The Sport Ethic

At its most basic level, the Sport Ethic according to Hughes and Coakley is the culmination of the rules (both written rules and anticipated norms within the sport) that athletes adhere to in the pursuit of their best possible performance. On page 310, Hughes and Coakley outline the four dimensions of Sports Ethic, or the fundamental underlying expectations that are associated with participating in athletics. The first of these is that being an athlete involves making sacrifices. In order to perform to one's full potential, they are expected to prioritize their sport and performance above petty vices and habits that aren't beneficial towards meeting their goals. 

Hughes and Coakley assert that the second dimension of Sports Ethic is that being an athlete "involves striving for distinction" (310). In a competitive atmosphere, it becomes of the essence for a person to strive to stand out, but this is also where the problem of "overconforming" comes into play. It's the norm for an athlete to go above and beyond to prove themselves, so much that it becomes an expectation. Instead, then, of being praised for their progress, the paradigm shifts to an accusatory tone when the expectation of overconforming isn't being met. Instead of giving positive affirmations to the athletes who make the necessary sacrifices and go the proverbial extra mile, coaches resort to ragging on athletes who are demonstrating a "lack" in any of the four dimensions; lack of hustle becomes lack of effort, which then becomes lack of caring-- a sentiment which can then be boiled down into a fundamental lack of dedication (311).

Being a dedicated athlete is defined by the third and fourth dimensions of Sports Ethic, which are accepting risks and playing through pain, and refusing to accept limits in the pursuit of possibility. Athletes conform to these four beliefs not out of sheer determination, but for an array of external reasons. On page 313, Hughes and Coakley explain that inter-athlete bonds reaffirm a sense of fraternity within the athletes. This is important because it creates a world for the athlete where their identity is congruent with a group identity; they become part of a whole. As expressed on page 312, "As self identification becomes lodged within sport, a person is increasingly susceptible to control that is grounded in the sport and sport groups." Essentially, what that means is that as a person's self-perception transitions into "the self as athlete," there is an internal desire to confirm this self at every given opportunity. 

I'm not a professional athlete, nor will I ever be, but reading this article, I was shocked by how applicable the four dimensions of the Sport Ethic were to my life (and my team). I row on the varsity women's crew team, and every day, we are expected to make sacrifices (five am practices equal sacrificed sleep, erging every day is a sacrifice of comfort, as well as a tiny piece of my soul), be competitive enough to distinguish ourselves as a standout member of the team and deserving of a given seat in the boat. Every morning, I have to refuse to accept limits. Every day. I'm five feet tall, and I decided on the first day of my freshman year that I did not want to be a coxswain (which means that every practice is a battle for me). My size is a huge limitation when it comes to a sport like rowing, but I made the decision to just be "good" without any qualifiers ("good for my size"). And frankly, I don't think Hughes and Coakley's assertion of an athlete "Accepting risks and playing through the pain" (311) will ever be fully understood by anyone who hasn't pulled a 2k.