Sportsmanship and Ethics in Middle and High School Sports

by Susan Mullane, Ph.D.

ExtensionActivities

Review the concepts of sportsmanship and gamesmanship (see definitions), and right – right ethical dilemmas with students.

• Large Group Discussion
- Create definitions of sportsmanship and gamesmanship
-Ask the group for examples of sportsmanship
-Ask the group for examples of gamesmanship (Barry Bonds, Danny
Almonte)
-Ask the group to discuss their athletic role models
-Be prepared to provide your own examples (Coach Krzyzewski – Coach “K”, Joe Paterno, Dwayne Wade, Cal Ripkin)
• Small Groups –have students break into discussion groups and write a Code of Ethics for playing a specific sport, e.g., football, baseball, or basketball. The code would consist of agreed upon principles/values associated with sports participation and a set of guidelines for proper conduct in that sport. They should discuss how to create it, for whom it is to be used, how to implement it and if it should be enforceable and how.