HHSAA Sportsmanship - Hawaii High School Athletic Association (HHSAA)

Unsportsmanlike conduct. Technical foul. Yellow card. Code violation. One-stroke penalty.

These are just a small handful of penalties charged to an athlete or team when unsportsmanlike behavior is displayed on the playing field.

The HHSAA understands that in the heat of the game, we sometimes can lose our cool when the outcome we want isn’t achieved. But that’s why we play the game – to better ourselves through athletics.

The HHSAA and its member schools advocate athletics as an extension of the classroom, further supporting the academic missions of our schools. Lessons taught on the playing field further help us practice life lessons such as teamwork, perseverance, community service and SPORTSMANSHIP.

This is why, since 2005, the HHSAA has teamed up with HMSA in implementing the Kaimana Awards & Scholarship Program – a program that recognizes and rewards student-athletes and schools for achievements in athletics, academics, sportsmanship and community service. In this program, schools compete against one another by accumulating points for athletic achievements, academics and community service, and are deducted points based on unsportsmanlike penalties. On the individual side, senior student-athletes are awarded college scholarships through a competitive application process which underscores academics and community service.

And sportsmanship is not only the responsibility of the student-athlete. Coaches, parents, spectators and school faculty and staff all have to be on the same team when it comes to sportsmanship.

Sportsmanship is a goal we all should aspire to. Let’s play the game with proper consideration for fairness, ethics, respect and a sense of fellowship with our competitors, coaches, officials and spectators.

It is your response to winning and losing that makes you a winner or a loser.: – Harry Sheehy, Dartmouth College Athletic Director

I never thought about losing, but now that it's happened, the only thing is to do it right.: – Muhammad Ali, world-champion boxer

One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than a hundred teaching it.: – Knute Rockne, legendary Notre Dame football coach

I think sportsmanship is knowing that it is a game, that we are only as good as our opponents, and whether you win or lose, to always give 100 percent.: – Sue Wicks, former WNBA player

Teamwork is the fuel that allows common people to produce uncommon results.: – unknown

When the Great Scorer comes to mark against your name, He writes not that you won or lost, but how you played the Game: – Grantland Rice, sportswriter

If it is a cliché to say athletics build character as well as muscle, then I subscribe to the cliché.: – Gerald Ford, 38th President of the United States of America

What’s your favorite sportsmanship quote? Tweet it to @HHSAAsports, #sportsmanship.

Sportsmanship Resources

The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) has developed two valuable courses that promote sportsmanship for our coaches and parents:

For the coach:

Sportsmanship
A complimentary course by the NFHS to give you a better understanding of sportsmanship, how it impacts the educational process, and your specific role in modeling it at all interscholastic events.

For the parent:

The Role of the Parent in Sports
A complimentary course which provides information and resources to hel educate you on the importance of proper behavior by parents in school sports and the role they play in ensuring a positive sport experience for the student athlete. Parents make a huge difference in the quality of a child’s sport experience.

Unsportsmanlike conduct. Technical foul. Yellow card. Code violation. One-stroke penalty.

Sportsmanship Resources

For the coach:

For the parent:

Other HHSAA Campaigns