Coaches Need Code Of Conduct

This is the time of year when burly football coaches in gym shorts gather solemn pimply faced boys and the teens’ parents into high school cafeterias for a pep talk.

Coach Win Atallcosts will wax machismo about conditioning, conduct, grades, school spirit and, of course, win-win-winning. Remember, Coach A. will tell his troops, winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing. Blahblahblah.

Commendably, many coaches pay more than lip service to academics and athletic codes. Some command their players to sign codes of conduct in which the undersigned basically agrees not to drink or chew or date people who do.

We’d suggest this year that high school coaches develop and sign a code of their own, agreeing, like their troops, to conduct themselves properly on and off the field. A rogue coach can embarrass a school and a sports program with unbecoming conduct. As fall approaches, for example, two Inland Northwest coaches stand accused of sexual misconduct.

Unfortunately, the bad that a few coaches do grabs headlines and outweighs the good that most coaches do.

Coaches wield tremendous influence in prep players’ lives, more than almost anyone outside their families. For several hours each school day, the coach instructs them on how to play, when to practice hard, when to let down, what to think. A coach’s position gives him or her authority to discipline an athlete.

Coaches, therefore, should be expected to be decent role models.

They can begin by treating each player fairly, star and scrub alike. A first-stringer caught violating an athletic code by drinking, taking drugs or by not meeting grade requirements should receive the same punishment as a third-stringer. When coaches overlook misconduct by their favorites, they fuel disrespect on their teams and cynicism in their communities.

Prep coaches also should:

Emphasize academics. The future for the overwhelming majority of their players lies in the classroom, not on the football, baseball and soccer fields or basketball court. A coach who fudges academic requirements sends a message that grades aren’t important and is preparing players for failure later in life.

Be civil. Coaches who scream and swear at referees or their team encourage their players and young spectators to react likewise when things don’t go their way in life. A team will reflect its coach’s attitude.

When possible, give all players game time, particularly at the junior varsity and freshmen level, where games don’t mean much. Coaches expect fringe players to practice hard and pump them up with rhetoric about team unity and spirit. That kind of talk rings hollow, however, when the third string still is cooling its heels on the sidelines late in the second half of a lopsided game.

High school coaches routinely drill into their players that it’s a privilege to represent their schools in interscholastic competition. The coaches also represent their schools. And they have been given one of their community’s greatest privileges - to mold its children into a team, win or lose, that everyone can view with pride.

A coach who can’t control himself or who sees success only in terms of wins and losses rarely achieves that goal.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = D.F. Oliveria/For the editorial board