SWIM. BIKE. RUN.

     The Waterloo Leisure Services Sports Department has taken definitive steps to decrease the instances of unsportsmanlike behavior through its involvement with the Pursuing Victory with Honor campaign to build character through sports.  The focus is directed primarily towards parents.  
    To aid in this endeavor, the Parents Education Program (P.E.P.) was developed in the 2008-09 basketball season.  It is designed to make parents and fans more aware of how certain actions affect the children involved in sports programs.  At least one parent for each child enrolled in an activity is required to watch a 20-minute informational video every two years before the child is allowed to participate in any game situations. (To view the video, visit the web site, www.cedarvalleyathlete.com)
    “We harp on our players to be good sports, we harp on our coaches to be good sports,” said Mark Gallagher, the department’s sports manager, “but we never really have that parent component.  I ran across a video that did exactly what we wanted it to do.”
    Gallagher became aware of the video during a National Alliance of Youth Sports convention.  “It talks about how to act during games, how to act with your child on the way home from games, and if you ever have an issue with a coach, how to address the coach and when the best time to address the coach is.”
    Coaches also view the video.  “Our volunteer coaches love it,” he said.  “It’s made their lives a lot better.  In a round-about way, (the film) enforces for our coaches what we expect of them because it’s telling parents what coaches expect.  Ninety-nine times out of 100 (problems) are all about communication.”
    Gallagher says parents may identify their own level of success through the success their child has.  “And the older they get, the worse it is,” he said.  “We have a baseball program now for second and third graders and there virtually are no problems.  (Bad behavior) gradually works it way up.”
    Coaches are provided training in addition to viewing the film.  “It seems like common sense,” Gallagher said, “but we give direction on how to talk to officials, how to talk to parents, how to talk to children in the age-group they work with.  
    “I think there are so many things that coaches need to worry about, especially coaching kids, that balls and strikes, traveling, double dribbling, holding in football, don’t really matter.  I’ve been around long enough to know that once one coach (gets upset), then the fans believe they are able to follow, then the second team believes they’re getting the short end of it, and it just blows up.  If parents wouldn’t say anything and coaches wouldn’t say anything, kids would hardly know the difference.”
    Gallagher says he has noticed a difference in the number of unsportsmanlike incidents, though luckily there weren’t that many to begin with.  That’s quite a testament considering in 2009, Waterloo Leisure Services recorded 35,768 participants and 305 volunteers working 6,340 hours.
    “The other side benefit we’ve seen is that there is a little more peer pressure now in the stands if someone is acting up.  It has empowered people to step up and say that certain actions are not acceptable.  There probably are some people we won’t reach.  But if we can get the majority going in the right direction, it just makes the experience so much better for kids.”
    Leisure Services is working towards a certification program for coaches, “but it’s a little bit cost prohibitive right now.  We do meet with our coaches before the season.  We used to try to have clinics throughout the season, but time constraints make it tough.  We email out reminders regarding performance and actions.  We have supervisors at each site.  The responsibility we lay on ourselves is we don’t want the kids to have to experience bad behavior.  People can’t always handle their emotions.”
    Officially endorsing the Character Counts! Six Pillars of Character – trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship -- and Pursuing Victory with Honor, all coaches and referees wear shirts with the CC logo on the back.  Banners are hung in gymnasiums.  
    “Schools are the primary place to receive Character Counts influences,” Gallagher said, “but we can reinforce those principals.  We include the logo on all our schedules.  Uniforms will have the logo at some point.  
    “Coaches and players in each division are given plaques funded by the Optimist Club for good character.  Winners are recognized at a City Council meeting.”
    Hellman’s Dairy Queen has partnered with Leisure Services.  “Cones for Character” recognizes children who have displayed good character by given a card good for a free cone.
    Leisure Services continues to focus on “changing the culture of youth sports in Waterloo”.  Gallagher says that with continued coaches training and awards, P.E.P. and further implementation of Character Counts and Pursuing Victory with Honor curriculums, “it is safe to say that our young athletes have never experienced a more positive environment to participate in.”

To learn more about Character Counts! and Pursuing Victory with Honor, visit www.charactercounts.org.  Oct. 17-23 is Character Counts week.