Regarding Sportsmanship, It’s Time for Wake-up Call in High School Sports

Regarding Sportsmanship, It’s Time for Wake-up Call in High School Sports

From time to time, everyone needs a wake-up call to get back on course, to regain focus and to “get with the program.” That time is at hand in high school sports as it relates to unsportsmanlike conduct.

In the 103-year history of the NFHS and organized sports in the United States, good sportsmanship has been one of the most important outcomes of these programs. When appropriate behavior occurs, competitive play is more enjoyable for everyone.

And for some individuals recently, the games have not been enjoyable. In the past few months, following are some of the unfortunate incidents that have occurred at the high school level:

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Why NBA center Jason Collins is coming out now - Sports Illustrated

Why NBA center Jason Collins is coming out now - Sports Illustrated

Now I'm a free agent, literally and figuratively. I've reached that enviable state in life in which I can do pretty much what I want. And what I want is to continue to play basketball. I still love the game, and I still have something to offer. My coaches and teammates recognize that. At the same time, I want to be genuine and authentic and truthful.

Why am I coming out now? Well, I started thinking about this in 2011 during the NBA player lockout. I'm a creature of routine. When the regular season ends I immediately dedicate myself to getting game ready for the opener of the next campaign in the fall. But the lockout wreaked havoc on my habits and forced me to confront who I really am and what I really want. With the season delayed, I trained and worked out. But I lacked the distraction that basketball had always provided.

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Watch "Can a Trans Runner Like Me Compete Fairly? | NYT Opinion" on YouTube

Watch "Can a Trans Runner Like Me Compete Fairly? | NYT Opinion" on YouTube

In the highly politicized debate over whether transgender women should be allowed to play women’s sports, opinions tend to divide into two starkly opposing camps. There are those people — including lawmakers in dozens of states — who argue that the integrity of girls’ and women’s sports needs to be safeguarded against people assigned male at birth and the physical advantages they may possess. The other side argues that by the very fact of their gender transition, trans girls and women have earned the right to compete as their chosen gender. But Andie Taylor, a 48-year-old trans woman and competitive runner who has much to gain or lose in this debate, finds herself staking out a more nuanced position, somewhere in the apolitical middle ground. In the Opinion video above, Ms. Taylor describes how she is eager to compete among women and yearns for inclusion — but only if the scientific research unequivocally shows that her years living as a male did not give her an advantage. There is little research regarding the performance of transgender athletes, in part because their numbers are so small. Some evidence suggests that trans women retain some athletic advantages after a year of undergoing testosterone suppression. Researchers have also found that those advantages, with time, largely fall away. As research advances, Ms. Taylor is imploring all sides in the debate to refrain from using the issue for political gain. “I want to win,” she says, “but I only want to win if I know it’s fair.”

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