Holding Athletes Accountable

Wrestling naturally teaches athletes accountability because there isn’t anywhere to hide, says Steve Garland, head wrestling coach at the University of Virginia.

“If you're not doing the right things, in most cases, that will be exposed,” says Garland. “You will see that on the mat in both the practice room and in competition. When it is out there for all to see, you have to face it. You can either make excuses, place blame or truly come to grips with your mistakes, repent and decide to make changes. I love that about our sport.”

But learning accountability on the mat, in practice, and with one’s training, is different than holding athletes accountable.

Coaches, parents, and teammates all have a responsibility to hold themselves, and those within the program, accountable. And holding athletes accountable means that athletes understand there are consequences to every action.

“Every choice you make matters,” says Garland.

It is the job of coaches to lead and help young athletes along in their journey, on and off the mat. Holding them accountable and getting them to understand there are consequences—good and bad—for their actions is the start of understanding that process.

Using these strategies to hold athletes accountable is a good start, says Garland:

• Clearly communicate the standard: “You have to have a standard, and that standard of conduct has to be explained clearly to the student-athlete, both verbally and in writing,” Garland says.
• Constantly revisit that standard: Remind them so everyone in the program is clear on expectations.
• Ensure athletes understand the consequences: Once expectations are set, clearly communicate the repercussions/penalties should that standard of conduct be broken.
• Enforce penalties: This is the hardest part, says Garland. Coaches then have to be willing to enforce and carry out those penalties consistently.

This includes holding everyone to the same standards and enforcing the same rules no matter one's standing within the team or program.

“Holding athletes accountable means not letting things slide just because they are the best player,” says Casey Miller, Vice President, External Relations for the Positive Coaching Alliance, a national nonprofit organization that provides resources for coaches to be able to leverage sports to teach life lessons, like accountability, through sport.

“It means treating players equally in regards to breaking rules, no matter the talent level, says Miller, who before joining PCA, played professional basketball in Oviedo, Spain. She also overseas the National Leadership Council, National Advisory Board, and Awards Programs for the PCA. “Accountability starts with setting expectations and then holding athletes accountable for when they do or don’t live up to those expectations. Part of holding athletes accountable is acknowledging when they do things right, and they do live up to expectations.”

Many adults (typically parents and coaches) associate holding athletes accountable with punishment, or a negative reaction to an action. Instead, see it as a learning opportunity says Scott Green, head coach at Wyoming Seminary. In the article Accountability Breeds Success, Green points out that teenagers are going to make mistakes. How a coach or parent responds can influence how one matures, or how they respond to future situations where accountability might be questioned. Punishing a wrestler for a mistake is not holding them accountable. Educating them, though, can be helpful.

“Some adults make the mistake of equating accountability with punishment,” says Green. “It is more than that. It is an opportunity for a child to learn. If you consistently mishandle these situations, you will lose credibility.”

In most cases where one’s accountability is challenged, parents will immediately jump to the defense of their child, Garland says. It’s a natural parental reaction to want to protect that child. But taking a step back and viewing the learning opportunity within the situation is something all parents—and athletes—can benefit from.

“I would say that in 20 years of doing this I have seen parents jump to the defense and rescue of their children far too quickly in this area,” says Garland. “I think we all—coaches and parents alike—need to rightly recognize that mistakes are going to happen. Bad decisions are going to be made.”

But...

“It doesn’t mean the student-athlete is a bad kid or someone that can’t be helped,” says Garland. “But it does mean we have to teach him or her. We have to discipline them. Just like we discipline my own kids, and just like my father and mother disciplined me. It is never fun or enjoyable during the time of discipline but if approached and received correctly it produces fruit in the person’s life. That’s huge. We can’t be so quick to rescue. It’s in the struggle that most growth happens. We learn quite a bit in the pit—much more than when we are on the mountain top.”

Accountability is a life skill that greatly helps with overall life success, says Dr. Christopher Stankovich, Ph.D., founder of Advanced Human Performance Systems, an athletic counseling and human performance enhancement center. 

"Whether it’s being accountable for lifting, studying, or being home by curfew, accountability helps build trust between individuals, and trust leads to stronger overall relationships with people,” says Stankovich. “Simply put, people who emphasize accountability generally get things done better and faster than those who do not hold themselves accountable. If you’re not willing to be accountable to something, you might not want to spend a lot of time doing that activity. I would stress to young athletes that accountability should not be looked at as something punitive, but instead as a success contract between athlete and coach/parent/teammates.”

Miller says sports teach accountability because there is a lot at stake: “Often times, kids are motivated to win, to score, to get playing time and to be the best they can be,’ says Miller. “Coaches and parents have the opportunity to leverage this platform to teach life lessons through sport, an important one of which is accountability. As humans, most of us don't like the feeling of letting people down, especially when they are friends and teammates. Sports present the perfect platform to teach accountability, as long as sports are done right.”