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Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Good Sportsmanship is the Key to Success On and Off the Field
Raleigh Durham, NC
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Sportsmanship Education is high on Wake County Athletic Director Bobby Guthrie’s agenda. He believes that good sportsmanship creates well-rounded young athletes and help them achieve success both on and off the field. Guthrie’s Sportsmanship Education Program reaches beyond Wake County, and other school systems are following his lead. Guthrie has been Senior Administrator for Athletics and Driver Education since 1995, following a long career as a teacher and coach. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Physical Education and Health and a Masters Degree in Education from UNC-CH.
VYPE: How did your career in sports and education start?
GUTHRIE: Let me just say that the sports/athletics have always been a part of my life. I began playing little league baseball when I was 7 years old, and played through college (UNC). I have coached at the middle school, high school, and college level. My parents started me in sports; my wife has always supported me in sports, and I have two daughters that participated in sports, one playing tennis, and one as a cheerleader.
VYPE: Did you play sports in high school?
GUTHRIE: I played football, basketball and baseball for Southern Alamance High School (Graham, NC).
VYPE: As athletic director for the Wake County School System, what do you see as your top three priorities?
GUTHRIE: (1) When I interviewed for this job, I told the committee that I felt like this athletic director position required being available and accessible. All stakeholders (administrators, teachers, coaches, students, parents) in the school system deserve to have someone that they can get in touch with if necessary. (2) I must know local, state, and national rules/policy and must provide this information to athletic directors at the middle and high school level. (3) Provide, coordinate, supervise, and monitor appropriate athletics staff development. (Examples: Coaching Education, Sports Medicine Symposium, Rules sessions, CPR/First Aid)
VYPE: Looking back, what are the biggest changes you have noticed in high school sports?
GUTHRIE: Depends on how far you look back. If I look back to when I was in high school in the late 60’s, I would say that women’s sports opportunities are so much greater now. There are so many women’s sports now, and women are played at a very high level.
VYPE: What are the biggest challenges facing high school sports today?
GUTHRIE: (1) Funding is a major challenge as costs are increasing for everything (uniforms, equipment, officials, transportation, field maintenance, etc). (2) Finding coaches and finding coaches with the proper experience is getting tougher. Years ago, all coaches were teachers at your school. Now many coaches are non-faculty coaches. (3) Sportsmanship is a big concern locally, statewide, and nationally. Interscholastic athletics is different from collegiate and professional sports.
VYPE: How do kids benefit from being student athletes?
GUTHRIE: Students participating in interscholastic athletics benefit in so many ways. Being able to practice and play as a team member is so much fun. Interscholastic athletics provides an opportunity to develop life skills, a healthy lifestyle, sportsmanship and citizenship. Student/athletes have higher GPA’s, less absences, graduate from school, and less discipline referrals.
VYPE: You have identified Sportsmanship Education as part of the Wake County Public School System’s mandate for character education. Tell us about your efforts to implement sportsmanship education.
VYPE: What is sportsmanship education?
GUTHRIE: It is learning about sportsmanship traits and their link to good behavior so they can be practiced in play. It is learning about expectations of administrators, coaches, players, cheerleaders, and fans during an athletic event. It is learning that an individual can control choices concerning his/her own behavior, and that such control is worthy of praise and respect. It is using co-curricular activities to promote understanding. It inspires development of good sportsmanship traits among all students.
VYPE: What led you to get such a program started?
GUTHRIE: When I started in this job in 1995, I saw that the NCHSAA provided high schools with a lot of information on sportsmanship, but there was not anything being provided for middle school athletics. So we began a Middle School Sportsmanship Education Program at that time that included brochures, posters, and cards. This information is also shared with high schools now.
VYPE: What is good sportsmanship?
GUTHRIE: Good sportsmanship is a commitment to fair play, ethical behavior, and integrity.
• Play fair, take loss or defeat without complaint, or victory without gloating
• Treat others as you wish to be treated
• Respect others and one’s self
• Impose self-control, be courteous, and gracefully accept the results of one’s actions
• Display ethical behavior by being good (character) and doing right (action)
• Be a good citizen
VYPE: Why is good sportsmanship important in high school?
GUTHRIE: Tim Stevens, News and Observer sports writer, says it best “without sportsmanship, high school athletics is done.” Sportsmanship education is needed to teach students the differences between middle and high school athletics (interscholastic) and athletics at higher levels. Sportsmanship is the most important concept or value in sports.
VYPE: Who are your own role models in sports?
GUTHRIE: I played baseball at UNC under Coach Walter Rabb (inducted in the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame), and coached baseball with Bill Brooks (inducted in the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame) at UNC Wilmington. Both of these men had such great character. They encouraged all players to do things the right way and to always act appropriately. Their teams played as a team without individual attention.
VYPE: Look into your crystal ball and tell us what you see in the future for high school sports in Wake County (and the entire Triangle area)
GUTHRIE: I want everyone to realize the importance of interscholastic athletics. I want everyone to realize that what coaches are doing with these students on the fields, the courts, and in the locker rooms is no different than what teachers are doing in the classroom. Coaches, like teachers, are so influential in the school experience. It is our intent to maximize the positive outcomes that a student experiences in athletic competition and preparation for competition in later life.
In order to reach this vision, everyone (coaches, athletes, parents) is accountable. Coaches must follow all National Federation and North Carolina Coaches Association Code of Ethics, and students and parents must sign and adhere to the NCHSAA Student-Athlete and Parent Pledges.
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