Sports
AHSAA mandates STAR Sportsmanship
By Griffin Pritchard
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By GRIFFIN PRITCHARD
Sports Editor
Three years ago Dan Washburn, then-director of the Alabama High School Athletic Association, stood before a group of journalists and sports officials to announce the AHSAA’s partnership with the STAR Sportsmanship Program.
“In one game during this (2005) football season we had 51 ejections, and if you don’t think we need a sportsmanship program after going through a week like that, then you just need to come over here and live for a week,” said Washburn during that press conference.
He also admitted later that, even though the program was to be implemented during the Spring of 2006 that it was more of a “recommendation” than a “requirement.”
Nearly three years later, the AHSAA’s views on the subject of sportsmanship changed.
The STAR Sportsmanship program was officially adopted and made an eligibility requirement during the March 12, 2008 meeting of the AHSAA’s Central Board of Control.
“This is a very important step in the right direction,” said Steve Savarese, executive director of the AHSAA and former high school football coach.
The implication of the STAR Sportsmanship Initiative is to begin during the 2008-2009 school year.
STAR Sportsmanship ” which stands for Stop, Think, Act and Replay ” was developed by Brian Shulman, a former Auburn University football player.
“The research we’ve done has been very consistent,” said Shulman.
“Some of the things that folks need to get a grasp on are that the ejections that have occurred in the past have zero to do with ethnicity, zero to do with socio-economic background or where you live. It’s everywhere. It’s a major issue that has changed dramatically over the United States. This is a trend that is unfortunately at epidemic levels.”
According to a press release from the AHSAA’s March 12 meeting: “Students in grades 7-12 must complete the on-line interactive program and meet all other established requirements in order to be eligible for high school interscholastic athletics. A certificate of completion must be kept on file in the school principal’s office along with other eligibility items, including a birth certificate and the physician’s statement.”
Right now, STAR Sportsmanship and www.learningthroughsports.com, has relationships with several states: Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, North Carolina, Kentucky, Louisiana and most recently, Ohio.
“I grew up in the pre-Terrell Owens era,” said Shulman.
“Going around to the different sporting events with my children, I began to hear the same complaints and found out that there was little-to-no solution for the problem.
“What these professional and collegiate athletes don’t realize is that their actions are being seen and emulated a million times by high school, junior high and younger aged athletes.”
According to the AHSAA, ejections during the 2006 football season “ STAR’s first year participating with the AHSAA ” were reduced by 41 percent.
“We had about 90 schools complete the program,” said Shulman. “Prior to the state’s mandate.”
The STAR Sportsmanship program, originally used by the Mountain West Conference, is currently being considered part of protocol for a handful of other conferences and universities across the collegiate sports spectrum, according to Shulman.
“We’ve really seen interesting impacts across the board,” said Shulman. “Dr. (Joe) Morton uses the junior high school and elementary school programs as part of the state’s character development initiatives.”
STAR Sportsmanship, according to a 2006 release from the AHSAA, is funded through the state’s mandated character education law that requires public school students to receive 10 minutes per day of character education instruction.
“Everyone knows that athletes usually initiate the behavior and characteristics of their coaches,” said Morton, state superintendent of education, in that 2006 release. “When coaches demonstrate and stress good sportsmanship, students usually follow. That is why STAR Sportsmanship being in every school is so critical.”
The program was officially launched across the state in October 2005, a coaches companion program “ STAR Coaching “ was launched two months later, in December. That program’s goal is to help coaches teach athletes and parents high expectations for sportsmanship and the dangers of steroid abuse.
“One of the things that we cover extensively in our high school product is performance enhancing drugs,” said Shulman. “We talk extensively about steroids, HGH, creatine and even caffeine. When you start lumping all of these dangerous behaviors together, like pounding six Red Bulls before going to run track or play a down, it’s going to hurt your body in the long run.”
“Alabama was the first state to adopt this program,” said Shulman. “Other states are taking Alabama’s lead.”
Shulman’s STAR Sportsmanship program has a banquet planned today as part of the state’s All-Star Sports Week to honor the more than 90 schools that went through the 2007-2008 athletic cycle without an incident.
In the surrounding areas G.W. Carver, Jeff Davis, Alabama Christian, Central-Coosa, Dadeville and LAMP have all been invited to participate in the event.
“The students, parents, coaches, community, officials and administrators are all working together to provide an uncompromising foundation in support of sportsmanship,” Savarese said in a statement provided by the AHSAA.
The 92 schools that are being recognized as leaders in high school sports, selected by Birmingham-based www.al.com, will receive banners, certificates and eight schools will receive a $1,000 grant.
“We only solve problems that we think we can solve,” said Shulman. “This isn’t like having a cholesterol issue, where you just have to take a pill and it’ll correct itself. This is about changing attitudes and human behaviors “ which is the hardest thing to do.
Robert E. Lee and Stanhope Elmore High Schools, however, didn’t earn an invitation following their late season brawl in 2007.
“Neither of those schools had taken part in the STAR program,” said Shulman. “And it stems primarily from those coaches playing in the same time I did. During those times, parents and youth league coaches taught about sportsmanship.”
As part of the punishment for their mid-season altercation, Shulman suggested to the AHSAA that both teams participate in a STAR Sportsmanship session.
The results of that can be seen in a videoclip on www.mysportsmanship.com, a social networking site designed and ran by Shulman’s www.learningthroughsports.com, the two teams sat side-by-side and discussed ways to resolve conflicts.
“I had the opportunity to speak before Congress during the steroid trials,” said Shulman. “I showed a video of the brawl and then showed the video of the two teams talking things through afterwards.”
Shulman expects the numbers to continue to decrease across the state now that all of the AHSAA’s member schools have been mandated to participate.
“The cruxt of this program focuses on using sports as an outdoor classroom and learning lessons more than winning or losing,” said Shulman.
