Sportsmanship seems like an out-of-date concept these days when professional athletes and coaches behave in ways we would not want our children to imitate. We've even heard of coaches telling teams that if they win the Sportsmanship Award at a tournament, they will spend the entire next week in conditioning drills! Why might a coach say this? Unfortunately, many coaches equate being a good sport with being soft or weak.

US Club Soccer and PCA believe that "Honor the Game" is a more powerful, pro-active concept than simply "Be a good sport!". Honoring the Game is an idea to empower members of our community to live up to their best, rather than simply be constrained from acting down to their worst.

We have several tools to help US Club Soccer coaches create a team culture that Honors the Game. Here is a brief description of each, with commentary from San Jose Earthquakes' Coach Tim Hanley:

Teach & Reinforce
If you want your players to Honor the Game, you have to teach them about it, and reinforce it again and again throughout the season. It's important that you use the language of Honoring the Game (ROOTS, etc.) until your players internalize the concept in their values and behavior. For a sample script visit the Positive Coaching Alliance website.

Drill Honoring the Game
Create situations in practice in which players role-play or drill things like:

• How to react when an official makes a bad call
• What to do when they knock an opponent down or get knocked down
• How to respond when they encounter poor sportsmanship on or off the field

As the coach, you can make these situations happen in practice by intentionally making a bad call. See how your team and fellow coaches respond, and decide if your team is indeed Honoring the Game.

Setting Parent Expectations
The people who are most likely to act in a way that dishonors the game are often the parents on the sidelines. As the leader of the team you need to set expectations about sideline behavior. Here's some advise from MLS's Coach Hanley.

"Prior to my youth games I tell the parents, 'The ref will help us out, he will be on our side'. I say this because we do not bend the rules, talk back, or argue calls. When my players and their parents Honor the Game it is almost like a secret weapon! It's a terrific feeling when, at the end of the match, the refs say what a great team you have and how beautifully they play."

Introduce Honoring the Game to your parents through a Parent Letter outlining what it means and how you want parents to behave at games.

"These tools used together are the key," says Coach Hanley about his youth teams' parents. "It's vital that we're on the same page. The letter provides the script and something tangible. Next I follow up with a Parent Meeting, where the team parents can discuss their considerations. 'Does this mean I can't yell?' Prior to some of our 'biggest' games I have specifically approached some of the rowdier parents and asked them to monitor the sidelines for me."