UNC co-hosted the "Pursuing Victory With Honor" training seminar with the N.C. High School Athletic Association and the CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition at the Friday Center.
Longtime UNC head basketball coach Dean Smith, current head basketball coach Matt Doherty, former University of Nebraska head coach and current U.S. Congressman Tom Osborne and actor Tom Selleck headlined the panel lists.
High school coaches and college athletics directors were among several hundred attentive audience members who listened closely as speakers addressed issues such as athletic and academic character development, the coach as a teacher and sportsmanship in general. Organizers said Monday's conference was the first of its kind on the East Coast.
Other speakers included Anson Dorrance, UNC women's soccer coach, former UNC head basketball coach Bill Guthridge and Chancellor James Moeser.
Moeser said he was proud to have UNC associated with the conference. He said the issues being addressed were important and directly affect America's youth. "This is a movement that really speaks to a problem," Moeser said, in reference to the conference and the movement's efforts to curb unsportsmanlike conduct on fields and courts today.
Smith and Osborne responded to questions from the audience and panel leaders Michael Josephson, president of the Josephson Institute and CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition, ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas and Woody Durham, a legendary radio announcer for the Tar Heel Sports Network. Topics ranged from respect for opponents, running up the score, victory celebrations and trash-talking.
Osborne said the praise and criticism given to players by coaches has a direct effect on the sportsmanship of the individual and the team as a whole. "If you want to change behavior, it is much more effective to catch something right and praise it than criticize something that's wrong," he said.
Smith expressed his frustration with public speculation and criticism concerning college athletes' decisions to leave school early to enter the professional arena. He attributed this negative attitude to the media and public's tendency to overlook athletes in other sports, such as golf and swimming.
Yet with sports such as basketball, Smith said there is a different standard. "The fans are just mad because their team won't be as good."
