There are so many ethical dilemmas in high school sports that earning a teaching credential or gaining life experiences from participating in sports won’t always provide a clear path on how to proceed.
And when you bring in rules and regulations set forth by the California Interscholastic Federation, the state’s governing body for high school sports, everyone has an opinion or complaint — especially when there is a perception of inconsistency in how punishment for a rule violation is assessed.
It really comes down to how coaches hold themselves accountable and what a principal believes in supporting. For example, some principals have dismissed coaches for using profanity. Others do nothing.
Here are some of the ethical questions administrators, coaches, parents and players now face:
If cheating is wrong, how come so many cheat?
Should a player who transfers and has superior talent immediately get to start over a player who has been in the program for three years busting his butt?
How do you figure out when it’s OK to share playing time at quarterback if you have two good players or even three?
When is it OK for a parent to ask about their son‘s or daughter’s playing time, if ever?
How important is winning games compared to team grade-point average?
What is the most appropriate punishment for showing up late to practice?
What is a legitimate excuse for missing practice?
When should a coach allow players to wear whatever shoes they want compared to having one universal shoe and color?
Why are coaches allowed to use profanity but players can’t?
Why can’t coaches welcome multi-sport athletes instead of seething when they have to miss an offseason game?
Should benching a player for receiving a technical foul be automatic?
Should a player be immediately removed for committing a personal foul in football?
How much consideration should be given to the parent with money versus the parent with no money?
How much acting is required to pull off a pregame or halftime speech to inspire your players?
How can you teach teamwork and unselfishness for the team but lay low and suddenly go silent when the top player doesn’t follow the example away from the team?
When a parent offers to become an assistant coach, what instructions and guidelines must be imposed to prevent other parents complaining about “daddy ball?”
When is yelling at an official ever appropriate?
When is the margin of victory too large?
Why is it OK to recruit players, then complain when someone else recruits your players?
For years, baseball coaches have broken rules by holding batting practice before playoff games, resulting in teams forfeiting and coaches learning ignorance of a rule is no excuse. That leads to how can a coach receive only a two-game suspension from his district for playing three ineligible players during an out-of-state football game while claiming he didn’t know the ineligible players couldn’t play outside of California when he’s been coaching for more more than 10 years?
Any coach who says “I don’t want to know” where a transfer lives to escape accountability might want to start realizing an entire program can go down when they abdicate responsibility.
Finally, many claim whatever they are doing “is for the kids,” but when is it time for an adult to enter the room and explain the end doesn’t justify the means?
As someone who has seen virtually every kind of behavior, both good and bad, during 50 years of covering high school sports, I can say I don’t have all the answers to many of the questions posed. But when it comes to education-based high school sports. everyone has a responsibility to follow high ethical standards so that maybe a little bit might rub off on their players and help them navigate their future real-life decisions from a position of strength and confidence.
