Garrett Butler

HHP324
Professor Buchanan
8 March 2016

Ethic Coaching
Ethics; a branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human
conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and
to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions
(Dictionary.com). I think more so than ever our country and our world is living
on an ever changing ethical world. Meaning we may go about one thing a
certain way this day and then wake up the next day with new ways about
going about it. In reality, change doesnt really happen that fast, but to some
it does whether it is for the better or the worse. For the last several years the
United States has faced multiple ethical issues that involve each citizen of
the United States. Racism in our country still exists to an extent where
violence has happened. After several attacks, either on U.S. soil or abroad
Muslim people/countries have been involved in ethical issues. In the last
year Obama allowed several immigrants from Mexico to become citizens of
the U.S. raising the issue of whether it is right or not to allow the immigrants
in the country. Lastly same sex marriage was passed after a long battle in
the Federal Court system and with the Supreme Court. All of these issues
have had an effect on everyone especially people that are leaders in their
work field or any organization. More leaders in todays world are being put
under a micro scope everyday whether they are the president, manager,

coach, captains, news analysts and etc. Thus is the reasoning to the increase
in ethical firings, releases, resignations and cuts.
For coaches a majority of their ethical issues have to do with players
breaking a school rule, league rule, team rule and sometimes the law. In
some cases they will face some problems that have to do with a persons
skin color or their sexuality; however, those few cases can lead to very harsh
consequences and publicity due to the state in which our country is in. I
believe that there are a few amounts of coaches in this country that will
allow their kids to get away with breaking a rules and not have to face
consequences, but the other coaches, hopefully the majority, do not allow
their kids to break rules of any kind and make them face the consequences
of their actions. A concept in which I believe in is that the discipline or good
ethics of the team depends on how the coach coaches the team. For
example if the coach teaches his baseball players on how to be discipline at
the plate during the games could that carry over into school where they
understand that they have to be disciplined in their school work to get good
grades. The teams that reach greatness are often times seen as a team that
has respect for the game and the process in which it takes to when the
game; as one coach put it if you do not treat your wife well then do not
expect to be treated well either.
In response to the questions both of the coaches that I interviewed
explained how they tried to keep their personal morals and ethics strong and

try not to break away from them. Both realized the importance in the sense
that it was important to stick to the rules and ethics that they believe in and
instill in their players. If the coaches broke or curved around their rules they
knew that it would only have a negative impact on their players and their
view as a coach. To help build a good culture from ethics its a good idea to
think about them like in The Ethics of Sports Coaching: Emphasizing how
sport impacts character requires ethical reflection and evaluation from both
(morally) good coaches and (morally) good athletes, and for both athletes
and coaches, such a goal involves embracing a complex process that
includes education, training, instruction, reflection, practices experience and
emulation (Hardman and Jones, 2011, p.79). Reflection on ones self is an
underrated technique for coaches and players to use in order to get better.
When teams practice or play games, more often than not, they will film the
games or practices to help them understand visually what mistakes were
made; however to make full use of the video the players and coaches should
reflect on what they did wrong, why they did it and how to fix it. For all of
that to happen the coach has to instill the drive in his players to want to
watch film. As a coach during the film reflection is a great opportunity to
show encouragement to all players and not just the stars. In particular, it
asks those who coach to reflect upon, and develop a self-awareness of, how
their own character impacts those they coach (Hardman and Jones, 2011,
p.79), by showing that you care and are proud of everyones great moments

whether in practice or games creates a team environment of each player

congratulating each other on their play.
When one of the coaches I interviewed started her first head coaching
job she had to reflect on what ethics that she wanted to be seen through her
and eventually seen through her team. To say that she still has the exact
same ones to this date would be hard to believe because young coaches
develop just as much as they developed as a player. This coach believes so
much in building an ethically great team and sets high expectations to keep
them strong. In one of the answers she described how she tries to build an
ethically mind for each of her players: As a coach I regularly evaluate what
my personal values and standards are. I reflect on what my beliefs are and
how they match up with the program I am involved in. Twice a year I get the
team to do the same, for their individual standards and values as well as our
programs (Coach 1). She goes on to explain that one of her biggest issues is
players breaking team rules one by one, specifically towards their classes
and overall GPA. When her players come close or do break the rule by a little
bit they believe that they will be an exception. However, as the coach
understands that no exceptions can be given because it would look bad on
her ethical views. If she would to make an exception the door would be open
for others to break the rule and be comfortable knowing that they could most
likely get away with it. The main priority of the coach, based on a
MacIntyrean conception of sport as a practice, should be the initiation of
persons into their sport in ways that emphasize those appropriate customs

through which internal goods are to be pursued (Hardman and Jones, 2011,
p.74). By the coach emphasizing good GPA standing on her players she is
pushing them to be successful so that they may accomplish internal goods in
the academic field of their life. Adding on to the issue that the coach faced,
she made the point that in our society today the people that commit their
actions will own up and apologize for them, but will not want the
consequences that come with them.
I believe the coach did the right thing by staying firm to the teams
rules on GPA standing. There are several reasons why the coach made the
right decision to stand by the rules. One it helped the player understand that
being a part of the team meant more than just on the field interaction, but
also academic standing throughout the semesters. Two, the issue shows to
the rest of the team that the coach takes the teams rules serious no matter
who it is. Three, the other players will in the future push themselves to be
successful in the class room so that they do not have to be in the same
situation as their teammate. In some instances where an issue like this
happens to a team and a coach handles it in a professional way and show
that they are doing it because they care about the player, then the player
will possibly play harder for the coach and be experience to help players that
come in after them. In the book The Ethics of Sports Coaching it explains how
caring can influence athletes: Through caring about sports and
demonstrating personal interests, the coach is more likely to influence

athletes to value the pursuit of particular kinds of goods and virtues of sport
(Hardman and Jones, 2011,p.80).
As a student athlete I admire how both of the coaches I interviewed
exemplified strong ethics and effort to keep those ethics strong throughout
their coaching career. Successful coaches in todays sports worlds have a
strong foundation in ethics. Coaches that are at the highest level in sports
are put to the test everyday on how they handle incidents, comments
towards their team and how their team acts towards the media. The coaches
that can accomplish success not only on the field or court, but also in the
ethical field attract players to their program.
As years go on more and more ethical problems will be placed upon
coaches and a bright spotlight will be shined on how they handle the
situations. I believe that coaches will continue to see pressure on them
because of the ethical state that the country is going through more so than
actual success on the field or court. For future coaches to be it will be crucial
for them to become more knowledgeable in how to handle or avoid ethical
issues that they may not approve of. Many coaches today grew up in a
different ethical time period than the athletes they coach; especially at the
college and high school level. Therefore, coaches act a certain way because
it has been the norm while they grew up and now that norm is gone or has
been changed to a different norm. So for success for coaches to be ethically

great coaches they need to be coached themselves on how to teach the right
ethical ways from the wrong ways.
Work cited
Hardman, A., & Jones, C. R. (2011). The ethics of sports coaching. Milton
Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
(n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2016, from http://dictionary.reference.com/