The Sport Ethic

The sport ethic is "the criteria for defining what it means to be a real athlete" (Hughes and Coakley 1991). The ethic encompasses four primary points, the first of which is "making sacrifices for the game". This essentially means that part of an athlete's moral code when participating in a sport is to understand that making decisions for the greater good is necessary to be successful. Values such as as teamwork and selflessness are of particular importance, for example. The second point is that athletes must strive for distinction, meaning that they must attempt to separate themselves from other athletes through superior performance. The third point also relates to the moral code of an athlete, and involves the perception that athletes should play through pain and accept risks. This suggests that toughness is admired by the public, and can boost an athlete's reputation amongst his peers and viewers. The final point is that athletes should "refuse to accept limits in the pursuit of possibilities". This further suggests the "never give up" mantra that athletes are expected to abide by, and their perseverance through the hardship is noticed and respected by others.

I believe that athletes conform to these points of the "sport ethic" because of moral obligation as instilled by their peers and the general public. By failing to understand or incorporate this code into their sport participation, they are risking being criticized and made fun of for being lazy or incompetent. Personally, I have experienced the sport ethic when I participated in YMCA basketball growing up. On the team, I was expected to be a good teammate by passing the ball and setting up scoring opportunities for my teammates, and cheering them on. At the same time, I also wanted to perform well individually so I could separate myself from the other players, and I always wanted to play regardless of if I was feeling tired or hurt. I also wanted to win every game during our league season, and tried hard in practice and the games so I could help my team in pursuit of this goal.

References: Hughes and Coakley (1991)