Fair Deal University High Sportsmanship Award Program Encourages Athletes To Uphold Ideals

Following last Friday night’s basketball games between Central Valley and University, boys and girls athletes from both teams were recognized during a sportsmanship medal ceremony.

U-Hi principal Erik Ohlund presented medallions to Bears Courtney Phinney and Bryan Depew, while CV principal Paul Sturm gave medallions to Titans Sarah Steblaj and Jake Roberts.

It was a small token of local respect between rivals, perhaps, but one with farther-reaching implications.

A sportsmanship program begun three years ago at University has become recognized by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association as a model for schools statewide.

U-Hi’s sportsmanship committee was formed following concerns by athletic director Bill Ames. He was appalled at the way his school’s students treated their cheerleaders. Troubling incidents following a heated wrestling match between the Titans and Bears left him disturbed.

“I wanted to enjoy a fine event, but went home and wanted to hang it up,” said Ames. “My wife Mary told me to come up with a solution.”

Last week, he oversaw production of a sportsmanship video that at this time will be shown only to Titan teams and parent groups.

Presentations were made by Ohlund, Central Valley School District Superintendent Wally Stanley and WIAA Executive Director Mike Colbrese to nearly two dozen sportsmanship committee members.

The WIAA is the state governing body for all state high school activities and Colbrese understands the role of sportsmanship when schools gather for a contest. The theme of their organization is “Just Play Fair.”

“It has always been part of our mission,” he said. “It’s been within the last three years we turned up the volume. What University did was take it to a different level.”

“If (Ames) did nothing else but start this committee,” said U-Hi principal Ohlund, “If he did that alone - and he hasn’t - it would be worth it. That is his legacy.”

At U-Hi, the sportsmanship committee is made up of 24 student leaders, representing all school activities, who are responsible for setting the climate at the beginning of each school year during an annual summertime retreat.

Central Valley joined in two years ago. Last summer representatives from other Greater Spokane League schools were included at the meetings. As yet they don’t have similar sportsmanship committees, although one Lewis and Clark parent would like to see it happen.

“I think all schools should do that,” said Janice Goldworthy, whose son Don received a sportsmanship medallion following an LC-U-Hi football game. “It’s a wonderful program.”

Members of the summer retreat are asked to address a simple question: “How do you want your senior year to look?” Establishing a positive school climate is the emphasis.

“People very much know what goes on in a high school by what they read in the papers and see in the news,” said CV superintendent Stanley, who has been part of the program since the beginning.

“They formulate opinions based upon observations of how the student body acts at an event,” he said. “It may be superficial or may not, but how we act in public as a school family, I believe, says a lot about how we act internally.”

The sportsmanship medallion is one means of ensuring a positive public persona. At each U-Hi or CV home game a member of the opposing team is honored for demeanor consistent with good sportsmanship. Giving out sportsmanship T-shirts to supportive adults is another.

Unruly fans are given a yellow card reminding them of the sportsmanship mission of the school.

According to Ohlund, it says, in effect, “Let me not in any way diminish the efforts of our sportsmanship committee by our behavior. Let me act as a model with the kind of behavior I expect.”

Ames said he has given out two dozen such cards in three years, and half of those people have called back to say they would do better.

Cheerleader Lindsay Laughlin, a member of the committee, has noted positive results.

“People are a lot more respectful and involved, and are a lot more united,” she said.

In the eyes of some opponents, the sportsmanship medallion may have seemed hokey at first, but the idea is gaining acceptance.

“I thought that was one of the greatest things anybody’s done,” said Goldsworthy, who emphasised the importance of sportsmanship to her son. “It was so cool that a school would pick someone from another team and do it.”

Beyond the local schools, the idea of sportsmanship and respect is becoming a statewide endeavor. Ames will be part of a nine-person WIAA Just Play Fair committee that will help schools in Washington form programs similar to U-Hi’s.

WIAA committee member Dele Gunnerson already is doing workshops on sportsmanship in Western Washington and has already visited with 1,200 students.

It all began with a call from Ames to Colbrese about his idea for U-Hi three years ago.

“It is a positive example of what could be done,” said Colbrese.

But for all the statewide ramifications, it was the Stinky Sneaker game last Friday between the Titans and Bears where Ohlund most clearly sees the value of the sportsmanship effort.

“For me there is no greater sense of success than to go to a contest where 1,800 students are in our gym sitting side by side and my level of worry is fairly low,” he said. “I love more than everything afterwards to see them come down on the floor and not want to leave because the legacy is they feel good.”