Sportsmanship and respect start with the coach.
By Lindsey Lelak
Cheer Biz News April/May 2010
“And when it’s your time to be recognized, accept your award with pride, whether it’s last place or first. Respect the judges for what they’ve done for you, respect the other teams in your division and don’t pout.” —Brian Barnhart, Woodlands Elite Cheer Co.
It seems that recently many athletes are making headline news regarding sportsmanship—or lack thereof. LeBron James of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers failed to shake hands with Orlando Magic players after a 2009 game; Elizabeth Lambert, a soccer player for the University of New Mexico, was caught physically attacking several players during a 2009 game against Brigham Young University; and tennis player Serena Williams yelled at and threatened a line judge after a questionable call at the 2009 U.S. Open. Unsportsmanlike conduct is a term found in the cheer rulebooks, but it’s not enforced nearly as often in all-star cheerleading as in these multi-million-dollar sports. However, we’re seeing a positive shift in companies’ and coaches’ efforts to encourage sportsmanship and combat the win-at-all cost attitudes that can crop up at competitions. “There are many coaches out there who strive to instill strong moral character in their programs,” says Dave “Devo” DeBolt of Planet Spirit All Stars in Golden Valley, MN. “But there are just as many who have their priorities mixed up.” Steven G. Wedge, founder, president and CEO of COA Cheer & Dance, stated in American Cheerleader’s 2009 All-Star Insider that sportsmanship has become a lost art. “Sportsmanship is about respect, and it has to start with the coach,” he says.
Woodlands Elite Generals and Pro Spirit at Worlds
“For coaches today, there’s more stress placed on winning, especially with the addition of Worlds, than there is on doing the best job you can and allowing the judges to sort it out from there,” says Mike Zwieg, also of Planet Spirit All Stars. All-star coaches may also feel the pressure to collect trophies as a way to keep or gain new customers, therefore keeping their business afloat.
Coaches are the number one influence on their cheerleaders’ approach to competition, so it’s essential to look past these pressures. DeBolt says that, as the coach and leader, you have the ability to create a negative or positive perception of your programs that athletes, other coaches, parents and competition officials will judge you on, and your athletes will ultimately look to you to guide them. Therefore, DeBolt adds, “your coaching staff must exemplify everything you ask of your athletes.” C.J. Nash, of Nash Jem Elite All-Stars in Kansas City, MO, agrees that coaches need to practice what they preach. “We’re always telling our kids that they need to show sportsmanship, but they’re only going to do it if we do,” she says.
Zwieg remembers a competition where a team placed second and walked off the floor directly after receiving their trophy instead of staying and recognizing all the other teams being awarded. “I went backstage later with our kids so that they could get their third place medals, and the coach for that second-place team was screaming at an event staff member,” he says. “After seeing that coach, it’s no wonder the kids walked off the floor; they hadn’t been taught sportsmanship. Our kids took one look and asked us, ‘You’re never going to do that, are you?’ They see that behavior, and they don’t want us to be that way.”
Incorporating Sportsmanship In and Out of Competition
Woodlands Elite Cheer Co. owner, partner and coach Brian Barnhart says that, instead of his program seeing their talented Texas neighbors Pro Spirit All Stars, led by Jeff and Diana Miller, as their bitter enemy, they have taught their athletes to encourage one another. “They’ve been in our division for the last couple of years, and it’d be easy for us to say, ‘Forget Pro Spirit,’ or ‘Ha, ha, they dropped!’ but we’re trying to be an example of doing the right thing,” says Barnhart. The gyms once exchanged a cookie bouquet and good luck pins prior to an event, and they always cheer each other on during competition warm-ups, high five each other when they’re exiting the competition floor and sit together during awards ceremonies. Barnhart says it is exciting to see his athletes genuinely want to support Pro Spirit. “Yes, we want the top spot, and yes, we want to compete, but I’d much rather be on that awards mat and celebrate both of our accomplishments than have to look at them as our rivals,” he says. “It’s a lot more fun to do this together.”
Bekki Crone of Top Notch Cheer & Dance in Las Vegas prepares her athletes to show positive sportsmanship at competition using two methods: First, she contacts four other local gyms and makes a pact with each of the coaches that their athletes will show good sportsmanship to each other at events. “If their kids are mean, we tell the other coaches so that they can deal with it in their own way,” she says. Crone also has her athletes do four to six Top Notch chants at all times while moving through the competition process, even, she jokes, when the competition room is down two floors from the practice room. “It keeps their minds focused, and also stops people from approaching them and saying anything negative,” she explains. In fact, she said it also inspires other teams to yell out their own chants.
Finally, Crone and Zwieg say that one of the simplest ways to show good sportsmanship is by saying ‘good luck’ or ‘congratulations’ to fellow athletes. “We want other teams to hit,” says Zwieg. “You don’t want to beat a team because they dropped a stunt or two, you want to beat them when they’re at their best.”
In the Awards Ceremony
A competition’s awards ceremony is perhaps the most telling place a team can show its character. DeBolt and Zwieg teach their Planet Spirit All Stars to stand and applaud first place teams in each division, regardless of where their own team placed. “We tell our athletes that there’s no reason to be mad,” says Zwieg. “They were just better than us that day and that means we have more work to do, so you acknowledge the fact that they were better than you by standing for the winning team.” DeBolt adds, “We do it because all teams should be respected and appreciated for their accomplishments.”
Barnhart is currently trying to put into practice what Atlanta-area Stingray Allstars owners Casey Jones and Roger Schonder already do: make sure their athletes wait until their team is officially announced to celebrate. “When they call second place, and it’s not you, it’s not your time to shine, and it’s not your time to jump because you already know who first place is,” says Barnhart. “The parents should be seated and your coaching staff should be waiting so that the second place team can celebrate and be recognized for their many hours of work, sweat and tears. And when it’s your time to be recognized, accept your award with pride, whether it’s last place or first. Respect the judges for what they’ve done for you, respect the other teams in your division and don’t pout.”
Obvious poor responses are taking your trophy and leaving the mat, laughing or talking during awards or ignoring a team that’s truly excited to congratulate you, which are just some of the examples that Barnhart, Crone, DeBolt and Zwieg have experienced. “We don’t always get a [positive] response back from our applause, but instead get a rolling of the eyes,” Crone says. “I teach my girls that if someone comes up and says something nice to you, encourage them.”
Sportsmanship and Parents
“Parents can sometimes be the toughest thing we deal with,” says DeBolt. “Adults already have their opinions and prejudices and are not malleable like kids are. They’re passionate about what their children do and are trying to do what they feel is best for the child, misdirected as it may be.” In fact, the Citizenship Through Sports Alliance , which is dedicated to studying character in sports, developed a National Report Card in 2005 to evaluate youth sports. This report card gave parental behavior/involvement a “D” grade, and parents were given an “unacceptable” rating for behaving inappropriately at games and showing disrespect for officials, coaches and participants.
To combat these problems, Barnhart tries to avoid policing parents, but keeps the lines of communication constantly open through parent meetings, so that they’re aware that it’s not their job to contact the event tent or address a coach or parent of a different program. “Unfortunately when they do those things, we’ve had to back them up and tell them that was strike two; strike one was that they were wearing our logo and representing us when they did that,” he says.
At both Planet Spirit All Stars and Top Notch All Stars, parents are required to sign a contract at the beginning of the season that explains the gym’s expectations. If poor behavior continues at Planet Spirit, they address the situation in a meeting, and in some circumstances, may even forbid the parent from coming to the gym or competition. If issues still arise, the gym dismisses the athlete from the program.
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