Amid an escalating number of ejections at Texas high school sporting events, the Texas High School Coaches Association and the Texas High School Athletic Directors Association have collaborated on "The Texas Way," an effort to improve the level of sportsmanship within the University Interscholastic League.
“We have had long discussions and have looked at things about our sportsmanship,” said THSCA executive director Joe Martin, as reported by the Beeville Bee-Picayune. “Since COVID, we have looked at where our ejection numbers are; how our coaches, athletes, fans, and officials have acted, and it’s gotten to the point where we felt like we needed to do something about it. We didn’t just want to talk about it. We wanted to make something happen, and we wanted to make something happen on a big scale.”
UIL athletic director Ray Zepeda reported a 100% increase in athlete ejections, and 40% to 50% rise in ejections relative to coaches and fans over the past five years.
“Right in the middle of that five-year period was a very divisive time with COVID,” Zepeda said. “I think that obviously impacted a large segment of a lot of things with society, but those types of data points got my attention.”
According to Bee-Picayune reporter Coy Slavik, Stephen Mackey of 2Words Character Development, which is partnering with the THSCA and THSADA in the initiative, detailed the three pillars of “The Texas Way” – respect for others, control of self, and spirit of competition.
“We give respect because of who we are, not because of someone else and what they do,” Mackey said. “We allow students, coaches, fans, and officials to take ownership of their actions. We know athletics is passionate and it's supposed to be, but it doesn't give us permission to not put boundaries on our thoughts, words, and actions and our anger. We want to have a control of self, rather than letting our emotions take control of us.
“We don't want anyone to ever think that we're turning the volume down on a passion to win in the name of character. It's just the opposite. We care so much about winning that we care how we win, and we want to win the right way, the Texas way.”
As Slavik reported, THSADA executive director Rusty Dowling said improving sportsmanship is his organization’s top initiative. “When coaches get together, they talk about the Xs and the Os,” Dowling said. “When athletic directors got together, the talk didn’t used to be about student-athlete ejections. That wasn’t necessarily a concern. It is now.”
“When you talk to kids, they say they want to compete in an environment that is not a chaotic environment,” the UIL's Zepeda added. “They want to compete in a positive environment. We're not going to stop our focus on sportsmanship until we get a significant handle on this situation. It impacts kids. It's divisive in our communities, and we're thankful at the UIL for the support of so many coaching and officiating organizations for this program.”
