"Spirit of Sport," editorial written by Jim Pitts, for the Amherst Bulletin.

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A group of citizens in Amherst have begun a process to guide the culture of sports activities in our community. When it comes to sports "there is an elephant in the room." The elephant competes for space and attention and sometimes sucks out all the air from the room. This huge presence includes the behavior of athletes, coaches, officials and spectators on and off the fields. It includes the rules of play and how well players, coaches and officials adhere to them. It includes the rewards and spoils gotten as the result of the games' outcomes. It also includes our highest hopes and values and our deep disappointment when they aren't met. In other words, the elephant is the culture of sport.

The culture of sport intersects our lives at various points and on many levels. But, who makes the decisions that define and guide this influential culture? When bad or good things happen, who is responsible and how does the greater community make it's collective voice heard?

We all have our personal stories about sports, our participation or non participation -- both positive stories and negative stories from our youth or as adults, as advocates or critics. More than most endeavors, sporting activities span time lines, gender, race, national origins, religions and class. Just as money is the common language of free enterprise, sport can be a common language of culture and community. Recreation, play, outside activities, and both organized sports and self initiated games are critical components in the development of a child and an important social bonding activity for families and communities.

Yet, with all the evidence of the importance of the culture of sport (values, objectives, behaviors & outcomes) it is neither well defined nor well formulated on a community wide basis. Sports culture is too often taken for granted, left to happenstance, or worse, defined by forces that have agendas not in synch with our highest values and hopes.

Far worse than the loss of joy in sports is the impression left in the minds of some that dysfunctional behavior is the way of sports. A case in point is the "win at all cost" attitude that is taught to our children by many in the media, and by some fans, coaches and parents. Mistakes by players, coaches and/or officials on the field of play are not tolerated and are routinely a target of ridicule. Participation, skill development, teamwork, outstanding effort, sacrifice, respect for the opposition, can all take a back seat to winning at all cost.

Many enjoy high stakes competitive sports and it is not anyone's intention to try to minimize the joy that results from these kinds of contests. Competition is at the heart of sport and it is in the pursuit of winning that gives life to sports play. But the win at all cost attitude is a corrupting influence, particularly in age inappropriate ways.

Our children must play to learn and have fun, not to just win or to perform for an audience of parents and friends. When young children are involved in performance play, they come to think of the opposition as the enemy that is trying to make them look bad in front of an audience, rather than as the competition that enables them to perform at their best.

The dysfunctionality in some areas of sport may begin as young children, but it doesn't end there, as we have all had negative sports related experiences at the high school, college, and worst of all, professional levels of play. But we in Amherst have a process to remedy some of that dysfunction and come together to guide our sports culture.

Over the past year, fifty of our citizens from all walks of life have participated in a process of discovery. It has resulted in a data base of opportunities for change and problems to be solved in the arena of sports right here in Amherst. Young people, top administrators, parents, coaches, academicians and media professionals have deliberated and contributed to this data base. The data was also examined by gender and race.

We are ready to take the logical next step toward guiding and improving the culture of sport in Amherst. A Community- Wide Forum on Recapturing the True Spirit of Sport is being held Saturday, June 11 at Hampshire College. The public is encoraged to join in and tackle head-on the opportunity of designing our sports culture, building from the data collected. Hosted by retiring President of Hampshire College, Gregory S. Prince, the conference's core activity will be in working groups to select those specific objectives that we will work on over the coming year that we want to change or pursue. These objectives will be tangible and measurable.

The process will rely on the use of tools & techniques used by technologist but applied to teamwork and collaboration for community work. There will be a special session for those that want to learn more about these tools and techniques.

The conference is sponsored by the Ultimate Hall of Fame & Center for Cultural Change through Sport. To sign up to attend the conference log on to our web site at: www.ultimatehalloffame.org. When you log-in, view the data base by clicking on Community Dialogues from the menu.

Because of the influence of sports on so many, there may be no better opportunity for us to make social progress than by taking up the challenge of defining our sports programs and resources in the way we want. What better way to get at the issues that plague our society and take advantage of possibilities that elude us than in grappling with the culture of sport. Sign-up today and be a part of designing our future.

Jim Pitts - Chair of the Board, UHF & CCCS

 

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