For more information, contact:
The St. Louis Sports Commission
314-345-5121
bshulman@stlsports.org

ST. LOUIS SPORTS COMMISSION REVEALS
WORST SPORTSMANSHIP MOMENTS FROM 2011

            ST. LOUIS – Jan. 12, 2012 – For the third year, the St. Louis Sports Commission is throwing a flag on poor sportsmanship.  The organization, which coordinates its own Sportsmanship Initiative, has compiled the Top 10 Worst Sportsmanship Moments from 2011.

Through several innovative platforms, the Sportsmanship Initiative creates positive environments for kids to play sports so they remain active and lead healthier, happier lives.  Programs target coaches, parents, fans and young athletes to make youth sports more enjoyable and to reinforce the values of respect, civility, selflessness, integrity and fair play at all levels.

So for an organization that seeks to showcase the good, why single out the bad and the ugly?

Solomon Alexander, director of the Sportsmanship Initiative, says, “Episodes of bad sportsmanship have their place when trying to teach the principles of good sportsmanship.  They serve as a reminder of the behavior no one should exhibit in sports or anywhere else.” 

Throughout the year, Alexander tracks instances of good and bad sportsmanship.  He selects which incidents make the dubious list.  In calling out incredulous lapses of character and conduct, the Sports Commission hopes these moments spur people to reflect on their own approach as a coach, parent, athlete or fan – and shun the type of absurd and outrageous actions highlighted on the list.  “Remembering to do what is right and to act with class ultimately makes sports and society better for all,” Alexander says.

So in that spirit, Alexander and the Sports Commission present the Worst Sportsmanship Moments.  Here are the top (or bottom) 10 from 2011.  Each incident is linked to additional details or video:

#10.  Coach’s wife arrested for changing player grades:  A Chicagoland special education teacher is charged with tampering after she allegedly changes the grades of 41 members of the school’s football team.  Her husband is the team’s head coach.

#9.  Youth coach breaks player’s collarbone:  A Detroit-area middle school football coach puts on a kid’s helmet and challenges a player to tackle him one-on-one.  The 13-year-old takes a punishing blow which breaks his collarbone.

#8.  Three coaches, player charged in football brawl:  Three football coaches and a 14-year-old player are charged with battery of a sports official after assaulting a referee during a game in Sarasota, Fla.

#7.  Family fights security officer at basketball game:  Security officers at a high school basketball game in Charlotte ask a family of three to move to the side of the gym that supports the team’s colors they are wearing.  The mother, father and daughter choose to engage the officers in combat instead.

#6.  Coach delivers pregame profane speech:  A high school football coach in suburban Memphis resigns after delivering a profanity-laced pregame rant that goes viral on YouTube.

#5.  Coach institutes “Hurt Feelings Report”:  A high school football coach and guidance counselor in Buffalo, Wyo., resigns after school administrators learn of the “Hurt Feelings Report” he distributed to players.  If a player took issue with happenings on the team, he was to complete the form which contains several profane and derogatory slurs.

#4.  Dad bites officers at son’s pee wee game:  An Indianapolis-area dad is arrested after biting two police officers at his son’s pee wee football game.  Apparently, the man was upset because he felt his son didn’t get the ball enough in the closing minutes.

#3.  Hockey dad charged after choking coach:  Two youth hockey players start fighting during a game in Minneapolis.  A coach steps in to break the boys up, but one of the dads takes offense.  He yells obscenities at the coach and begins choking him.

#2.  All-out basketball brawl between players, coaches and fans leads to arrests:  Baltimore police are called in to break up a fight at a high school basketball game between players, coaches, fans and parents.

#1.  Team places third, coaches burn trophies:  The coaching staff of a New Canaan, Conn., youth football squad did not like the team’s third-place finish this season.  The kids each received a trophy recognizing their participation in the league.  After the awards banquet, the coaches take the kids to a nearby park and have them throw their trophies onto a pile.  The coaches then pour gasoline on the pile and set the trophies on fire.

While the Sports Commission annually draws attention to the bad and the ugly of sportsmanship, it also is focused on celebrating all that’s right in sports.  The organization produces the National Sportsmanship Awards, a one-of-a-kind event that recognizes the best sportsmanship stories, moments and people of the past year.   Showcasing extraordinary examples of class and character from across the country, the 2012 National Sportsmanship Awards takes place on Nov. 17 in St. Louis.  The public can nominate remarkable acts of sportsmanship at www.stlsports.org/awards.

Throughout the year, the Sportsmanship Initiative produces several programs that inform and inspire those involved in youth sports.  This Saturday (Jan. 14), the organization will produce its annual St. Louis Youth Sports Summit at Maryville University.  The free event is a forum for coaches, parents and league administrators to connect with national and local experts on ways to improve youth sports.  Participants come away with valuable tools, knowledge and resources to help kids enjoy and stay involved in sports.

The Sports Commission has been recognized nationally for its role in promoting sportsmanship.  Last year, the Sports Commission was selected by the Institute for International Sport as one of 20 American organizations that have enhanced the national consciousness of the importance of sportsmanship and have made significant contributions to the practice of fair play.  The list of 20 included ESPN Outside the Lines, Little League Baseball and Softball, the NAIA, the NCAA and USA Today.

The St. Louis Sports Commission is the privately funded nonprofit
organization that benefits St. Louis through sports.

Its mission is to make the St. Louis region a better place to live, visit, work and play through sports.

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