Honor Thy Opponent

"I have tried to teach them to show class, to have pride, and to display character. I think football, winning games, takes care of itself if you do that." -Paul Bear Bryant

Some good news...

Athletic Management : Momentum Media:

Honor Thy Opponent

In the Bakersfield, Calif., area, the issue of proper etiquette for when a player lays injured on the field took center stage recently. The discussion was spurred by fans of Liberty High School freshman team who became incensed when players from the Frontier High School team did not take a knee after a Liberty player lay on the turf and appeared to be unconscious.

Instead of dropping to a knee in solidarity with the Liberty players, the Frontier team was called to the sidelines--despite chants coming from the Liberty stands calling for the players to take a knee. But according to Frontier administrators, the team was behaving according to protocol.

"The protocol at Frontier High School is to stand respectfully and quietly on the sidelines while the injured opposing player is being attended to," Kern High School District spokeswoman Lisa Krch said in the email to the Bakersfield Californian. "No one is allowed to talk and there is no coaching at that time, either. During this particular incident, the Frontier coach saw an injured player and sent his student athletes to the sideline."

Adding to the discussion was Christopher Meyers, Director of the Kegley Institute of Ethics and a philosophy professor at Cal State Bakersfield, who called the tradition of taking a knee "a terrific expression of sportsmanship and respect."

"I am thrilled to see it moving out of youth sports into high school and collegiate athletics," Meyers said in an email to the Bakersfield Californian. "One of the key values of sports activity is the development and enhancement of character, as revealed in the virtues of honesty, honor and fair play.

"So long as 'taking a knee' is meant sincerely--and by every account, it appears to be--it is a wonderful example of exactly those virtues," Meyers continued. "Student-players should thus be encouraged, but not required, to participate and I would hope coaches would embrace the character-building opportunity it affords."
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On a positive sportsmanship note, after losing to Copperas Cove (Tex.) High School, Ellison (Tex.) High School Head Coach Trent Gregory quickly gathered his emotions and called the opposing players over and asked them to huddle around them. The reason?

"I just wanted to thank them," Gregory told kdhnews.com, "for showing respect to our team and our program and our school."

Gregory also shared words of encouragement as Copperas Cove prepared for a potential District 12-6A championship-deciding game in the coming week. The move caught the Bulldawgs off guard.

"That has never happened to me before," Copperas Cove senior linebacker Michael Sumrall said. "That is good sportsmanship. It shows that he doesn't just care about himself and his team but that he cares about others, including his opponents."

"It is not always about wins and losses," Gregory said. "We always want to win, but it is about growing young men with character to have respect for each other."

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