Southern Vermont College

Although it is most assuredly hackneyed to speak about transportable lessons learned from sports, I still cannot resist that temptation today.  In the past 36 hours, several things have occurred that demonstrate – yet again – what sports can teach us all.

Start with the story of Dutch Olympic speed skater, Sven Kramer (who already had a gold medal in his pocket).  A clear winner in terms of time in the 10,000 meter race, he ended the race on the “wrong side of the track” so to speak and his victory evaporated.

When he learned of his disqualification, he threw his goggles, he kicked a lane marker, he pushed away his coach’s arm from his shoulders, and he explicitly blamed the coach for the error.  While his frustration was understandable, this was hardly exemplary behavior. 

The Olympic athlete in question is young (23 years old).  Before listening to and following the instructions of his coach gesticulating on the side (the coach being the true “adult/advisor” here), the athlete actually was on the right track and on his way to an Olympic record time. He was clearly exhausted from the grueling race, which might account for his behavior. 

But, the rules are the rules, right?  Sven Kramer won but he really didn’t.

Here’s another example of a poor display – the NCAA website’s recent  advertisement for Focus on Families (now removed) which appeared in apparent violation of the NCAA’s own rules and commitment to diversity and inclusion.  And, then there is the Trinity College senior squash player and team captain who lost his composure in a championship match against Yale when he seemed to attack his opponent.

Now the counter-point example.

On Tuesday night, Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette entered the Olympics short program just days after her mother died of a massive heart attack.  She had every reason to make mistakes; just getting onto the ice was an act of enormous courage.  And, she skated a program that, in terms of scoring, was a personal best and placed her in third place for the moment.

In an emotional landscape which often has no boundaries, Joannie Rochette actually followed  the rules.  She abided by the rules regarding mandated elements in a short program, the unspoken rule that when you are chosen to represent your nation – the host nation — at the Olympics, you perform no matter what and her personal rules in terms of how to grieve for and honor her mother. 

As one commentator put it, “Rochette may not earn gold. It’s even possible she won’t medal. But her effort Tuesday … night was a focused athlete overcoming the odds – both physically and emotionally – and letting sheer will and determination carry her through a performance.”

Here’s my point.  

Neither Sven Kramer, the NCAA nor the Trinity College athlete behaved like role-models – when we expected them to be just that.  Joannie Rochette was a role model when we would have been well-prepared for her not to be.  In short, in a situation where we would have permitted her to violate the rules, Joannie lived by the rules.  In so doing, she can teach all of us about not only talking about rules but embodying them.

Southern Vermont College’s Athletic Director, Chris Cruz, invited me to attend a panel at Williams College recently where she and the other panelists were to address the greening of collegiate athletics.  I have to admit that linking athletics and environmental sensibility was not a topic that was anywhere on my radar screen.

Chris spoke about the need to think about sustainability as part of social responsibility – which is what we strive to teach our students through athletics. Another panelist, Andrew Gardner, the coach of the Middlebury College Nordic Team, spoke about how his team was concerned about its environmental footprint and purchased carbon offsets to address the issue (conceding that this was akin to purchasing indulgences).  Another panelist, Robert Nutting, an owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates, spoke about waste at sporting events and the need to collect and then recycle the multitude of discarded products. 

The panelists chatted about teams walking — not driving — to practice, identifying a team member as a “green” coordinator and addressing the environmental impact of turf fields.  Someone mentioned Green Laces, a non-profit organization that encourages athletes to support the environment – evidenced by their wearing green shoelaces. 

I attended this panel only days after returning from the NCAA’s annual convention in Atlanta, an event attended by literally thousands of coaches, AD’s, college/university presidents and NCAA staff.  I have since learned that the NCAA is teaming up with the relatively new Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, an organization of colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, working toward achieving a sustainable future.

That linkage and new commitment notwithstanding, the NCAA convention itself, as best as I could tell, was hardly a paradigm of environmental sensitivity (despite some bio-degradable drinking cups).

Thousands of people flew to the event and took cabs or rented cars to get to the conference hotels.  No carbon offsets purchased – at least by me.  There were two specific meals for the college and university presidents, both of which seemed to be overflowing with more food than was necessary.  Then there were the conference handouts – plenty of paper (much of which gets discarded in the hotel rooms) and the official conference schedule, which was printed in color on heavy coated cardboard paper stock and spiral bound.  More waste.  And, each day, the NCAA printed and distributed a newsletter printed on glossy paper in color.  Maybe I shouldn’t go into the electricity burn as the projector in the Marriott Atrium beamed statistics about the NCAA as one rode up and down the elevator.

The Williams College panel got me thinking more and more about ways we could all improve in the environmental arena.  Now, I don’t want to pick on my friends at the NCAA, but I hope that this blog entry might encourage the largest organization related to collegiate sports to further their commitment to the environment and athletics by leading by example at prospective conferences. 

In the world of environmentalism, deeds speak much louder than words. And at next year’s NCAA conference, if the NCAA were to demonstrate sustainability actively, those very acts would open the door to serious conversations about the important connection between sustainability and athletics among coaches, AD’s, athletes and presidents. 

I look forward to the possibility of being at next year’s ‘greener’ NCAA convention.