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Competing with Class by Joe Bean and Layton Shoemaker

Say someone asks you, “What does it mean to compete with class?” Initially, you might struggle for an answer.  That’s because it’s usually easier to think of competitive scenarios in which someone lacks class.  Refusing to slap hands after a match because you lost, for instance, lacks class.  But if you do slap hands after the loss, is that enough to say you have class?  After all, everyone, or nearly everyone, slaps hands after a match, right?

So, just what is class?  We suggest that it’s a hard concept to define or explain but that we recognize it when we see it.  Let’s get some help with nailing this down.  Ann Landers, from newspaper advice column fame, wrote an excellent description of the chief characteristics of class.  Here are some basic tenets, adapted to sports, based on her description:

• Class always respects teammates, coaches, officials, and spectators.  It always sacrifices self for the greater good of the game.
• Class oozes with confidence, never cockiness.
• Class has an element of pride without being proud.
• Class has nothing to do with status, position, or wealth.  It bespeaks an aristocracy that has nothing to do with ancestry or accomplishments.  Some wealthy “blue bloods” have no class, while individuals who are struggling to make ends meet are loaded with it.
• Class knows you need not extinguish another’s candle in order to let your own shine.
• Class does not need credit for getting the job done.
• Class is never self-seeking and always looks for ways to praise others.
• Class is void of excuses.  It learns from failure and moves on.
• Class is doing unto others, as you would have others do unto you.
• Class has a sense of humor and knows that laughing at oneself is essential for positive well-being.  Laughter lubricates the machinery of human relations.
• Class cultivates good manners, recognizing them as a series of small, inconsequential sacrifices.
• Class is equally comfortable with nobility and the blue-collar crowd.
• Class is authentic.  It loathes duplicity.
• True class has no rivals.  If you lack class, whatever else you have is inconsequential.

When you think about it, hundreds, maybe thousands, of sport-related examples can be plugged into these common tenets of being a person with class.

      The challenge to coaches is to carefully assess the importance of developing and sustaining class as one of the most important ingredients in creating and maintaining a successful program.  Maintaining class is more important that winning.  Somehow when we learn how to win or lose with class, the final score becomes far less significant.  It’s a case of process taking priority over product.  Often when we become product driven, the product becomes distorted or compromised.  Maintaining class is a continual process.  It will influence the product, but is never compromised by the desire to win or to be the best. 

      When asked what she would consider a classy coach, one woman responded without hesitation, “Someone who doesn’t wear a sweat suit to work every day.” Wrong.  Class has much less to do with appearance than with actions.  Some of the classiest coaches never won a conference championship.  In fact, some of them lost more games than they won.  But they were and are the types of coaches that all soccer coaches should emulate.

      Consider the examples of Hall of Famer and former coach Irv Schmid of Springfield College and one of his protégés, Alden “Whitey” Burnham of the University of Delaware and Dartmouth College .  While playing at Springfield , Whitey learned from his mentor not only the rudiments of the tactical approach to the game but also the style of coaching Irv possessed and modeled for his teams.

      During a game, Irv sometimes looked disinterested in what was going on.  He would sit impassively on the bench, not raising his voice or yelling instructions to his players.  He rarely questioned a referee’s call.  His teams were always completely under control and well schooled in the fundamentals.  They were never out of any game.  Over the years, Springfield College won many more games than it lost and was always among the best teams in New England .

      As for Whitey Burnham, to know him is to love him.  He exudes class in every way.  He’s polite, gracious, articulate, and witty.  A gentleman’s gentleman.  Coaches who have played against Delaware or Dartmouth teams will tell you that Whitey was as classy a coach as his mentor.  Although his teams were not always above .500, Whitey always maintained class in his coaching style.

Integrating Class with Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct

     Sportsmanship and ethical conduct must be integrally linked.  It would be nice if they were linked in a way that made it impossible to have one without the other.  Unfortunately, this isn’t the way it always works.  For example, in soccer it’s considered good sportsmanship to knock the ball out of bounds when a teammate or opponent has been injured but the official has allowed play to continue.  We also consider it good sportsmanship when play is restarted to restore possession to the team that knocked the ball out of bounds.  Although this sort of behavior shows class, it should not be confused with ethical conduct.

      Say the team that knocked the ball out of bounds to show respect for the injured player also engages in extra shirt tugging to gain an advantage.  They view it as part of the game and rationalize their conduct as acceptable because everyone does it.  This might be viewed as some as poor sportsmanship, but it’s really inappropriate ethical conduct because it’s an intentional, overt violation of the rules.  It’s done with the intent to gain an unfair competitive advantage.  We suggest that players or teams that have class do not engage in the common practice of shirt tugging.

      Another example is the tactical foul.  It’s common practice to take opponents down when, through exceptional play, they have slipped past the last defender but are still outside the penalty area.  Taking these players down shows poor sportsmanship and inappropriate ethical conduct-not to mention a complete lack of faith in your goalkeeper!  In our view, taking players down after they have beaten you is playing soccer without class.

      The example we just looked at raises the issue of situational ethics.  In this kind of scenario, when we take down an opponent on offense before he reaches the penalty area-do we consider the current situation in the game before engaging in such an act?  Would we commit the same act in the first five minutes of the game with the score tied 0 to 0?  How about in the last five minutes of the game when we’re winning 1 to 0?  No matter what numbers you use, once you start considering what you should do based on the score or other situation, the ethics become situation oriented rather than principle oriented.  And that’s wrong.  Class teams and class individuals are principle oriented and are not swayed by the circumstances of the situation.  Taking a player down because he or she has beaten you and might score is wrong on principle, so you shouldn’t do it no matter what the score is.

      Something else you often see are players trying to influence the decisions of officials.  When a ball goes out of bounds over the endline or sideline, it’s not uncommon for a player to raise an arm to indicate the subsequent direction of play with the intent of influencing the official.  Doing this is poor sportsmanship.  Do you ever see players raise an arm to influence the official in favor of an opponent?  Players and coaches should refrain from any behavior intended to influence the decision of an official.  Showing restraint in this area is an example of competing with class.

      As a coach, how do you instruct your players to set the wall?  Almost invariably, players will set the wall closer than the prescribed distance with the intent of gaining a competitive edge.  These situations usually occur within 25 meters (27 yards) of the offending team’s goal.  One must remember that the offending team has just, intentionally or unintentionally, thwarted the opponent’s attack.  Allowing them to organize and structure their collective defense now rewards the offensive team.  They then take additional advantage by setting the wall closer than prescribed.  This is unsportsmanlike conduct.  Those who compete with class refrain from such behavior.

Treating Opponents with Dignity and Respect  

The vast majority of coaches respect their opponents, but the rub comes when they are expected to treat their opponents with dignity.  What does that term really mean when applied to coaching against another team?  Does dignity apply that we are to be condescending or play soft in our games?  That is something we as coaches would never want.

      Actually, the two coincide with most coaching philosophies.  If you respect a team, you will play them hard, fair, and within the rules.  Thus, dignity enters into the picture.  Dignity will show through the esteem your team has for the opponent.  Shirt pulling, tackling from behind, unnecessary delay tactics, and other forms of gamesmanship will not surface during the game.

      There are great rivalries at all levels of the game in which teams fight tooth and nail from start to finish.  Yet at the end of the game, they not only shake hands, they embrace each other.  Think of when Army plays Navy.  These teams respect each other to the utmost.  They play the game for all its worth but honor the traditions of the rivalry.  They meet at the midfield, embrace each other, and proceed to face the attending cadets and midshipmen to sing their respective alma maters.  This wonderful display of sportsmanship and mutual respect is a model for coaches looking for ways to instill tradition and class into their team and league.

Treating Officials with Dignity and Respect

This aspect of a coach’s responsibility is often overlooked.  First, remember that the game can’t be played without officials.  Admittedly, there’s a range of proficiency among the officiating fraternity, and some games might be affected by an official’s lack of correct decision-making or knowledge of the rules.  However, the coach must set the tone before, during, and after the game to ensure that the officials are treated with deference.  If they don’t set the tone, the team might show a lack of respect for the officials, and the game will deteriorate.

      If an official is either unprepared to work a game or shows the inability to handle a game properly, it should be brought to his attention after the game in a calm, constructive manner.  The coach needs to keep in mind that the game is over.  No matter how frustrating the game might have been, it won’t be replayed.  The coach needs to keep in mind that this official might benefit from some honest constructive critiquing of his performance.  If the criticism is communicated in a non-threatening, civil manner, free of profane language, it can benefit your team and the game in the future.  Coaches have tried this, and it works.  Recognizing that you’re dealing with another human being, not just someone in a striped shirt makes all the difference.

      Treat officials, as you want to be treated.  If you do, the game is the winner.  All coaches recognize that there’s a shortage of officials.  We must be grateful for those we have and do our part to help develop more and better ones.

Influencing Positive Spectator Conduct

      As soccer grows in popularity in the , teams need to attend to the fans that support the team, both home and away.  The coach becomes an important element in the proper conduct of spectators.  Of course, the administration of the game should provide game-management restraints, including fencing, ropes, or stands to keep fans from interfering with play.  The coach, however, needs to address any problem with the administration if the facilities available for games are not up to proper standard or fail to provide game safety.

      A spectator statement of conduct should be read over the public address system or printed in the game program before every game.  Proper security personnel should be on hand to ensure that any unruly or overly exuberant fans are controlled.  All coaches would like to see as much support for their team as possible.  They can plan ahead by developing student sections for seating and even organize a sale of team scarves or caps and other positive ways to show support.

Integrating Class with Competitive Recruiting

      When it comes to recruiting, the best advice is an old adage: If you can’t say something good, don’t say anything.  To run down another school and its coach while recruiting a student athlete is unethical and usually without merit.  If you have to resort to undermining another program to gain an edge in recruiting, then you shouldn’t be in the profession.

      Learn ethical and professional ways to impress a young recruit with your program.  Inform recruits of the strengths of your institution.  Introduce them to people they’ll interact with if they attend your institution.  Give them reasons to want to come to your school.  If you spend time bashing another school, your potential recruits will question your integrity and wonder why you’re not saying more about your own institution.  Most young people today are sophisticated enough to assess the viability of a person acting in his or her own self-interest.

Cultivating Team Relationships

     Any successful program is built around solid and meaningful player relationships.  If teammates don’t like each other off the field, they probably won’t respond positively to each other on the field.

      The coach should provide extensive opportunities for players to interact with each other.  Try giving newcomers to the program “big brother” or “big sisters” when they arrive on campus.  These upperclassmen are responsible for welcoming the new players to the team and helping them get oriented during the first weeks.  They help new players acclimate to the campus and find classrooms, the post office, the student union, and so on.  They also aid in the process of building team morale. 

      Another way to build close relationships is to have a team activity, such as a bowling night or golf outing.  Even a group date night that ends with a pizza party can be beneficial.  Coach involvement in such activities indicates to team members the value you place on bonding with your players.  Also try to entertain players in your own home as much as you can and make them feel part of your family.  After all, you are their family away from home.  Remember a team that stays together, plays together.

      In many ways, the coach is an extension of the institution he or she represents.  The coach is exposed to many more people off campus than many other faculty members are.  Think of the number of away games a team has and the many people they encounter.  Restaurant and hotel employees and guests, airport personnel, alumni, parents, prospective students, and many others are assessing you and your program by your behavior.  The right decorum and behavior by your team positively influences the general public’s attitude toward your institution.  All members of the team can become good ambassadors by wearing proper attire, using proper language, and by being polite, helpful, and thoughtful.  Nothing makes me more proud of my team than when I hear, “Wow, what a well-behaved group.  Where are you from?  What sport do you play?” What a good feeling it is to say proudly, “We’re from Wheaton College , and this is our soccer team.” Make public relations a priority for your team.  Class wins friends and influences people!

Ambassadorship

     Soccer is still gaining the acceptance of the American public.  We’ve come a long way, but there’s still much to accomplish toward winning a greater share of the public acceptance and recognition.  You can adopt many strategies to increase public awareness.  One of the best is to conduct your program in a way that shows others that soccer is a sport that they want to be a part of.

      We need to learn from the mistakes of others in the sporting community.  People notice when you do it right.  People also notice when you do it wrong.  Unfortunately, the negative creates an opportunity for the pundits to discredit much of the good being accomplished.

      Coaches have an enormous responsibility to establish and promote programs that are dominated by outstanding sportsmanship and ethical conduct.  Every soccer coach, from the youth level up to the professional, should be a soccer ambassador.  One of the most critical components of this ambassadorial role is the adoption of the highest standards of sportsmanship and ethical conduct.

      The NSCAA sponsors team sportsmanship and ethical conduct granted on the basis of the number of yellow cards accumulated by a collegiate team during the course of the traditional fall season.  The impetus of the awards was for the exemplary manner in which the Messiah College men’s soccer team subscribed to extraordinary levels of sportsmanship during advancement to two final four appearances, these Messiah teams played 49 consecutive games without receiving a single yellow card.  Now that’s setting a standard for conduct that’s hard to replicate.

Leading With Class

      Coaches should always be aware that they’re the ones who establish the atmosphere for the team’s standard of conduct.  Everything the coach says or does is scrutinized, analyzed, or criticized sooner or later.  Thus, it behooves a coach to weigh every word carefully and think through every action.  Your positive example will ultimately be assessed, and you hope your players will respond to your proper example.

      One of the best examples of model behavior was Dr. Bob Baptista at Wheaton .  Bob’s team was playing Lake Forest for the conference championship and the right to go to the NCAA regional playoffs.  It was a home game for Wheaton and closely contested.  Late in the game, Lake Forest just missed what would have been the tying goal.  The game ended with Wheaton winning by a goal.  As Bob checked in with the players after the game in the locker room, he overheard his goalkeeper inform a teammate that he thought the shot by Lake Forest had actually gone in the net and out a hole in the back.  Instead of ignoring these comments, Bob inquired further and took the player to the field to check the net.  Sure enough, there was the hole in the net.

      What to do?  Forget it?  After all, Lake Forest had already returned home.  Who would know the difference?  That wasn’t the way Bob Baptista thought or lived.  His sense of fair play and integrity came to the forefront.  He called the Lake Forest coach the next day and told him of the situation.  The Lake Forest coach was willing to forgive and forget.  He thanked Bob for his honesty and was about to hang up when Bob said, “I think we should play the game over.” The Lake Forest told him that he had already collected the equipment from the players plus they couldn’t afford to come down to Wheaton again.  Bob insisted on replaying the game, and to do so Wheaton would come to Lake Forest the next day.  The Lake Forest coach agreed to the replay.  Wheaton won again-now they were the true and justified winner of the game and the valid representative for the NCAA playoffs.

      Talk about delivering the right message to your team.  Wonder why this story has gone down in soccer circles as the all-time example of true sportsmanship and integrity?  The next week Bob had a chance to share the whole scenario with the student body, and he closed his talk by telling the students, “We had a lot more to lose than a game.  We had our reputations as a Christian community on the line.”

      Would you have made the same decision as Bob did?  It’s a good question for all of us coaches to ask ourselves.  One thing is for sure: Bob’s team never doubted his character and integrity; he set a standard of conduct that would never be questioned.  Leading by example-that’s the key!

      Through its ethics committee, the NSCAA has adopted a Code of Ethics and Conduct that contains guidelines for coaches to develop acceptable levels of sportsmanship and ethical conduct.  Although the code is intentionally stated in very general terms, it remains an excellent reference for developing more specific applications.  Generally speaking, the NSCAA recommends adopting a set of inviolate principles to serve as personal guidelines for developing character that produces class behavior.  Remember that principles dictate conduct, and conduct reveals character.  Game situations do not develop character-they reveal it.

Mentoring

      A mentor is an experience and prudent advisor.  To fulfill this important role with his players, a coach must perform a self-evaluation.  First, ask yourself if you’re capable of offering advice to someone in such a way that it will be useful and meaningful to that individual.  Age and wisdom don’t necessarily qualify you to be a mentor.  A person needs to be willing to spend the necessary time to develop the proper relationship with the person being mentored.  If this is the case, a meaningful dialogue can evolve.

      For the mentoring relationships to prosper, a player must open himself.  He or she needs to see in the mentor the characteristics he wants to have in his own life.  This could be the catalyst that causes the player to approach you for this relationship.  Many coaches get to experience having former players as assistant coaches.  These times are great opportunities to guide, influence, and encourage them to become future head coaches.  This is a rich, rewarding experience for any coach, and it is one of the neatest events in a coach’s career.

      During their run to the NCAA Division III national championship in the fall of 2002, the Messiah College men’s team left an indelible impression on the players and parents of their quarterfinal opponent.  The following was posted by a parent of one of the players on the opposing team:

After the CC –Messiah game, I was drained.  This was my son’s senior year, and the loss for a moment, just took it out of me.  Then I was lucky enough to watch what was happening on the field.  Messiah had celebrated, and rightly so.  It hurt, but they earned it, so my hat was off to them.  After the teams went through the line, I saw my son walk away from the others.  He just knelt on the field, spent from the game.  Knowing it was his last game; I wanted to give him a moment alone.  Then something happened that I will never forget.  The entire Messiah team came over to him.  There were handshakes and hugs.  Three years he has battled this team, and even in defeat he had their respect.  There were things said, no taunting as is so popular in sports today, but good things.  And give Messiah all the credit in the world; they had the presence of mind and sportsmanship to do what they did.  My son has told me he will remember that day for the rest of his life and hopes that if he is ever in the same situation he can handle victory with the class that Messiah did.  Wins and losses come and go, but respect for your peer’s lives on long after the thrill of victory or agony of defeat.  This weekend four (let’s call it five including the play-in game) very good teams took the field.  One was left standing.  Give them that credit.  But give the other teams credit also.  There were no easy games.  All games were decided by one goal.  All teams left the field, winner or defeated, with the respect of their opponents.  The south regional was called the field of death.  I see it now as the field of victory, victory for D3 soccer, victory for each team, victory for each player, victory for the fans in support.  Thank you everyone for the experience.

            That is a poignant example of class conduct.  It revealed both the corporate and individual character of the Messiah players.  It should be noted that class conduct of this type is not entirely inherent.  Most often it needs to be intentionally taught, modeled, and encouraged.  When pursued with integrity, players will gradually and more naturally recognize opportunities to implement what has been planted in the core fabric of their being.  What people do is a result of who they are.

            When thinking about the merits of creating, developing and sustaining a class soccer program, it is probably helpful to incorporate thoughts about the alternative.  Clearly, the alternative is to abort the concept of developing a class program.  One might conclude it’s not worth the effort; besides, the rewards are subjective, intangible, and temporary.  For those inclined to think this way, we submit that the most fundamental responsibility of a coach is the development of the character of each player.  The basis of determining success in coaching is measured by the influence the coach has on character development.

Creating a Legacy

            The whole idea of a legacy is to leave something behind that’s meaningful and worthwhile.  Longevity is necessary for a legacy really to take root and be a part of a contribution to the community.  Someone who leaves a legacy has shown consistency in performance over the years, has developed meaningful relationships, has promoted his/her program with enthusiasm and integrity, has provided opportunities for growth and development in players, and has stayed true to his convictions and philosophy.

            Really, when you consider the idea of creating a legacy, it can’t be done.  A legacy must evolve over years, and then history must take over.  History determines whether a legacy has evolved or not.  All coaches can do is their best for as long as they can.  They then must let others determine the legacy question.

            Two fundamental principles must guide the development of a team’s effort to compete with class.  First, follow the golden rule: Do unto others, as you would have others do unto you.  Second, do the right thing, in the right way, at the right time, for the right reason.  Assessing all conduct on the basis of these two principles leads to positive results with enviable consistency.