ABSTRACT
Many government-sponsored organizations, such as the Australian Sports Commission (ASC), Coaching Association of Canada (CAC), Sport and Recreation New Zealand (SPARC) and Sports Coach UK, have produced ethical guidelines in the form of codes and policies as the issue of ethics in sport gains more attention. However, despite this attention we are regularly confronted in the media by examples of members of sporting communities such as coaches, administrators, family members and players, at various levels and age groups, acting unethically. For example, in England, medical and coaching staff in a premier league Rugby Union team conspired to induce bleeding in the mouth of a player to have him replaced as a means of gaining advantage in a match in 2009. This was reported as: ‘Bloodgate cover up attempt worse than crime’ (Author unknown 2009) and in 2011, in New Zealand, the Otago Times published a story entitled ‘Rugby coach convicted of assaulting son’ (Author unknown 2011). Perhaps one of the most sensational incidents of unethical practice in sport was the disqualification of Canadian Ben Johnson after winning the gold medal in the men’s 100m sprint at the 1988 Olympic Games for steroid use. In 1996 junior ice hockey coach Graham James was incarcerated for sexually abusing his young players. These are events that Shogan (2007) suggests triggered increased media interest in sport ethics in Canada. The powerful influence of elite sport as represented in the media on young people in sport and the incidence of ethical violations suggests a significant area of concern in youth sport. Sport coaches can clearly play an important role in shaping the ethical learning arising from young people’s participation in sport and, in countries where universities offer coaching degrees or units of study focused specifically on coaching, these provide an ideal opportunity for preparing them to meet the challenges involved in dealing with ethical issues in coaching.
