Coaches Need Training Too, With Civility Added

In an attempt to control win-at-all-costs coaches given to vulgar language and poor sportsmanship, a south Orange County school district is offering classes in civility.

The “Pursuing Victory With Honor” class is part of a three-day academy designed to steel Capistrano Unified School District coaches for the pressures, responsibilities and liabilities that come with the job. Other classes in the academy range from legal issues on the playing field to detecting performance-enhancing drug use.

The idea for the etiquette class, which has been offered to district coaches seven times since December, has caught on at schools around the state as administrators and athletic directors do battle against boorishness.

Coaching principles are covered in classes within the Los Angeles Unified School District, where officials are seeking more funds so the scope can be expanded to include sportsmanship. In the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, a neighbor of the Capistrano district, a class dealing strictly with sportsmanship is about a year old.

“High school sports cannot just be about the final score,” said Roger Blake, assistant executive director for the California Interscholastic Federation, which oversees all high school sports in the state. “We have to remind these people that the name “Coach” equals “Teacher.” We do not accept disrespectful behavior and inappropriate language in a math class, so why is it acceptable in the gymnasium or on the football field?”

Tom White, Capistrano Unified’s athletic director, kick-started the drive to teach and reinforce sportsmanship after witnessing dozens of ugly incidents on the field.

“Many of the best learning experiences were being overshadowed because coaches, players and parents were losing their perspective,” said White, a former athletic director and track coach at Capistrano Valley High. “It was difficult to see a lot of the good in high school athletics.”

Beyond the visible flare-up of the enraged coach or the parent who gets into a fistfight, White and others say, they are concerned about the overall climate of the playing field.

During Tuesday’s class at San Clemente High, a Capistrano district school, most coaches agreed that many in their field have forgotten the true meaning of sports. They exchanged stories and talked about the latest displays of less-than-dignified behavior in professional sports and even the ongoing Little League World Series.

The class is free-form to a degree. Coaches participate in group discussions, going over examples of acceptable behavior and coming up with a definition of good sportsmanship. They are lectured on the virtues of “doing the right thing.” And, finally, they are given a sportsmanship handbook.

Already, the school district appears to be coming down harder on coaches who disrespect their players. In the past school year, a coach was disciplined for abusive language. That coach has since taken the class.

Athletes and parents in Capistrano Unified will also be held more accountable for their actions. Starting this school year, coaches, athletes and parents will sign a code-of-conduct form emphasizing six pillars of character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship.

Spectators are also being watched. The South Coast League, composed mostly of Capistrano Unified schools, is instituting a strict policy to deal with unruly fans.

But the emphasis is indeed on coaches and their behavior, White says. Since last year, the three-hour class has been optional for coaches. But the course might soon become mandatory. The superintendent is expected to make such a recommendation to the school board by March.

As for the Newport-Mesa district’s sportsmanship class, which is required of all coaches, district officials said the move was sparked not by any major incidents but an accumulation of complaints.

“There were rumblings of parents out of control, trash-talking at basketball and football games by players and coaches not treating students humanely,” said Mike Murphy, Newport-Mesa’s student services director. “A lot of those calls go to the board members, so they were all behind it.”

An attempt to make the Victory with Honor classes mandatory for all coaches in the six-school South Coast League failed when some schools balked. White hopes every Orange County coach will take the class before stepping onto the field.

“If we’ve got people from Fountain Valley, Trabuco Hills and Garden Grove all talking the same language, it could be very powerful,” White said.

Ken Nedler, a girls’ basketball coach at Aliso Niguel High, another Capistrano district school, said the class objectives are worthy--especially now.

“This winning-is-everything mentality permeates our society,” Nedler said. “Look at what’s happening at Arthur Anderson and Enron. We need to start looking at what’s right and wrong, not what gives us the most success.”

Nedler said the class didn’t necessarily enlighten him, but it reinforced his belief system. Last year, that system was tested when six of his players admitted drinking during a road trip. Though a critical late-season game loomed, Nedler suspended the players.

His team lost the game, costing the school a playoff berth. Though painful, Nedler said, the decision taught his players a lesson.