This is likely to be more of a sermon than anything, definitely preachy. It's not a pat-myself-on-the-back thing though...first because I'm secure in my personal ethics, second because I'm not involved in this directly--I just know the story.
When we think of leadership, we have a natural tendency to think vertically:
VP of Student Affairs ->Athletic Director -> Coaching Staff -> Athletes
(sub in principal for VPSA as necessary)
This is natural because that's how schools have their levels of responsibility set up, the 'table of organization'. But just because that's the existing power relationship organization--that's not really about leadership, is it?
Leadership also exists within a rank--based on experience, potentially on a previous relationship. And (SADLY), leadership is often given without merit to individuals in prestige programs simply because they have a large budget or success in the wins column. But again--does that constitute leadership?
So here's a story...no names, pronouns mixed around to avoid identities, etc, etc.
There's a new coach. He takes over a program. (Let's call him Coach Chachi). Coach Chachi has a ton of personal playing and club training experience but has never been a school coach before. Chachi gets hired, steps in, and goes gangbusters with practice, conditioning, recruiting--the works.
Along the way, Coach Chachi has broken the organization's rules about practice and recruiting. The breaks are a ways over the line. You are a coach. You know about this because Coach Chachi has posted video of recruits and practices that are violations to social media--no effort to hide the violations.
A couple rival coaches, Joanie and Ralph, are aware of the violations. They are both experienced coaches. There is a coach from a different college organization (Potsie) who is aware of the violations. Finally, there's Fonz. Fonz knows of the allegations from Joanie and Potsie but has not seen them for himself.
So what do you do if you are Joanie and Ralph?
What do you do if you are Potsie?
And what if you are the Fonz in this?
Does it matter that Potsie is part of a different organization (NCCAA, NAIA, NCAA(1-3), NJCAA)?
The real answer: No, it shouldn't matter. Ethics and integrity are not situational, they are not about organizations--and they are never fungible/shifted for personal advantage. That is not quite how real life worked with these coaches. The key coach here is The Fonz in real life.
Joanie and Ralph--they said nothing to the new coach. Instead, they began documenting the violations to report to the governing body. This way if it affected recruiting/they lost a kid to Chachi's school...they could slam the school with cheating reports. Even when seeing Chachi face-to-face, no comments made, only polite, friendly banter. No mention at all of the violations underway.
Potsie, too, knew they were violations because he had coached for that governing body, but rather than say anything, decided "Not my problem, the best way to learn is the hard way." Of course, it may matter that Potside recruited kids from the club program Joanie served as senior advisor to. Maybe not.
Fonz took a different course. He called Chachi. They had not yet spoken. During the intro phone call, Fonz offered to help 'show the ropes' in terms of rules. Chachi asked for an example. Without referencing Chachi's program--Fonz mentioned a sample violation (one that Chachi committed). Chachi's response? "That's a violation? Holy $%^%...I did that." Quickly, Chachi was asking about other things--and still without referencing Chachi's program, being accusing (even in passive aggressive form), Fonz was able to work Chachi through the rules to follow. The short intro call wound up lasting 90 minutes.
Immediately, Chachi reversed course and ceased all of the violations and even mentioned what he did to the governing body which, rather nicely, said "Great, no benefit gained--just don't do it again."
Even though it's a competitor school, Fonz just saved Chachi's bacon. Why? It's clear Joanie and Ralph weren't going to and it's easier to win with fewer good teams to compete with.
The answer is obvious--but uncommon to see in action: Ethics and integrity should take precedence.
Four coaches--one doing the right thing. I'd like to think the percentage would be higher. I'm scared it's lower. In this instance, knowing the story, I'm not really surprised at any of the reactions. The saying goes--a leopard doesn't change his spots.
But...that's not true. Coaches work daily on getting better, learning more techniques and strategies, hitting the recruiting trail. Why not do an 'ethics-check', see if you're in it for the right reasons (especially youth sports)? Why not take the time to help/mentor a newer coach regarding rules and procedures?
Who would you want on your friends list from the coaches above? Which coach would be the one you feel most secure sending your child to play for as a parent?
***
Finally, this is just one story. Coach long enough and you know more. It's not something limited to NCAA D1 or to NJCAA--limited ethics in coaches is a scourge across sports and age groups. It saddens me, disgusts me...mostly the coaches who knowingly break the rules, putting the scoreboard's result above all else.
I don't have much power to change it on my own--all I can do is call it out, ask others to do likewise and then model good behavior for the players I coach, their parents, my assistant coaches, and everyone else around my program.
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