and remain proficient in professional practice and performance of professional functions. The sport manager is being paid to work for the client and to negotiate deals for the client so it is important that the sport manger knows his/her responsibility and is capable of performing the duties expected.  The sport manager must only represent the client in his/ her area of expertise and be fair when setting fees for service. Sports managers must have integrity and set fees that they know are reasonable to the client.

It’s obvious that sport managers must have rules and codes of ethics to follow. Although rules and codes of ethics exist many successful sport managers do not follow the rules. One rule in sports is that sport managers are not allowed to pay college and high school athletes and their families to persuade them to sign with the agency. Although this rule exists and is well aware of by everyone in the agency it is still a problem within sport management. Agents are always paying athletes to sign with their agency and many times the agent gets away with paying these athletes.

All Sport Managers should be held to a high level of professional practice and service. The codes of ethics listed and described in the Ethical Creed are well thought out great principles that should be followed by everyone in the sport management field. If sport managers are not following the codes of ethics they should receive strict penalties and possibly loose the right to manage athletes.

Every area in sport has rules and obligations. To hold any position in sport is a privilege and as an athlete, a couch or a manager you must have honor, respect and abide by morals. No matter what role you play you should be held to high professional standards and follow the rules and morals or strict actions shall be taken. To ensure that everyone is following the rules and acting in good moral conduct a well developed set of standards and expectations need to be developed, taught and agreed upon by everyone in each role of sport. Once the standards have been agreed upon the standards must be enforced and action must be taken out on anyone who does not follow the standards of conduct.