Sportsmanship Program

The Indiana High School Athletic Association in cooperation with its presenting sponsor, the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, is pleased to announce the creation of a new sportsmanship program for all Indiana high schools.

The IHSAA and the ICJU are partnering to offer all Indiana high schools the opportunity to win the IHSAA School Sportsmanship Award, an annual presentation which will consist of a championship banner for winning schools to hang in their gymnasiums, extensive community recognition, and sportsmanship patches for all student-athletes from winning schools to wear on their uniforms the following school year.

To be eligible to win the IHSAA School Sportsmanship Award, the following ten criteria must be met:

1. Every winning school should have a written sportsmanship plan in place and on file in the principal’s office.
2. Every winning school is expected to have a method for sharing its sportsmanship plan with faculty, coaches, parents, fans and the student body (participating in this program constitutes compliance with this criterion).
3. Every winning school should show the 2003-2004 IHSAA Sportsmanship Video (which is included in the kit) to all school team members of all sports as well as the parents of all team members prior to the first game or meet of each season. Team members should be asked to sign a sportsmanship pledge, which the IHSAA will provide and schools will keep on file. Sportsmanship posters provided by the IHSAA must be posted in prominent, high-traffic locations within the school and/or school grounds.
4. Every winning school must read a sportsmanship message prior to every home sporting event, providing a public address system is available and in use. (examples are included in this booklet)
5. A winning school cannot have a coach ejected from a game because of a sportsmanship violation during the school year.
6. A winning school cannot have a player ejected from a game because of a sportsmanship violation during the school year.
7. A winning school cannot have a corroborated report about unsportsmanlike fan behavior filed by a licensed IHSAA official.
8. A winning school cannot be on probation (or suspension) by the IHSAA due to a rules violation.
9. The principal of each school that qualifies for the IHSAA School Sportsmanship Award will be asked to confirm that all of the above criteria have been met prior to the presentation of the award.

Sportsmanship, quite simply, translates to lessons in citizenship for the 160,000 young men and women who participate in high school sports in Indiana. Your enthusiastic participation in this new IHSAA program will help counter possible negative influences that exist in our society in regards to sportsmanship. More importantly, it will help set a positive example for others to follow. We encourage and thank you for your school’s full support of this program.

Here’s how to use the materials in this sportsmanship kit:

1. Sportsmanship Posters

   Please post in school hallways, bulletin boards, coaches’ offices, locker rooms, the entrance to your school’s pool and gymnasium, concession stands, and other places on school grounds where a large number of people congregate.

2. CD
   1. Please choose a topic (or topics) that best address the needs of your school’s student body. (see list on inside label)
   2. Please play the in-school student messages you select on your school’s public address system during daily announcements or any other time when your entire student body may be listening.
3. Sportsmanship Video
   Please show this video featuring Purdue Academic All-American John Standeford (a graduate of Monrovia High School) to all of the student-athletes of all of your school’s athletic teams prior to their first game or meet of the season.

   Since parents often need to be reminded to practice good sportsmanship, it is recommended that the video be viewed during the pre-season meeting that many coaches have with their players and their parents.

4. Sportsmanship Pledge Forms
   1. Immediately after the sportsmanship video has been viewed, give a sportsmanship pledge form to every student athlete.
   2. Review the three key pledges that are included on the forms, and the responsibility that accompanies each one.
   3. Invite your student-athletes to sign the form.
   4. Ask a secretary or staff assistant to separate the two-part forms.
   5. Your school should keep the original form on file (the white copy).
   6. Please send the duplicate (yellow) forms to the Indiana High School Athletic Association for verification that your school is participating in this program.

   You may send your duplicate forms to:

   Teresia Wynns
   IHSAA
   9150 North Meridian Street
   Indianapolis, IN 46260

   Thank you for participating in this important new program.

   Win this championship sportsmanship banner to hang in your school’s gymnasium.

   Earn the right for all of your student-athletes to wear this sportsmanship patch on their uniforms during the 2004-2005 school year.

   By participating in the IHSAA/ICJI school sportsmanship program, your school could win:

   1. A championship banner to hang in your school gymnasium
   2. Sportsmanship patches for all your student-athletes to wear on their athletic uniforms during the 2004-2005 school year
   3. Extensive community recognitions