A Code to Live By

How to develop ethical guidelines and sportsmanship standards for your gym

By Erin Skarda

CBN Oct/Nov 2010

In sports, as in business, ethics not only define what is right and wrong, they also help to establish your reputation and core values and principles as they’re presented to your teammates, fans and competitors. For cheer gym owners, creating and defining an ethical code of conduct or behavioral standards can be an integral part of developing your business and promoting all-star cheerleading as a legitimate sport to a larger audience.

But what exactly are ethics, and how are they applied to sports and business? According to Stephen Balzac, president of management and organizational development firm 7 Steps Ahead, LLC, and a fourth-degree black belt in jujitsu, ethics and sportsmanship run on parallel tracks and should consistently reinforce each other. “Fundamentally, ethics is the set of behavior that’s generally accepted as good or right or appropriate,” says Balzac. “Part of an ethical code in sports should include some expectation of sportsmanlike behavior for its participants, and recognize that, while sometimes things don’t always break your way, you have to keep a game face, be respectful [of your competitors] and come back and do it again.”

The all-star industry is unique in that business issues and sportsmanship issues are often entangled. Therefore, when it comes to developing ethical standards, it’s important that gym owners recognize that these guidelines need not only apply to inter-business practices, but also extend to the actions of clients (parents), participants (athletes), employees (coaches) and competitors (other gyms)—a difficult feat when considering the emotional connection many owners have with the people involved in their organizations. “[Gym owners] need to understand that although we employ coaches, we must first establish that they are [ital: employees] in a business environment, and as gym owners, we are the [ital: employers],” says Karen Wilson, owner of All Star Elite Cheer in Diamond Springs, CA. “When we start operating on that mentality, we automatically get a better, more professional product.”

With this in mind, and because of the nebulous nature of ethics in general, the United States All Star Federation (USASF) recently adopted its own code of ethics for member gyms to follow and use as a guideline to create their own business standards. Dubbed the “Professional Responsibility Code,” this document is divided into four categories: Professional responsibility between gym owner and employee; professional responsibility between the gym owner and clients (parents); professional responsibility between the gym owner and athletes; and the responsibility for USASF member gym owners. While the first two categories include “suggestions,” the last two are guidelines enforced by the USASF, including repercussions for noncompliance.

“Each gym is different, and it’s important for [programs] to comply with a generally accepted code of ethics, but it’s also hard for one gym to apply their morals on another,” says Jim Chadwick, president of the USASF. “That’s why we tried to create a common code of ethics that can be used across the board. It’s a starting point, but we’re a living, breathing organization, and our goal is to reflect our goodwill as accurately and in as timely a manner as we can.”

Wilson, who along with many other key industry figures helped to establish the Professional Responsibility Code, hopes that the guidelines will educate gym owners on what they should be held accountable for, even if it’s the client or athlete with the less-than-sportsmanlike attitude. “It’s important that gym owners who are members of the USASF recognize that it’s their responsibility and the expectation of the USASF that their conduct and the conduct of their coaches, athletes and clients exudes professional and sportsmanlike behavior at all times,” says Wilson. “And, as the business owner, they are ultimately responsible for their coaches, athletes and the clients who represent their business and their gym.”

While the Professional Responsibility Code, along with the recently implemented iPromise campaign (see sidebar for details), seek to iron out some of the ethical and sportsmanship issues that have been plaguing the industry, both Wilson and Chadwick point out that it’s up to the gym owners to take strides toward change by developing their own ethical and sportsmanship standards. “Every gym that establishes their own code of ethics is elevating their level of professionalism,” says Wilson. Read on for four steps to creating a code of ethics for your business, and visit usasf.net for more on the Professional Responsibility Code.

Step 1: Determine Your Standards and Value(s)

Ideally, an organization’s code of ethics would be developed and implemented at the company’s inception, so employees or clients would have guidelines to follow from the beginning. However, according to Balzac, when it comes to this crucial piece of business, it’s better late than never. “When a business first starts, it’s important for the owner to look around and see what similar companies are doing, and develop your code from that,” he says. “The earlier you have some structure in place, the better, but you have to make sure that it makes sense for your organization.”

For gym owners who are looking to develop their own standards, the USASF Professional Responsibility Code is a good place to start. From tips on hiring new employees to credentialing standards and establishing guidelines for relationships between coaches and athletes, this code was created in part to help new and existing gym owners think about issues that pertain to their businesses and how they should address them. “The first two [categories] include recommendations that will assist gyms in business practices and also serve as a tool for educating coaches and the gym’s client base as to the expectation of the business,” says Wilson. As for sportsmanship, including the iPromise campaign in your business’ requirements is a simple way to make sure all your athletes, parents and coaches are on the same page.

Next, Balzac recommends that gym owners consider both the value that the company brings to its clients, as well as the values that are most important to the organization. “Start by asking yourself, ‘What would I want my clients to be saying about me? What’s the reputation I want to have?’ ” says Balzac. “Then ask yourself, ‘What behaviors do I need to be exhibiting in order for people to say those things and for my company to have that reputation? What are our standards? What are we proud to say about ourselves?’ ”

Once you’ve answered those questions, start writing down guidelines that are applicable to the business you want to run and determine whether they affect your employees, clients, athletes or all of the above. Keep it simple, and try not to be overly specific. “I think the tendency on an ethical code is that it’s easy to throw things down on paper without thinking, ‘What does this actually mean?’ ” says Balzac. “There’s a point at which your definition becomes so restricted that it stops being functional.”

Step 2: Enact Ethics Training

Once you have the guidelines in place and available to all members of your organization, it’s very important to practice what you preach. Balzac recommends that businesses practice ethical training with their staff and athletes to make certain that desired actions are the immediate response in a stressful situation. “Using sports as an example, there are three components to executing a skill: Knowing how to do the skill, knowing when to do the skill and then triggering the skill,” says Balzac. “Ethics is kind of the same thing; you practice the skill and understand what the triggers are. Most honest people slip into ethical lapses because it sneaks up on them. If you are tired, short on sleep and distracted, with the temptation put in front of you, that [unethical] behavior can emerge without you realizing it. This is a lesson learned in sports: Any skill is subject to failure under stress if not trained. Ethics fall into this strategy.”

Wilson utilizes this type of ethics training at her gym when working on team bonding. “We do some role-playing with the kids so we can clearly communicate and demonstrate what situations might arise and how to handle anything that might come their way,” says Wilson, who includes her gym’s ethical guidelines in the team handbook and a parent (client) expectation document. “We incorporate these opportunities for learning on a monthly basis.”

At Cheergyms.com in Concord, CA, owner Morton Bergue takes sportsmanship and ethics very seriously—an attitude that starts at the top and trickles down to every member of his organization. “Actions speak louder than words,” says Bergue, who has asked coaches, parents and athletes to sign contracts that include guidelines on sportsmanship, loyalty, ethics, morals and more since 1995. “You can have all the positive signs in your gym, have everyone sign numerous ‘ethical’ contracts and preach sportsmanship to your program, but if you’re not living it and holding your gym accountable, you will not be known as an ethical program.”

Step 3: Establish and Enforce Consequences

While establishing a code of ethics might be fairly simple, detailing and enforcing consequences is a whole other animal—and not for the weak of heart. “Part of creating this code is being willing to throw someone out for violating your standards,” says Balzac. He recommends considering and outlining any consequences in advance to avoid confusion when tensions are running high. “When you set your penalties in advance, it also gives you some time to think about it and decide if you’re willing to enforce it. If you’re not, then don’t write it down, because if you don’t enforce, you undermine your whole system,” he says.

During the 2008–09 season, Bergue made the difficult decision to live up to what he thought was right for his gym by disallowing his Senior team from competing at Worlds. “That was a very hard decision and we lost many kids because of it,” says Bergue. “The real reason we made the decision was because many of our kids were being recruited away from us to other gyms. They were being given ‘scholarships’ and promised wins, when we weren’t doing that. It became so hard on the kids who were being loyal to us that we had to do something. Announcing that we were not going to put ourselves in the ‘Winning Worlds’ fight let us take back our gym and what we believe is right.”

While many of his team members were upset that they missed out on Worlds that year, Bergue held them to the high standards for sportsmanship he has always set for his athletes and was able to regain some of the loyalty he felt was slipping away. “It was hard to watch kids I had in the gym for six to nine years leave because they were being promised the ‘world’ from another gym, but it’s also hard to let your morals and ethics slide to keep those kids,” says Bergue. “We just weren’t willing to give up on what we think is right to go to Worlds. And the best part is that our Level 5 kids are with us now because they believe in our program and what we stand for, not because they think we’ll win Worlds. It’s nice to feel that loyalty again.”

Step 4: Revisit and Refine

Just as your organization is an ever-changing entity, so should be your behavioral standards. Balzac recommends revisiting and refining your code of ethics as necessary over time, especially when you’re looking to define gray areas or address new issues or behaviors that crop up within your organization. “There will always be gray areas and challenges in ethics,” says Balzac. “Ultimately, you can’t regulate every possible gray area. But what you can do is train people to react effectively when they’re approached with a situation they’ve never seen before.”

That’s what Wilson did when social media became an issue for her gym a few years ago. As more of her athletes started posting on message boards and social networking sites, information about her gym, her coaches and Wilson herself started floating around the Internet. “What I didn’t have in my code until a few years ago was, What is a social site? What is acceptable and what is not?” she says. “They didn’t understand the ramifications in the beginning or the damage it could cause to post on these sites. And it really became a conversation that I had to have with [the athletes and parents] on what is appropriate and what is not.”

Instead of just updating her code of ethics to reflect these new issues, Wilson started bringing up the topic in her parents meetings and working with her athletes to show them the negative ramifications of posting too much info on these sites. “We have seen gyms be significantly hurt or damaged by information that has been posted to social media sites,” says Wilson. “We’ve come to the point where we can’t just turn a blind eye to it. They’re bearing our name and are representations of our gym. It’s our responsibility to educate the athletes and the parents.”

In the end, creating a code of ethics not only forces you to consider what your organization is, how it will behave and what people can expect from it, but it also gives you the opportunity to think about your values and morals and how you would like your company to be remembered in the long-term. And the best part is that your status is completely under your control. “It’s really about how you want people to see you,” says Balzac. “What’s the story you want people to tell about your business? Because you really do get to make the decision. It’s up to you.”

Make the Promise

The USASF’s iPromise pledge was created to address sportsmanship issues present in all-star cheerleading today, and challenge athletes, parents and coaches to make sportsmanship and ethics a priority. In August 2009 at the USASF’s National Advisory Board meeting, Jim Chadwick, president of the USASF, asked Courtney Pope, owner of Cheer Extreme in North Carolina, to create a task force that would determine sportsmanship guidelines for the all-star industry. In April 2010, she came forward with a recommendation that was essentially the iPromise initiative—an educational campaign that includes a pledge, videos, public service announcements and web-based components that could be expanded into the gyms and adopted by athletes, coaches and parents.

“Oftentimes on things like this, it’s important to look at it from the perspective of the people who are dealing with these issues day in and day out—namely gym owners, coaches and athletes,” says Chadwick. “Sportsmanship is often hard to define, but the fact is that we can’t enforce rules or guidelines that we don’t have.” With that in mind, Pope outlined seven main sportsmanship issues that became the basis for the campaign:

• P) Playing by the rules

• R) Respect

• O) Organizing programs that promote sportsmanship

• M) Making the pursuit of victory more important than winning

• I) Integrating positive life lessons on and off the mat

• S) Self-control in all intense competitive situations

• E) Exemplifying sportsmanship conduct

Any individual who takes the iPromise pledge is promising to support a better all-star community through promoting mutual respect and appreciation for other competitors, recognizing and encouraging positive behavior, fostering a sense of pride and dedication to excellence, establishing action based on ethical standards and striving to create supportive relationships through all areas of participation. “One of the greatest experiences our athletes and coaches can gain from all-star cheerleading is the bond created with other athletes and programs,” says Pope. “IPromise hopes to open the gates of camaraderie between gyms and [promote respectful interactions on the Internet]. When we eliminate stereotypes and rivalries and get to know our competitors, being better sports and treating each other with respect comes naturally.”

To learn more about the iPromise campaign and to take the pledge, visit usasf.net/programs/promise.