At times, I find the transition from philosophical readings to the applied real-world rather convoluted. However, as a sport coach and a believer in the overall advancement of sport, conceptualizing the unique ideas of ethical sportsmanship and fair play as an educational tool holds great value. My responsibility as a coach does not only encompass proficiency as a leader and motivator, but also an educator. I strive to provide an environment for young athletes to establish moral responsibility and respect toward the devices that govern their actions, both within the sporting and real-world environment. After immersing myself with each of the authors’ works, I have asked myself: What is my moral obligation as a coach? How can I instill ethical guidelines among my players?
I believe the answers lie within the work of Fraleigh, Pearson, and Loland. Fraleigh gives great insight into the importance of prescribed and proscribed rules that allow participants to pursue the “pre-lusory goals of the game” (p. 187). Furthermore, he also demonstrates why the “good foul” violates the agreement of a sports contest. As Fraleigh set the foundational course of rules, Pearson defined the purpose of athletics and conjoined two forms of deception (strategic and definitional), determining whether or not they were deemed unethical.
Although I find Fraleigh and Pearson vital to understanding the basic outline of what ethics constitute, I find myself especially captivated by the profound ideas Loland conveyed within his work. His ideas of discourse ethics, combined with the values of ethos, practice, and fairness is paramount in justifying the importance of educating future generations of sport competitors. Within his work, he created “norms” that ultimately created a moral code of conduct: a norm of fairness and play. His fairness norm stipulated that when participants voluntarily engage in competition, the participants should take honor in the shared ethos of the practice so long as the ethos does not interfere with the basic, ethical principles (p.191). Additionally, his play norm stated that “when voluntarily engaged in sport competitions, play to win!” (p. 191). Furthermore, Loland concluded that in order for participants to realize the moral intuitions that discourse ethics provides, they should engross themselves within the practices of discourse and “cultivate their sense of fair play from within” (p.193). Although Loland asserted the ideas of a fairness and play norm as a moral guideline, the applied component of his philosophical work proves to be a challenge (this is the part I am most interested in).
As I mentioned earlier, I find philosophical work, at times, difficult to simplify into the applied world, but with the ensemble of invaluable information on the issue of ethics, what does it really boil down to? Is it necessary to exhibit a moral obligation in regards to ethics and competition? After much thought, I believe that all sport participants should realize the presence of moral obligation by understanding the ethical guidelines of fair play. That in order to do so, an athlete must look deep down and ask themselves, why do I play the sport? Is it for the money and/or the fame? Or is it because I love and respect the game? If it is for the love of the game, then one assumes that working toward the internal goods of the game is most appropriate.
THE DOORWAY TO REALIZATION
Collectively, Loland, Pearson, and Fraleigh proposed ideas that made me sit back and think about why I coach; more specifically in regards to my moral obligation and my attempts to instill ethical guidelines. Achieving victory is an elating event, however, the road to victory and ‘how’ it is achieved is of great significance. In doing so, it is important that I am there to help my players realize that victory and good sportsmanship should be achieved while ‘realizing’ the experiential value within the game (i.e. hard work, or running successful plays). But as parents and professors reiterate the phrase “we can only show you to the door, you have to step through it yourself”, it is a constant reminder to myself that although I may know how to demonstrate good sportsmanship, or set guidelines of how my team should ethically act, it is ultimately their choice to “step through that door” and realize “the moral obligations” through practice.
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