Sportsmanship culture starts with the coaches

When we sign a contract to coach, even at the middle school level like I’ve done for 27 years, you are teaching more than skills of the sport and strategy in games.

You’re promoting the theory that you will learn values such as teamwork, sportsmanship and respect. One of the first things I preach about every year is to respect our opponents and officials. If there are bad calls, I’ll deal with it, but we won’t have any disrespect shown by players on the court about an official’s decision.

My point is, it starts from the top. Coaches create the culture that’s demonstrated on the field of play. If you see something that seems out of line and it isn’t dealt with by the coach, then it’s apparent that the behavior is allowed. Once something is allowed, it spreads.

College football’s rivalry week was marred by a series of on-field fights between teams after “flag-planting” celebrations. I felt bad for kids watching those games, and how contrary it seems to the values that athletics is supposedly trying to instill in them.

Pepper spray was used at Ohio State in an effort to defuse a brawl that started after Michigan players planted a flag at midfield after their upset of the Buckeyes. Flag-planting brawls also broke out after North Carolina State beat North Carolina on the road, and after Florida’s win over Florida State. A similar incident occurred after Arizona State rolled over Arizona, but it was a Sun Devil trident instead of a flag.

There are repercussions coming, and perhaps some policies banning such actions after games. The Big Ten announced Sunday evening that it was fining both Ohio State and Michigan $100,000 each for violating the league’s sportsmanship policy.

“Not only did the actions of both teams violate fundamental elements of sportsmanship such as respect and civility, the nature of the incident also jeopardized the safety of participants and bystanders,” the conference said.

Michigan running back Kalel Mullings called the Buckeyes “classless” for their reaction, saying teams need to learn how to lose.

Well, how about learning how to win, too! You just won against a big rival. Isn’t that enough? A disrespectful taunt on their home field, which you know will generate a potentially violent response from an opponent already in a foul mood, seems like a good idea?

Longtime Creston coach Mike McCabe, whom I hold in high regard for how his softball and basketball teams conducted themselves over the years, had the perfect response on the ‘X’ platform last weekend.

“What are the coaches doing?” he stated.

Exactly. This may become a moot point, because I’m thinking the conferences or maybe even the NCAA will enact a policy banning “flag plantings” and such. But, it starts with the coaches communicating to their players that disrespectful behavior will not be allowed after (or before) a game.

There was also a lot of chatter over the weekend about things that took place in Kinnick Stadium Friday night. According to reports, Nebraska players were chased off the midfield Tiger Hawk logo by security as they were doing their traditional pregame huddle/prayer. They moved to an end zone, but there were hard feelings that spilled over into other pregame situations.

Iowa players said Nebraska coach Matt Ruhle walked through their pregame warmup, and then the Nebraska captains didn’t shake hands with the Iowa captains during the pregame coin toss. Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins said he’d never experienced that before. If Ruhle was behind it, that’s not a good look.

Is it the end of the world? No, but it’s just another example of how behaviors go back to leadership. Taunts have come from both sides over the years in the Nebraska-Iowa rivalry — Keith Duncan’s walk-off kiss to the Husker sideline, for example. Emotions run high in big-time sports, especially rivalry matchups.

The point is, winning and losing with class doesn’t have to disappear in this age of capturing great video clips for TikTok sharing. Coaches can still set a tone in their communication with players about expectations in the realm of sportsmanship and respect. That’s where it starts.

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Contact the writer:

Email: malachy.lp@gmail.com

X: @larrypeterson