National Sportsmanship Day to be Celebrated Tomorrow
March 2, 2009 by admin
Filed under general, the latest
National Sportsmanship Day was founded by Institute for International Sport Executive Director Dan Doyle in 1990 after attending a high school basketball game. In the game, one of the coaches instructed a player who was not fouled to take two free throw attempts because he was the better free throw shooter. The player made both shots and his team went on to win. Later, Mr. Doyle ran into the coach who had made the switch. The coach expressed remorse for his action at this game. A discussion ensued and both men realized that in all of the coaching clinics and classes that they had attended through the years, the concept of sportsmanship had never been discussed in detail.
Mr. Doyle reflected on this lost opportunity and set about coming up with a concept to bring sportsmanship awareness to a higher level on a national scale. With the help of senators from his native Rhode Island, Mr. Doyle and others led a 6 month research effort to assess the level of sportsmanship at schools across the country. Based on the research, the Institute that Mr. Doyle founded initiated a series of educational programs promoting sportsmanship via schools and communities.
According to the Institute’s web site, “Since its founding in 1990, National Sportsmanship Day has been celebrated in tens of thousands of schools, not only in the United States but throughout the world, and by millions of students, teachers, coaches and parents.” Their programs are “now considered by most to be the largest and most effective sportsmanship initiative in the United States, if not the world.”
Objectives of National Sportsmanship Day:
- To designate a special day each year during which thousands of student-athletes, coaches, administrators and parents would engage in thoughtful and reasoned discussion about the role of sportsmanship.
- To provide participating schools, clubs, and other athletic organizations with a number of tips on how to successfully celebrate the day. At the core of this important objective is the Institute’s belief that good discussion is fatal to bad sportsmanship, a belief that has been confirmed since watching the many positive results generated by schools who actively participate in National Sportsmanship Day.
- To make participation in National Sportsmanship Day an anchor event which fosters good sportsmanship on a year-round basis.
For more on National Sportsmanship Day, check out this web site: National Sportsmanship Day web site: www.internationalsport.com/NSD/index.cfm
