A look at the Unexpected in the 2020 Summer Games

The 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo this past year treated us to some wacky and unexpected things. The event itself was delayed due to COVID-19 so we went in definitely  expecting some things to happen that normally didn’t. Whether it was Simone Biles stepping back for her mental health, a camera boat almost hitting some of the competitors, or Lamont Marcell Jacobs shocking the world and winning Gold for Italy in the mens 100m sprint. We’re going to break down some of the biggest things we saw in this years games.

Mental Health

Before we get into some of the fun stuff, this years games proved to be one that brought a huge issue to the forefront. Simone Biles, arguably the best Olympic athlete of all time maybe excluding Michael Phelps, decided to sit out this year’s Olympics, after losing herself in the air and shaking uncontrollably. She knew that if she continued to compete, she would hurt her team and possibly herself.  

We later learned that what Biles was experiencing was something called the “Twisties.” Basically as a gymnast, you lose yourself and don’t know where you are because of some psychological problems. Biles has come out and talked about how she has gone through a lot mental health wise and she made the bold decision to sit out. She still was a fantastic teammate and sat right there with her team supporting.

The decision was of course met with controversy. Some people applauded her for being so bold while others said she was quitting on her team. What she proved though, was that athletes are in fact HUMAN. They go through the same stuff that us average Joe’s go through. She set the stage for future athletes, saying that it IS ok to put your mental health first, and that you need to be ok first before you can go out and do stuff for other people.

Crazy Events

Some crazy and even dangerous things happened as well in this past Olympics. We take a look at some of the crazier.

Like I mentioned in my opening paragraph, there was a camera boat that almost led to some very dangerous waters. The men’s triathlon was taking place, and a camera boat was right in the way of swimmer’s getting ready to go. The buzzer went off and the boat was still in the way. The boat tried to reverse but it struggled to get out of the way. Luckily, the swimmers that were in the path were able to get out of the way and stay safe and no one was hurt during the incident.

Some fans were worried about German judo star Martyna Trajdos after she was seen being slapped and shaken by her coach. After not making the podium, she joked on social media that the slaps “weren’t hard enough apparently.”

BMX rider Niek Kimmann with the Dutch team collided with an official who was trying to cross the track and suffered a bit of a sore knee.

The Israel Olympic basketball team got in trouble after trying to break their beds in their hotel. They made a Tik Tok with nine guys bouncing on the bed and they eventually broke the bed and it collapsed to the ground. They later came out and apologized even though their original purpose was just to be humorous.

Maria Belen Perez Maurice, who is an Argentinian fencer, had been proposed to in the 2010 games, but rejected Lucas Guillermo. Guillermo asked again this year during an interview, and this time she finally said yes.

Finally in these awkward and crazy events, Annemiek Van Vleuten crossed the finish line of the road cycling race believing she had won the race and celebrated as such. She later found out that had not been the case and she was extremely embarrassed. There were plenty of other crazy and shocking events that happened in the 2020 games.

Unforeseen Results

In every Olympics, there are always winners that we don’t expect, here are some of the biggest.

Lydia Jacoby had already made history by becoming the first Alaskan to ever make the United States Olympic swimming team. She then beat the defending champion in the 100m breaststroke to win Gold and shock the world.

Naomi Osaka, who was the second ranked tennis player in the world, was upset by Marketa Vondrousova (ranked 42nd in the world) in the third round. Vondrousova went on to win a silver medal.

The Canadian women’s soccer team defeated the United States for the first time in 20 years, and won their first ever Gold Medal.

American swimmer Bobby Finke went into the games as not really a favorite in anyone’s books and flew under the radar. After being behind big in the 800m freestyle, he came back and passed the top three swimmer’s in the final 50 meters and won Gold. He was called the comeback kid of the 2020 Olympics after having another later charge to win the 1500m final.

Novak Djokovic was heavily favored to win Gold in 2020 with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal opted to not compete, but Djokovic lost in the semifinals and again in the bronze metal match, and went home medal-less.

The last big surprise was Austria winning its first Olympic cycling medal since the 1896 Athens Games when Anna Kiesenhofer dominated and crossed the finish line 75 seconds before everyone else.

Heartwarming Moments

For our last topic, we explore some of the things that happened and made people go “awww” in the Tokyo Games.

Claire Michel crossed the line in the Triathlon way after every one else and she collapsed on the floor crying as she felt she had let her country down. Lotte Miller, who finished 24th, went over to her and even though they were from different countries, comforted her and told her that she was a “fighter,” and that “she had 100% Olympic spirit.”

Tom Daley, who is an LGBTQ advocate and diver, gave an inspirational speech after to young kids saying that you can achieve anything and that LGBT people are not alone and that people are here to support you.

Tony Hawk was seen taking pictures of skaters at the women’s skateboarding events like a “proud dad.”

Oksana Chusovitina who is 46 years old, competing in her 8th Olympic Games, received a standing ovation after her gymnastic routine as it could very well possibly be her last Olympic Games.

Simone Biles, who we mentioned earlier sat out for her mental health, was the first one seen congratulating Russia for beating the USA as the best team all around.

High Jumpers Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy agreed to share the Gold Medal after both of them cleared a jump of 2.37 meters but failed to clear the next bar. They could’ve gone to a jump off, but agreed to share the medal as now very good friends.

This Olympics showed that even though you are competing, that it is all still love and respect. Both Isaiah Jewett from the United State and Nijel Amos from Botswana fell in the 800 meter semifinal. They helped each other up and embraced in a hug.

The last warming moment was when Japanese Skateboarder Misugu Okamoto fell and dropped from first to fourth place, other skaters helped her up and together carried her off.

This year’s Olympics featured crazy events, social change, unexpected results, and heartwarming moments. That is what these games are for though. It is for the people of this planet to come together and show the pride of their country, and that is what makes these games so special.

Works Cited:

•   Murray , Holly. “What Simone's Step Back Teaches US.” Athletes in Action, 30 July 2021, https://athletesinaction.org/articles/what-simones-step-back-teaches-us/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA-eeMBhCpARIsAAZfxZBdbKWdEz69rlofAFgeIhGl-lVZHR23Xo-z87wSq5zBi-tfimijaIsaAoeKEALw_wcB.

•   Beresford, Jack, et al. “23 Shocking Olympics Moments You Probably Missed from the Tokyo 2020 Games.” Newsweek, 9 Aug. 2021, https://www.newsweek.com/23-shocking-olympics-moments-probably-missed-tokyo-2020-1616924.

•   Smith , Shawn. “Biggest Upsets of the Tokyo Olympic Games.” Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, 8 Aug. 2021, https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/biggest-upsets-tokyo-olympic-games.

•   Lakritz, Talia. “15 Of the Most Heartwarming Moments from the Tokyo Olympics.” Insider, Insider, 5 Aug. 2021, https://www.insider.com/tokyo-olympics-heartwarming-cute-moments-2021-7.

Going for the GOLD; A Comprehensive Analysis of the 2018 as we look to the 2022 Games

By Jon Willis and Dr. Thomas Orr

PyeongChang 2018's vision for the 2018 Games is to offer the Olympic Movement and the world of winter sports New Horizons - a legacy of new growth and new potential never seen before. Its Winter Games plan is one of the most compact in Olympic history, it offers a unique stage on which the world’s best athletes can achieve superior performances. With PyeongChang’s strategic position in Asia, and its access to a young and fast growing youth market, the 2018 Olympic Winter Games will no doubt expose new generations of potential athletes to the power of winter sport. – olympic.org

After this vision for what the Olympics would want to look like, PyeongChang won the voting, receiving 63 total votes, while the next highest city would only receive 25. It was clear The International Olympic Committee (IOC) wanted them to host the 2018 Olympics.

The three main costs that must be tackled to pull off hosting the Olympics are the overall budget for hosting the games, construction costs for temporary and permanent facilities, and infrastructure and transportation projects important to supporting Olympic events. People who think these expenditures are good for a city say it can lead to creating more jobs and it raises the importance and value of the city that hosts it. It will help develop the economy over the long-term, tourism would increase, more recognition worldwide, partnerships, and more.

Opponents of hosting the Olympics often state the economic benefits attributed to the Games are overstated and that local communities put themselves at financial risk due to the commitments associated with venue, infrastructure, and event production.  Opponents also argue that there are better ways to spend public dollars than hosting a short-term mega sporting event and point to recent Olympics (for example, Athens in 2004 and Sochi in 2014) that experienced major cost overruns and elaborate venues with limited or no long-term purpose.

When different countries host the Olympics, they often spend an insane amount of money to build up stadiums and hold the games at these huge venues that have anything and everything a fan and a player could ask for. That can lead to way more money being spent than the IOC probably wanted originally. Negatives of hosting the Olympics would include things like possibly security threats with increased population of people, cost overruns (which we’ve seen a lot), displacement of existing businesses, and transportation and infrastructure for the people that already live there.

Another problem that we can look at especially when we look at the winter Olympics are athletes who play professionally in the USA that can’t/have to choose whether or not to compete in the Olympics. Since the 2014 games, NHL players were not allowed to participate in the Olympics and you can see how that might drop the value of the Olympics especially for American viewers. Especially since these broadcasting companies spend a lot more money to broadcast the Olympics over professional athletics. Now, it was announced that NHL players will be able to compete in the 2022 games which we believe will not only increase the popularity of the Olympics but will also increase the popularity of the players and leagues they go back to, including the NHL in a reciprocal manner that will be a win-win for all parties.  

When we look at overruns, it is something that is real and has happened in previous Olympics. According to Muller (2014), total costs for the 2014 Sochi Olympics were 55 Billion dollars, which is a 4.5 times increase over the original 12 billion dollars. This was at a 96.5% public cost. 1.2 billion more will be spent each year on maintenance. Hosting the Olympics can lead to the financial obligation that can hurt a city for years upon years to come.

In 2008, China spent 40 million dollars on the Summer Olympics, but now as we look ahead to 2022, it is projected that the Qatar Olympics will cost 200 billion dollars. Now how in the heck did we get here? The big question a lot of people are now asking is if all that money is worth it. Yes, you do get to host the Olympics and have a ton of publicity to your city, but the amount of money being spent to put this on, could lead to huge financial issues for said city in the future. The cost for putting on the Olympics seems to continue to go up and people are going to continue to ask themselves if all of this is worth it.

China is the biggest and most populated country in the world, with a population of about 1.4 billion. With the projected 3.9 billion dollar cost being reported it has left us confused and concerned with the accuracy of these estimates. Considering the cost of the previous estimates and actual price when considering over runs it seems laughable to expect this event to be cheaper than it was in the past. Security, Covid, Inflation, and a myriad of factors dictate that the price should rise or at best equal the cost of their own 2008 event fourteen years ago. Other than manipulating data or using less than open reporting practices we do not see how this will be possible to put on the 2022 Olympics. It will be interesting to look back and see the actual cost of producing and marketing the 24th Olympic games.

■      Brand Equity is “the added value, or equity, that a certain product has by the virtue of its brand name.” (Mullin, Hardy & Sutton, Sport Marketing, 2014, p.155)

■      Farrell, K. & Frame, W. (1997). The Value of Olympic Sponsorship: Who is Capturing the Gold? Journal of Market-Focused Management. Springer.

■      Futterman, M. (2017). Los Angeles Reaches Deal to Host 2028 Olympics. Wall Street Journal, July 31, online.

■      Gratton, C. & Preuss, H. (2008). Maximizing Olympic Impacts by Building up Legacies. The International Journal of the History of Sport, 25 (14).

■      Jamieson, L., & Orr, T.J. (2009). Sport Violence; A Critical Examination of Sport. Taylor and Francis.

■      Matters, O. (1999). The Finances of the IOC: Where the Money Goes. The Olympic Marketing Newsletter, 15, 7.

■      Tomlinson, A. (2005). The Commercialization of the Olympics: Cities, Corporations, and the         Olympic Community. Historical and Sociological Studies of the Modern Games.   Elsevier.

■      Staff, and The Athletic Staff. “NHL Players to Participate in 2022 Olympics.” The Athletic, The Athletic, 3 Sept. 2021, https://theathletic.com/news/nhl-players-to-participate-in-2022-olympics/yoj11zT3itkM/.

Photo/link ideas; https://olympics.com/en/beijing-2022/  (good link and we like the big picture at the top with the site and stadium in snow?

Source; https://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2017/9/15/16313892/alex-ovechkin-2018-winter-olympics-washington-capitals

Champion’s Table; Discussions on National Sports Strategy with Experts.

Media personality Jon Willis interviews Dr. Thomas Orr, the Associate Director of the Center on Sport Policy and Conduct in the first edition of our show, which will focus on national and international sports strategy, with particular attention to efforts on policy and conduct. In this episode violence in sports are discussed with many examples from the sport of Ice hockey. Listeners will learn a great deal about a variety of topics that arise from the many experiences and lessons Dr. Orr shares.

 Key Topics:

Violence in hockey

Hockey as a unique business

Background on Expertise of Dr. Thomas Orr

Hockey as a Social Construct and development option

Solutions and Player Safety

Link to share for Jon’s regular podcast;

https://anchor.fm/the-trap-game

A Flashlight in the Dark

A Flashlight in the Dark

I have experienced firsthand both the baseness and the beauty of sports.  As a ten-year-old springboard diver, a coach threw a chair at me while I was in the water.  I left the sport and did not return until four years later when I was a high school freshman searching for a sport I might have a chance of excelling at.  Fortunately, there was a new coach in town and he made all the difference.  Morry not only helped me become a state champion but also a more resilient, confident, and empowered young man.  He was strict and demanding but loving and caring.  He profoundly and irrevocably changed my life for the better. 

Many sports are experiencing a continual decline in youth participation.  The primary reason for this decline is inferior coaching.  Untrained, ill-prepared and ineffective coaches create a disinviting environment that turns kids off to sports.  While some of these young athletes endure and even manage to reach the elite level, even at the elite level we see problems. 

For example, in a recent (preprint non peer-reviewed) study examining mental health, harassment, and abuse of athletes participating in the 2019 FINA Aquatics World Championships, Mountjoy et. al. (2021) found 24.6% classified as depressed, 35% reported an eating disorder, and more than 40% stated they wanted or needed psychotherapeutic support for mental health problems.  Moreover, 14.9% reported experiencing harassment/abuse and 9% had witnessed it in another athlete.  Typically, many aquatic competitors at the World Championships also compete at the Olympic Games, so it isn’t too far a leap to assume that these same results could be found among athletes at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

So how do coaches at all levels create a safe and accepting atmosphere that promotes sound mental health, youth sport participation, and prolonged sport involvement?  In my book Applying Educational Psychology in Coaching Athletes, I provide coaches a variety of approaches based on tested theories, empirical research, and sound data.  In the purest sense, coaching is teaching, whether it is in the classroom or on the pool deck, basketball court, or field of play, and we know quite well the many empirically documented characteristics and behaviors of teachers and coaches of excellence.  Here are just a few.

Create The Salivating Athlete

Like Pavlov’s salivating dogs, coaches can create salivating athletes passionate about their sport and everything associated with their sport.  Through repeated pairing of a neutral stimulus (your sport) with positive unconditioned stimuli such as praise, friendliness, acceptance, and fun, your sport eventually elicits positive conditioned responses such as like, joy, and excitement.  Respondent conditioning (also known as Pavlovian or classical conditioning) is perhaps one of the most important but overlooked theories for motor learning and performance. I spend an entire chapter on this theory in my book.

As you might imagine, when Morry first took over the local program, there were only a few surviving kids on the team.  After several years, however, he had almost one hundred—kids who would sneak in early for practice and have to be kicked out at the end of practice because they didn’t want to stop!  Morry reserved time for deliberate play and made practice demanding but friendly, accepting, and fun.  Even at the elite level, deliberate play and fun should always be part of a coach’s practice plan.  As I told my athletes, teams that work hard and have fun are far more productive and successful than teams that simply work hard. 

Use Humor And Genuinely Care

Part of creating an inviting, warm, and welcoming training environment that promotes good mental health and passionate athletes means using humor and letting athletes know you genuinely care about them as human beings and not just as athletes.  As the saying goes, they don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.  Athletes who know you genuinely care about them are devoted to their coaches.

Humor is important because it keeps things, such as arduous training and stressful competition, in perspective, creates a relaxed, friendly and productive training environment, and diffuses potentially explosive confrontations.  After all, if you can’t have fun, why do it?  Kids engage in sports for many reasons and winning isn’t in the top ten.  Kids get into sports to have fun.  Remember, they play sports, they don’t work sports. Keep it humorous and fun at all levels.

Morry had a terrific sense of humor that permeated his team.  And he cared---boy did he care.  He was like a second father to me and to other teammates.  We fell in love with our sport and a majority of us persisted in the sport. Some became high school and collegiate All Americans, some were national champions, one even made an Olympic Team, and several became coaches like me. 

Be The Coach Kids Deserve And Want

The more coaches know, the more competent they become.  The converse is also true.  Research indicates that incompetent people have difficulty judging their own incompetency.  Research also informs that coaches of excellence are lifelong learners.  Moreover, athletes who perceive their coaches as competent, respect their coaches more and trainer harder for them. 

Competency means seeing the entire spectrum of coach education, inclusive of topics such as pedagogy, motor learning, physiology, physics, psychology, counseling, biomechanics, and sport psychology.  Coaches who see the “Big Picture” create a positive, healthy, and empowering experience that kids deserve and crave—an experience that shapes their athletic careers and that irrevocably alters their lives for the better.

Conclusion

Recently, a coach sent me an email in which he said, “Having had your book, Applying Educational Psychology in Coaching Athletes, for a number of years, I often felt like telling you how much I have found this, not only a flashlight in the dark, but also a companion as I work with my taekwondo athletes.”  When young children engage in sports, they are blank slates, knowing little about sports and, for that matter, knowing little about themselves.  They are in the dark.  The right coach can be a flashlight in the dark for them, revealing the sublime beauty of the sport experience while simultaneously illuminating to athletes their healthy, positive human strengths to not only endure but to prevail both during sports and afterwards.  What coaching achievement could be more important?

Mountjoy, Junge, Magnusson, Shahpar, Lizcano, Varvodic, Wang, Cherif, Hill & Miller (2021).  Beneath the surface: Mental health, and harassment and abuse of athletes participating in the FINA (Aquatics) World Championships, 2019.  MedRxiv, The Preprint Server for Health Sciences (not peer reviewed).

Huber, J.J. (2013). Applying educational psychology in coaching athletes.  Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Huber, J.J. (2016).  Springboard and platform diving.  Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Lessons Learned from Tokyo Olympics

 The Tokyo Olympics, as any widely viewed athletic contest, provided an insight into the sports world of participating countries, the goals of participating athletes, and the nature of competition in a world affected by wars, a major pandemic, and climate change.  This blog introduces a series about what we have learned by this year’s Olympic contest, particularly about new trends and directions, challenges, and the minds of the athletes themselves.  If viewing the Olympics before and now has taught us anything, it is that this ultimate international competition can surprise us in many ways such as more deeply understanding the nature of competition, that athletes come in all sizes, shapes, and aspirations, that historical events play out before our very eyes, and that current issues impact greatly on outcome of competition.  This blog reviews a brief history of the nature of Olympic competition, its challenges, and successes.

When Pierre de Coubertin heralded the development of the modern Olympics in the early 1900’s (1), his intention was to not only establish an international theater for high level competition, but also to establish that sport was for all people.  In doing so, the rise of the modern Olympics also gave opportunity for all countries to develop sports that could reach all citizens.  Thus, the Sport for All movement was conceptualized, even though the concept of sport opportunities for everyone did not become firmly established until much later.   Thus, Olympic competition developed in many ways, country by country, and sport governance was influenced by the ideology of a country, from authoritative or laissez-faire. In the United States, sport competition evolved as a separate sphere of influence, and government policy on sport did and does not exist.  In other countries, sport competition was more top-down with government policy influencing how sports were organized, financially supported, and represented.  Therefore, as national sport organizations (NSOs) formed, governmental policies in many countries developed to provide financial support for training, facilities, and operation. These developments yielded varying ways that governments supported high level sport outcomes, either through close contact or hands-off policy development.  Admirably, the United States, with its fragmented sports network of national and local organizations and minimal oversight by national governing policy, has been exceptionally formidable in the attainment of success at Olympic competitions, partly due to the varying ways that Olympians develop over the many sports and training opportunities that exist in the country.

This series will consist of five blogs that address several notable results and lessons from the Tokyo Olympics including impact of sport competition on the athlete, the nature of sport organizational development, the experience of COVID, unexpected results from this competition, and a summary of lessons learned.

Impact of Sport Competition on Athletes

A strong lesson from the Tokyo Olympics is the view given to the psychological pressures affecting athletes at this level of competition.  Simon Biles’ request to remove herself from competition due to psychological distress was one of the most dramatic issues faced by the modern Olympics.  Her actions and explanations represented a tip of the iceberg regarding what athletes go through at this and other high levels of competition.  She gave us a glimpse of what might be needed to prevent this from happening in the future, and she challenged the sport world to provide better protections for athletes who are expected to compete in a world arena. 

Sport Organizational Development

That said, the fragmented system of national and local sport program delivery is not without its critics.  Of greatest concern being expressed today is the lack of access to sport participation in the widest array of sports by many underserved populations based on race, ethnicity, gender, physical ability, age, sexual orientation, and other factors.  Facilities and programs appear to be distributed unevenly in many cities and towns, so much so that it has taken decades to see diversity in sport competition among many sports.  The Tokyo Olympics, while heralding more competitors who come from underserved populations, still represented much higher percentages of privileged classes of athletes.  Therefore, the challenges of access and opportunity continue today.

Experience of COVID 

The experience of trained athletes competing without audiences was a new one in this Olympic event.  The quiet, even with athletes in the seats cheering their fellow Olympians, was profound, and competitions seemed eerily subdued and surreal.  In addition, athletes had to be tested, socially distanced, masked, and removed from competition if testing positive.  The ultimate stress of these necessary procedures is incalculable.  In addition, the Tokyo Olympics was held in a country where the pandemic had reached high levels, and citizen protests were very prominent before and during the event.

Unexpected Results

Who thought that a swimmer from Tunisia in eighth place would win gold?  This Olympics was full of similar surprises. The blog will contain some of the most unexpected wins and will contain the response of many of those who did not win as expected.  It will include gracious and not so gracious concessions made by athletes, and ultimately demonstrate that the best competitions feature grace under pressure.  The Tokyo Olympics, as well as other international competitions, did not disappoint spectators who saw incredible skill, amazing highs and lows, and ultimately top athletes who will continue to represent this modern competitive event.

Summary

In summarizing the blog series that will appear in the next five installments, lessons from the Tokyo Olympics will be revealed in more detail, and hopefully will provide the reader with the tour de force that a modern Olympics truly is.  It is in the lessons learned, however, that real progress is made toward better opportunities for aspiring athletes, better run competitive events, improved coaching, and better understanding of the health and wellbeing of all athletes.

References

(1) Orr, T. J. & Jamieson, L. M. (2021). Sport and Violence: A Critical Examination of Sport. 2nd Ed. Champaign, IL: Sagamore Venture.

By

Dr. Lynn M. Jamieson

A Flashlight in the Dark

A Flashlight in the Dark

I have experienced firsthand both the baseness and the beauty of sports.  As a ten-year-old springboard diver, a coach threw a chair at me while I was in the water.  I left the sport and did not return until four years later when I was a high school freshman searching for a sport I might have a chance of excelling at.  Fortunately, there was a new coach in town and he made all the difference.  Morry not only helped me become a state champion but also a more resilient, confident, and empowered young man.  He was strict and demanding but loving and caring.  He profoundly and irrevocably changed my life for the better. 

Many sports are experiencing a continual decline in youth participation.  The primary reason for this decline is inferior coaching.  Untrained, ill-prepared and ineffective coaches create a disinviting environment that turns kids off to sports.  While some of these young athletes endure and even manage to reach the elite level, even at the elite level we see problems. 

For example, in a recent (preprint non peer-reviewed) study examining mental health, harassment, and abuse of athletes participating in the 2019 FINA Aquatics World Championships, Mountjoy et. al. (2021) found 24.6% classified as depressed, 35% reported an eating disorder, and more than 40% stated they wanted or needed psychotherapeutic support for mental health problems.  Moreover, 14.9% reported experiencing harassment/abuse and 9% had witnessed it in another athlete.  Typically, many aquatic competitors at the World Championships also compete at the Olympic Games, so it isn’t too far a leap to assume that these same results could be found among athletes at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

So how do coaches at all levels create a safe and accepting atmosphere that promotes sound mental health, youth sport participation, and prolonged sport involvement?  In my book Applying Educational Psychology in Coaching Athletes, I provide coaches a variety of approaches based on tested theories, empirical research, and sound data.  In the purest sense, coaching is teaching, whether it is in the classroom or on the pool deck, basketball court, or field of play, and we know quite well the many empirically documented characteristics and behaviors of teachers and coaches of excellence.  Here are just a few.

Create The Salivating Athlete

Like Pavlov’s salivating dogs, coaches can create salivating athletes passionate about their sport and everything associated with their sport.  Through repeated pairing of a neutral stimulus (your sport) with positive unconditioned stimuli such as praise, friendliness, acceptance, and fun, your sport eventually elicits positive conditioned responses such as like, joy, and excitement.  Respondent conditioning (also known as Pavlovian or classical conditioning) is perhaps one of the most important but overlooked theories for motor learning and performance. I spend an entire chapter on this theory in my book.

As you might imagine, when Morry first took over the local program, there were only a few surviving kids on the team.  After several years, however, he had almost one hundred—kids who would sneak in early for practice and have to be kicked out at the end of practice because they didn’t want to stop!  Morry reserved time for deliberate play and made practice demanding but friendly, accepting, and fun.  Even at the elite level, deliberate play and fun should always be part of a coach’s practice plan.  As I told my athletes, teams that work hard and have fun are far more productive and successful than teams that simply work hard. 

Use Humor And Genuinely Care

Part of creating an inviting, warm, and welcoming training environment that promotes good mental health and passionate athletes means using humor and letting athletes know you genuinely care about them as human beings and not just as athletes.  As the saying goes, they don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.  Athletes who know you genuinely care about them are devoted to their coaches.

Humor is important because it keeps things, such as arduous training and stressful competition, in perspective, creates a relaxed, friendly and productive training environment, and diffuses potentially explosive confrontations.  After all, if you can’t have fun, why do it?  Kids engage in sports for many reasons and winning isn’t in the top ten.  Kids get into sports to have fun.  Remember, they play sports, they don’t work sports. Keep it humorous and fun at all levels.

Morry had a terrific sense of humor that permeated his team.  And he cared---boy did he care.  He was like a second father to me and to other teammates.  We fell in love with our sport and a majority of us persisted in the sport. Some became high school and collegiate All Americans, some were national champions, one even made an Olympic Team, and several became coaches like me. 

Be The Coach Kids Deserve And Want

The more coaches know, the more competent they become.  The converse is also true.  Research indicates that incompetent people have difficulty judging their own incompetency.  Research also informs that coaches of excellence are lifelong learners.  Moreover, athletes who perceive their coaches as competent, respect their coaches more and trainer harder for them. 

Competency means seeing the entire spectrum of coach education, inclusive of topics such as pedagogy, motor learning, physiology, physics, psychology, counseling, biomechanics, and sport psychology.  Coaches who see the “Big Picture” create a positive, healthy, and empowering experience that kids deserve and crave—an experience that shapes their athletic careers and that irrevocably alters their lives for the better.

Conclusion

Recently, a coach sent me an email in which he said, “Having had your book, Applying Educational Psychology in Coaching Athletes, for a number of years, I often felt like telling you how much I have found this, not only a flashlight in the dark, but also a companion as I work with my taekwondo athletes.”  When young children engage in sports, they are blank slates, knowing little about sports and, for that matter, knowing little about themselves.  They are in the dark.  The right coach can be a flashlight in the dark for them, revealing the sublime beauty of the sport experience while simultaneously illuminating to athletes their healthy, positive human strengths to not only endure but to prevail both during sports and afterwards.  What coaching achievement could be more important?

Mountjoy, Junge, Magnusson, Shahpar, Lizcano, Varvodic, Wang, Cherif, Hill & Miller (2021).  Beneath the surface: Mental health, and harassment and abuse of athletes participating in the FINA (Aquatics) World Championships, 2019.  MedRxiv, The Preprint Server for Health Sciences (not peer reviewed).

Huber, J.J. (2013). Applying educational psychology in coaching athletes.  Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Huber, J.J. (2016).  Springboard and platform diving.  Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Jeff Huber, MA, MEd, PhD.

Professor of Practice Emeritus, Psychological & Brain Sciences, Indiana University-Bloomington. Pan American, World University Games, World Championships Coach, USA Olympic Coach 2000, 2004, 2008, B1G, NCAA, USA, USOPC Coach of the Year.

Applying Educational Psychology in Coaching Athletes

Springboard and Platform Diving

Championship Production Videos

Abuse of Officials: A Sign of Poor Sports Management?

By

Dr. Lynn M. Jamieson, Professor Emerita

Indiana University

In an earlier blog post, the role of officials was discussed and included the issue of attrition, pressure, and problems occurring when officials are involved in clashes with players, fans, and others.  In this post, I am sharing levels of abuse that have resulted in injury to officials during and after sport contests.  The focus is mainly on documented incidents where officials have been involved in altercations causing physical injury, and not on the less visible psychological pressures they undergo in the process of trying to officiate fairly and equitably.  

In Orr & Jamieson (2020, p. 13), the following incidents were shown in a table that noted key sport violence issues where officials had been injured by players, fans or other members of the sport environment as follows:

• (Georgia) Enraged mother leaps from stands and chokes teenage umpire over call.

• (Delaware) Argument between coaches and referee in 11-12 game ends in hospital.

• (Pennsylvania) 10-year-old baseball player slugs umpire who made a call against him.

• (Florida) Coach breaks jaw of umpire after disputing call.

• (Texas) Umpire ejects female player for cursing in coed church team after prayer.

• (Texas) Former Texas Ranger puts referee in chokehold following dispute.

• (Pennsylvania) Policeman gives ticket to referee who threw him out of game.

• (North Carolina) A mother charges the field and slaps referee, gets arrested.

• (Wisconsin) Little League umpire assaulted after balk call, receives four stitches.

• (New Jersey) Recreational league hockey player throws skate t referee, injuring him.

• (California) Recreational league basketball official needs 21 stitches to repair cut.

• (Georgia) Youth basketball game of 7–8-year-olds, referee slashes coach with knife.

• (New Mexico) Player smashes aluminum bat into umpire’s face.

• (Pennsylvania)Father of 11-year-old wrestler sentenced 1 year for punching referee.

• (Georgia) Father and son confront referee after wrestling match, then punch those who try to break it up.

Several observations can be made when viewing this small list of abuses that occur between officials and others.  First, the incidents are not confined to a certain area but are distributed throughout the country.  It appears that many incidents occur regardless of where the game is played, and this makes solutions difficult to address since many cities are involved.  Second, many of the reported incidents occur in youth or recreational leagues, and this suggests that something is happening that is not being managed properly.  Finally, the incidents are caused by family members or players becoming irate after a call they did not only dislike, but they also became enraged enough to produce bodily harm.  Lastly, there was only one incident that involved an official lashing out at others.  

Injuries to officials caused by irate players and fans were also documented by Grieb (2015) who noted a particular incident in a high school football game where a player tackled an official and a teammate speared him with his helmet.  This and other incidents have wound up with assault charges made against the perpetrators. The fact that they have continued is problematic, even though many states have addressed laws addressing the problem and noting consequences to the perpetrator if such attacks are reported. There are state laws in many states, and, as noted in a 2002 report by the National Association of Sport Officials, 18 states had enacted laws against this abuse with many other states in the process of enacting legislation to prevent this problem.  Regardless of state law, abuse of officials continues to occur, and this issue is a contributing factor to the declining numbers of qualified officials 

What can sport administrators do to mitigate abuse of officials?  While laws may not fully solve this problem, it is suggested that more stringent management practices be implemented that make it more difficult for officials to be assaulted.  Here are a few suggestions that make sense and can be easily implemented:

1. Early detection and ejection of unruly fans.

2. Development of well publicized codes of conduct.

3. Strict enforcement of codes of conduct.

4. Better ways to address player frustration and anger through training and coaching.

5. Increased presence and action of security personnel.

6. Develop policies in support of state laws to better educate people on the consequences of their actions in intimidating and abusing officials.

Those who officiate games and contests already experience much pressure while becoming knowledgeable and proficient at their skill.  It takes time, money, and practice to become a good official.  Most often, officials get their first jobs with youth and recreational leagues as they progress toward higher levels of competition.  To be injured in a league that should predominantly be for learning and fun causes many people to quit.  It is the responsibility of those managing sports to address this issue with more care and effective policies and procedures.

References

Grieb, C. (2015). High school referee attack among many frightening, sometimes fatal, incidents targeting officials.  Sporting News, vol 09/08/15.

Orr, T. J. & Jamieson, L. M. (2020). Sport and violence: A critical examination of sport. Champaign, IL: Sagamore-Venture.

Still, B. (2002) Officials under Assault: Update 2002. Referee Magazine.  Racine, WI: The National Association of Sport Officials.

OFFICIATING: What is happening to all the good officials?

Dr. Lynn M. Jamieson, Professor Emerita

This is the first article in a series devoted to the practice of officiating.  We will cover this very important, and often overlooked role, of those who are involved with guiding the game and enforcing the rule structure that forms the framework of the competition.  Officials are key to competition that is fair and conducted according to the code of conduct and rules governed by an organization.  This often difficult and taxing role is performed by people who take the time to become certified, often in addition to their “day job”.

 While we address the many management issues affecting sports, particularly in these unusual times during the pandemic, it appears that we are ever more concerned with the role of game officials in providing regulatory actions to adhere to rules and regulations.  The role of the official (referee, umpire, judge) is often understudied and underappreciated.  Their role, however, is perhaps the most important part of the sport environment.  This report will address the current status of sport officials, issues being encountered, and potential solutions.

First and foremost, there is great concern over the attrition of available officials to provide support for sport contests. The issue of sport official attrition was underscored by Warner, Tingle & Kellett (2013) in a study of former basketball referees and why they dropped out.  Key factors included6 key themes:  Problematic social interaction, Training/Mentoring, Lack of referee community Lack of administrator consideration, Administrative decision making, and sport policies. These were said to cause referees to drop out of sport officiating.

Livingston et al, 2017 reported Canadian attrition rates “in excess of 20%” (p.1) means that the dropout rate for officials may be a constant problem now and, in the future, (1).  Noted in their article was the fact that this issue was not really addressed in sport research articles.  By enlisting 20 participants in a consensus-building research exercise, it was found that the topic of sport officiating was “understudied and undervalued” and needed attention.  To underscore the issue of retention, Dosseville, Rioult, & Laborde (n.d) surveyed 1718 sport officials to ascertain their motivation, training, stress, skills, and functionality (2).  It was found that the intention to become a dropout was related not to intrinsic motivation but more to their sense of obligation to fulfill the need, and this acts as a preventive measure for dropping out.

Obviously, the role of the official is complex, and often extremely stressful. Depending upon the sport, training, and development of officials is time-consuming, expensive, and difficult as rule and policy changes require constant surveillance and retraining.  Organizations are constantly in need of upgrading training materials, rule changes that need to be published, and responding to actions that initiate more change. A typical official is not a full-time professional, and lack of time to constantly update oneself and address how the rule changes are implemented can be a major source of stress. Further, the time spent in preparing for officiating roles is not compensated for, and when an official receives payment for a job, the hourly rate is small if the time spent in training were factored in.  As a former gymnastic judge, I spent countless hours going to clinics, studying for exams, and preparing for judging experiences while maintaining a full-time job in the parks and recreation profession and having major family responsibilities as well. As the sport of gymnastics became more and more complex with new moves and faster-moving skills, I could no longer keep up. Even though I fully enjoyed the role of judge, my full-time job commitments and increasing need for training were no longer feasible, so I discontinued my role.

The other factor closer to the main topic of this website and blog is the nature of officiating today.  More and more officials are involved in altercations initiated by irate players, coaches, and fans. Orr and Jamieson (2020) relate many instances of referees being accosted, lock in rooms, vandalized, hit with debris, and placed under extreme pressures to perform (3). Many drop out because the potential violence just simply is not worth it.  A recent example was an Indy Star report about out-of-control parents in Westfield, Indiana who body-slammed an official in a girls’ travel basketball game (4).  In this case, a controversial call resulted in spectators filming the referee at close range, a referee punching a spectator, and people punching the referee. Police were investigating the melee at the time of this writing.

The other little researched area and one that will become a topic for a future paper is the adverse pressure brought on by increased gambling interests.  What is the effect on officials of the increasing presence and involvement of fans in gambling on sports?  Are some officials unduly pressured to shave points, call fouls inconsistently, or other mechanisms that cause the odds to shift?  Is that pressure also a cause for officials to leave the field?

What can we do to encourage people to consider getting the training and opportunity to officiate sport events?  In general, the game environment needs to be re-evaluated to make sure that those who officiate are protected from those who would create a potentially violent episode.  Rules involving spectators should be enforced to prevent officials from verbal or physical attacks.  Some communities require fans to be silent during games. Others remove their children from situations that appear abusive. In the end, everyone needs to be vigilant of abusive behaviors and stop them when they occur. Improved ways to report bad behavior and consequences when these incidents occur can go a long way to preserving players, officials, staff, and fans.  It is a matter of positive governance in sport environments. 

References

(1). Livingston, L. A., Forbes, S. L., Person, N., Camacho, T., Wattie, N, & Varian, P. (2017).  Sport officiating recruitment, development, and retention, A call to action. Current Issues in Sport Science, 2.o11.doi:10.15203/CISS_2017.11.

(2) Warner, S., Tingle, J. K., & Kellett, P. (2013). Officiating attrition: Considering the experiences referees from a sport development lens.  Journal of Sport Management, 27(4), 316-318.

(3). Orr, T. J. & Jamieson L. M. (2020. Sport and Violence: A Critical Examination of Sport. Champaign-Urbans, IL: Sagamore and Venture.

(4). Benbow, D. A. (2021). Brawl erupts at travel girls basketball game in Westfield, ends in ref being body slammed. https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2021/04/15/a-basketball-ends-brawl-involving-ref-spectator/7233512002.

Coachability in Youth Hockey

The term itself has become quite the buzzword in the youth sports community in recent years. It’s a word that most parents want their athletes to embody at a young age. What does this word mean in the world of hockey? Instead of simply throwing the word around, I’d like to break it down into important components and explain ways for kids and young adults to take ownership in one’s own coachability in order to put actions and intent to the buzzword. 

RESPONSIVE: Be open to the message a coach is trying to relay. The biggest hindrance in some athletes is their ego. They may not see their own shortcomings even after feedback from coaches. Caring coaches will offer constructive criticism to the athletes they see as capable to receive and implement it. Take that as a compliment. If a coach is actively taking time out of his or her day to offer feedback, they see something inside an athlete and want to bring it out. For the most part, coaches won’t spend a lot of excess time on players they feel won’t absorb the information or put it to work.

Real Life Example: The first few drills in practice are sloppy and the player is not sharp and ready. The coach may tell the player that they should take some passes prior to practice so that time and drills are not wasted. Instead of viewing this as “more work”, see this as beneficial not only to the player, but the team as a whole. More good reps = better habits = a better player.

SELF-COACHING: Top athletes are always seeking out new ways to improve their game. There are endless resources for drills and exercises online for players to incorporate in their off-ice training or during dead times at practice. Don’t wait for coaches to tell you what to do. Being self-reliant is a way to show a coach the important qualities of commitment and preparation.

Real Life Example: Summer months for hockey players are great for camps, lessons, and extra work. It’s a perfect time to spot areas where attention is needed. By doing this, players are able to use practice time more efficiently, and it also shows a coach the characteristics of responsibility and autonomy. Players who possess these qualities are easy to coach and develop into great athletes.

COMMITTED: There are three things to commit to as a youth hockey player: SELF, TEAM, and COACH. 

-By committing to oneSELF, the development of the player is in the forefront. As stated under self-coaching, constantly seeking out new ways to improve and hone in on working hard mentally and physically are ways to show commitment to one’s self. Not only is this positive for the sport, the value of these qualities later in life is unmatched.

-Committing to a TEAM means that a player and his or her teammates see a common goal and work toward it. Ways to show commitment to a team is: identifying and accepting one’s role, celebrating the successes of others, and elevating teammates both on and off the ice. 

-Showing commitment to a COACH is not only trusting their passion, expertise, and vision, but believing in their mission for the team and convincing others to buy into it. Naturally, some coaches make this aspect difficult, but staying consistent in what coachability means to oneself is the important thing and helps to engrain leadership and resilience.

Real Life Example: A team has lost a string of games, and players are starting to doubt themselves and the system their coach has in place. Moral and energy is low. A committed player recognizes this and knows how to combat it by selflessly working hard on one’s own deficiencies, elevating others by maintaining positivity, and convincing his or her team to stay on track with the coach’s vision.

Coachability is not something I can claim expertise in. Looking back, I was not the most coachable teen by a mile. As the saying goes,” Hindsight is 20/20”. There is no better way to learn and grow than by seeing one’s own shortcomings and mindfully correcting them. Though I come from a non-hockey background, my life has completely revolved around the sport for over 10 years. My husband plays professionally, and my son has started on youth teams with my daughter not far behind. In the summer months, we conduct business as JPL Goaltending, in which we host clinics, lessons, and developmental mentoring for youth to pro goalies. My learning curve for hockey was short and steep. I was thrown in abruptly, but I feel fortunate to understand the inner workings and the mental side of the sport, because it teaches so many lessons that we can all use.

For me, these lessons transpired into a series of children’s books. At the Rink: The Series is a collection of hockey-themed books for kids ranging from birth to new readers. With colorful graphics, big words, and a fun rhyming tone, they have proven to be a wonderful addition to a hockey-loving child’s library while playfully highlighting the topic of coachability as described above. 

Kellie Lamoureux

Links:

Book Series:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08Q6DKTDZ?ref_=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_tpbk&binding=paperback

JPL Goaltending: www.jplgoaltending.com

Confidence vs. Arrogance

Take a look around sports these days and you will find one thing on display in overabundance. Some call it confidence, some call it arrogance and others call it swagger. Whatever your term is, there is no shortage of it.

There has always been and always will be a fine line between believing in yourself and flaunting your ability. You can definitely make the argument that it is nearly impossible to succeed at anything in life if you don’t believe that you can succeed. Self-confidence has to be at the forefront of anything you hope to accomplish.

However, I believe we have reached a period in our society where the pendulum has switched over to the side of complete overconfidence and outright arrogance. Make no mistake, there has always been those larger than life figures whose mouths and actions were almost as legendary as their exploits (think Muhammad Ali). Some even believe that if you can back it up then it really isn’t bragging.

Maybe I’m a bit old-fashioned, but it bothers me when I see showboating and bravado at any level, especially when it filters down to high school and grade school. I recently covered a run of post-season basketball games and there was plenty of “look at me” moments. To me, it takes away from what the team is trying to accomplish and puts the emphasis on individuals rather than teams.

I totally understand the benefits of playing with emotion. In fact, it can be extremely difficult to compete well without any sort of positive energy. But we have now reached a point where everybody feels the need to celebrate ever single shot, every single tackle, every single play at nearly every level of sports. Just watch an NFL game. After nearly every play somebody is making a gesture on offense or defense, drawing attention to himself in every situation, even if it is the middle of the opening quarter of a regular season game.

Is it any wonder why today’s teens act the way they do? Most of them are merely emulating their professional sports heroes. Whatever happened to the guy who makes a routine play and acts like he was doing the job he was getting paid to do?

Personally, it bothers me when athletes make it all about themselves, when I see athletes literally strut onto the court during pre-game lineups, or even worse taunt opposing players and fans. Events can still be fun without people drawing attention to themselves by pounding their chests, pointing to the crowd or doing a variety of actions like blowing smoke rings after making a three-point basket.

I have no problem with sports providing an opportunity for release of joy and happiness. That’s part of the beauty of the game (we’ve all witnessed the sterile environment of empty auditoriums because of COVID). I truly think extraordinary feats should be recognized with unbridled enthusiasm. It’s just that when we exhibit those emotions after a routine play, what do we do when something truly remarkable happens?

There is no question that handling the highs and lows of sports can be a difficult thing for teenage athletes. That’s where mentors (coaches, parents, community members) can help provide advice on personal conduct. There are many life lessons to be learned through competition. Let’s all hope that the lesson on humility tops that list.