A great idea for giving back

Atheltic Management
Good Deeds on Game Day
By Dan Cardone

Looking for a way to teach coaches, players, and parents to appreciate the gifts of high school athletics? At North Hills High School in Pittsburgh, Pa., "Five Good Deeds on Game Day" is a message that promotes selflessness, sportsmanship, and being a good person.

I feel that the easiest way to get outside of yourself (and in some cases over yourself) is by reaching out and giving yourself to others. After watching our country pull together to support Haiti in the wake of a tragic earthquake--at a time when many of our citizens are struggling to make ends meet--I realized that by reaching out to those in need, we make ourselves better people. It would be great if that spirit of giving and good will could be harnessed and applied at a more local level.

Here at North Hills High School, we want our coaches, players, and parents to appreciate one another and everybody involved with our athletic program and school. One way we accomplish this is through our "Five Good Deeds on Game Day" message.

Laminated on a card and distributed to our coaches, players, and parents, the list is designed to prompt each of us to do something positive and put our best foot forward on days of interscholastic athletic contests. The good deeds are meant to make our coaches, players, and fans pause and be thankful for the great things provided by high school athletics.

Five Good Deeds on Game Day

1. Thank someone. That someone could be the bus driver. This individual took the responsibility of delivering you safely from your school to your destination and back and deserves to know that you appreciate their efforts.

Or perhaps it can mean locating a teacher who attended a game the night before and telling them, "I appreciated you coming to our game last night." Doing so lets them see that you care they took the time to come.

2. Clean up after yourself. It is a tremendous sign of respect toward the custodial staff of the visiting school when they see you have left your bench area or locker room in good condition. Coaches can emphasize this to their teams, and personally check those areas to insure they were cleaned. After home events, parents can take time to take cups and other waste items to the disposal areas while waiting for their kids to emerge from the locker room.

3. Pick someone up. This good deed might mean helping up an opposing player after they fall down. Teaching players to hand the ball to an official after a play is over is also a deed that garners respect.

Or a parent can console a coach after a tough loss rather than choosing to assign blame. The same can be said of a coach and how he or she treats his or her players. For instance, when a player has been the target of a coach's in-game criticism, the coach should approach them after the contest and follow up with kind words about their performance.

4. Compliment someone. There are lots of opportunities for this on game day, including reaching out to someone you competed against. Coaches, athletes, and parents can all deliver the right message to an opponent after a hard fought close match by saying something like, "Great work out there. We were lucky to get the win today."

Coaches can go into the opponent's locker room and say, "You guys played a heck of a game today. I mean that sincerely." Or, they can even go out of their way to compliment the officiating staff--even if they didn't necessarily deserve it.

5. Be better than everyone else. Coaches often speak to their team about working hard and outplaying the opponent. It would be great if they included a statement like, "The other team operated outside the rules today, but you held your composure."


As the athletic director, I will approach a student-athlete if I witness them doing a good deed. I might say, "I saw you help that girl up when she fell down. That was a first class thing to do."

When you leave the stadium as a coach, player, or parent, knowing that you did a good deed and made a difference in somebody else's life is fulfilling. And having the same routine--win or lose--develops good habits and is contagious. There is a lot of truth to the saying "no good deed goes unturned."


Dan Cardone is Athletic Director at North Hills High School in Pittsburgh, Pa. He is a frequent contributor to Athletic Management.