The Chronicle: Colloquy Live Transcript

Is Sportsmanship on the Decline in College Sports?

Thursday, May 20, at 2 p.m., U.S. Eastern time

Gyrating in the end zone after touchdowns, yelling at referees, and intentionally fouling opponents have become normal behaviors in professional sports, and they have seeped into college sports too. To deal with the problem, one Division III conference tracks personal-conduct fouls by players and coaches. Is that a good solution? What else should colleges do to promote fair play and mutual respect among their teams?

Charles Mitrano wants to put sportsmanship back into college sports. As commissioner of the Empire 8 Conference, in upstate New York, Mr. Mitrano monitors the unsportsmanlike conduct of its coaches and athletes by tracking the personal-conduct fouls they commit during each game. So far, that emphasis on good behavior has prompted some teams to reduce their fouls. And given the early success of the program, Mr. Mitrano hopes to spread it to the rest of Division III, and possibly the rest of college sports.

Has bad sportsmanship gotten out of hand in college sports? Can tracking personal-conduct fouls discourage bad behavior and improve sportsmanship? What else should colleges do to ensure that their athletes are good sports?

» Bad Conduct, by the Numbers (5/21/2004)

Charles Mitrano, commonly known as Chuck, has been the commissioner of the Empire 8 Conference since August 2001. He previously served as assistant director of athletics at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He will respond to questions and comments on the issue of sportsmanship on Thursday, May 20, at 2 p.m., U.S. Eastern time. Questions and comments are welcome and may be posted now.

A transcript of the chat follows.

Welch Suggs (Moderator):
Good afternoon, and thanks for joining us this afternoon. I'm Welch Suggs, senior editor for athletics at The Chronicle of Higher Education, and joining me is Chuck Mitrano, commissioner of the Empire 8 Conference in upstate New York.

We're here to talk about the decline of sportsmanship in athletics at all levels, and particularly a program in the Empire 8 of tracking "conduct fouls"--red cards in soccer, personal fouls in football, and so on--as a way of making athletes, coaches, and others more aware of bad conduct on the field.

Chuck, what made you decide to start this program?

Charles Mitrano:
Before we begin today's discussion, I would first like to thank two important people at The Chronicle, Sports Editor Welch Suggs, who agreed to do the piece and Jennifer Jacobson who actually wrote the article. Sportsmanship is such a key issue in all levels of athletics and for some constructive publicity to be published on this topic is tremendous. Welch and Jennifer have been great in this effort.

I would also like to thank my Empire 8 membership Alfred University, Elmira College, Hartwick College, Ithaca College, Nazareth College, Rochester Institute of Technology, St. John Fisher College and Utica College. The leaders and coaches of these institutions have been outstanding regarding progressive sportsmanship initiatives. And in a larger context, I would like to thank all of Division III and the NCAA for their outstanding support of the division-wide program. I am proud to work with the great people of this division.

In terms of starting the program in Empire 8, it was a matter of trying to create something constructive and proactive that would serve as an educational tool. Most solutions to poor sportsmanship tend to be reactive in nature. I wanted to do somehting that would really make a difference, that would put sporting behavior at the forefront of our minds and raise the level of awareness. In discussing sportsmanship issues with my fellow commissioner's it became clear this was not just my concern and I felt our program could have apositive impact in th eentire division. The commissioner's of our division are truly great people with the paramount concern going to the welfare of the student-athlete which is why the support has been so positive.

Question from Welch Suggs:
What do you think coaches, administrators, and other college officials should be doing to teach better sportsmanship?

Charles Mitrano:
Education really is the key. I think this program (tracking of conduct fouls) is a great start but by no means does it define sportsmanship. Developing programs that reinforce or reward positive sportsmanship are constructive. I do think that most coaches and administrators truly value good sportsmanship but it is not at the forefront of their minds the way the the x's and o's may be. In addition, sometime in competitive situations we lose our focus and permit unsporting behavior to occur in an effort to win. Having regular discussions about sportsmanship and the value of sportsmanship in competitive athletics and upon graduation are key. I also feel that sporting behavior should be part of a coach's and department's normal evaluation. Engaging your student-athletes and having them become part of the answer is also critical. Having said that, we also must have a strict policy. Young men and women will make mistakes and the policy should address that. It is our jobs as educators to make sure they learn from those mistakes.

Question from Welch Suggs:
How do you draw the line between competitive, healthy emotion in the heat of a game and unsportsmanlike conduct?

Charles Mitrano:
There is a great educator out there named Dan Doyle. He is the founder and executive director of the Institute of International Sport. That is the organization that founded and runs National Sportsmanship Day among many other terrific programs. Dan uses a term called competitive self-restraint which is a great term. I think the key word in your question is healthy. Is intentionally elbowing someone or verbally abusing opponents or officials healthy? Clearly not. Athletes must play hard and play to the whistle and play by the rules. But they also must exhibit self-restraint in the face of adverse situations. Anything that crosses that line is unhealthy and not productive. I do believe that in their mind, every athlete and coach knows when they cross that line. If it means demeaning your opponent, or intentionally causing them physical harm or distress, the line has been crossed.

Question from Welch Suggs:
From the stats you've shown, it looks like conduct fouls really have diminished in most sports in your league. How does merely pointing out those fouls to coaches and administrators convince players not to commit them next time?

Charles Mitrano:
It's really a combination of factors. In Empire 8, we require members to report conduct fouls to the conference office within two business days of the incident. The form we use triggers an educational discussion which is really the value of our process. It requires a coach and athlete to recount the events that led to the infraction and prompts a constructive discussion on the incident. The data are tangible and nice to have, but it is the value of the process that provides the real benefit. It is a deterrent as well. Athletes and coaches know this is being documented, and they are also prompted to be more proactive and preventative.

Question from Welch Suggs:
Chuck, when you began this program of tracking conduct fouls in sports across Division III, you saw a huge range--some leagues have a lot of them, some even less than your league. Why do you think that is? Are coaches and refs doing a better job in some conferences of teaching kids better sportsmanship?

Charles Mitrano:
I really cannot say for certain. I do know that when we (Empire 8) became more proactive and educational regarding this behavior, it improved. There are so many factors that could result in the disparity. I think the value of this process is that it provides context to all institutions. Those who were on the higher end of the spectrum may not have realized it was a problem but now do. And some with fewer infractions were surprised to see they were that low. Now that the baseline has been established, we can really see the benefit of the process and how institutions and conferences respond to their data.

Question from Andrew Mytelka, Chronicle of Higher Ed:
Have you heard from anyone who thinks your approach is a bad idea? If so, what reasons did they give?

Charles Mitrano:
No one has said that to me, but I would imagine some think that. This process has tremendous value--my conference data bear that out. This process aims to improve sporting behavior, create educational discussions with young men and women and raise the level of awareness regarding conduct. All very positive goals and outcomes. How could that be bad? Young men and women learn life lessons through this discussion. When they graduate from college and they disagree with a decision their boss or co-worker has made, will they verbally abuse them or will they seek a more constructive path? This is one very critical way that athletics is such an integral part of an institution's mission.

Question from Welch Suggs:
Yet even despite a couple of years of this initiative, you still had a couple of bench-clearing brawls in the Empire 8 this year--one in basketball and one in baseball. Are kids still not getting the message?

Charles Mitrano:
No one is exempt from bad behavior regardless of how proactive they are, and we are the perfect example of that notion. Young men and women do make mistakes, poor judgments. We all make mistakes, regardless of our age, title or social status--it is human nature. It is our role to make certain they learn from this, mature, and also are held accountable. To have a mentality that, 'since we had a fight, this does not work and we should scrap the whole thing,' is foolish. If anything, it illustrates that this type of program is needed. No great things are easy to achieve, but they are worth pursuing.

Question from Dan Dutcher, NCAA:
Chuck: Your program obviously hold great potential to address a very real and significant problem in college athletics. Could you characterize some of the resistance or impediments you encountered in implementing it in the Empire 8? How did you work through them? What further barriers might be encountered in implementing a similar program throughout Division III or in the rest of the NCAA?

Charles Mitrano:
Anytime there is this type of a program, which is progressive in nature and signals a significant change in a structure--be it the conference or the association--there will be skeptics and holdouts. All of our presidents and athletics directors were supportive of the program. The presidential support is so key. I do not know of any president at any institution of higher education that would not support such a program.

But it is a change and so people go through those stages. Those who were initially skeptics are starting now to see the tremendous benefit one year later. You ask for their support and let the results and program speak for themselves. I stuck to my guns because I was doing what I knew was right, as did my membership. Division III has embraced this program and model and really run with it. We are raising the bar for the rest of the association. I do think all divisions should adopt this model, and I challenge them to do so. I know some great progress has been made to that end. I realize political atmospheres are different at the upper divisions, but the fact of the matter is that this is the right thing to do, and it produces results. It is such a benefit to student-athlete welfare and sport in general.

Question from Danny Powell, Athletic Director, Hendrix College:
Charles, I'm impressed with your commitment to this cause, and I hope we can expand what we're doing here to help our student-athletes recognize poor sportsmanship and work to alleviate this behavior. However, I have found in our league [editor's note: the Div. III Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference] that our student-athletes generally have great respect for each other and conduct themselves in a very positive way. Fans, on the other hand, are getting more and more difficult to deal with. Does your effort contain any component in it that will address fan behavior and if so, what are y'all doing to address this area?

Charles Mitrano:
Danny, Thanks for the kind words. This particular initiative does not address fan behavior because there are no tangible data to tie to such behavior. However, I do think the same principles could apply. Education and policy. Educate fans on the value of positive support and conduct. Have meetings or e-mail communication with your student body. Engage your student affairs and student government to assist and bvecome part of the solution. Have your student-athlete advisory committee develop expectations that they would like the fans to adhere to and have it printed in game programs and posted in your facility. Game administration staff must be vigilant regarding the policy. In addition, inform fans of the consequences should they break the rules and enforce those rules consistently. These are just a few ways to reach out to fans to try to be proactive but also implemented with policy as needed.

Welch Suggs (Moderator):
As an alumnus of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, I'm happy to hear the folks in Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas, and elsewhere are behaving themselves. Well, it looks like our time is up. Chuck, thanks for your time and good thoughts. Please send any further comments to me at welch.suggs@chronicle.com or to Chuck at cmitrano@Empire8.com.

Charles Mitrano:
Thanks to everyone for their participation today and again, thanks to The Chronicle for providing this outlet. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any further questions or concerns. cmitrano@Empire8.com. I hope you all have a great day.