Running head: PHILOSOPHICAL PAPER

Philosophical Paper

Ryan Bradshaw

George Mason University

SRST 606

Dr. Wiggins
PHILOSOPHICAL PAPER

Philosophical Ideals of a Sport and Recreation Professional

My involvement in sport leadership started back in 1997 when I started my first ever job

as an umpire for youth baseball at a community league in my neighborhood in Toronto. Making

$10 an hour and calling balls and strikes, I was immediately hooked on officiating and when

winter came, I began refereeing ice hockey as well. By the time I was 17, the baseball league

needed a new umpire-in-chief and the league executive picked me for the job. I spent two years

scheduling umpires, supervising games, solving problems, and doing payroll for the 25 umpires I

had on staff.

I really enjoyed this leadership opportunity and when I started my undergraduate degree

at the University of Western Ontario in 2003, someone suggested to me that I get involved in the

Intramural Sports program. I began working for the program in my freshman year as an ice

hockey referee, but quickly moved into a leadership role, first as a referee-in-chief for the ice

hockey league, then as a league supervisor.

I was working on a business degree in finance and administration, but was coming to the

realization that working in a bank was not what I wanted to do with my life. In my junior year,

the Intramural department received a new director who was involved in NIRSA, the association

for collegiate recreation professionals. He sent me to my first NIRSA event, a regional student

leadership conference at the University of Central Michigan in January of 2006, and I suddenly

realized that collegiate recreation was a career option. I then began working towards obtaining a

graduate assistantship position and completing a masters in Sport Management.

I took a chance in 2008 and paid my own way to attend the NIRSA Annual Conference in

Austin, TX that year. At that conference, I interviewed with 8 different schools and was offered

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4 positions, deciding to accept the offer from Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC). I

took the position at SIUC over the other options because I was assured that I would have the

opportunity to make a tangible impact on the program and to have real hands-on experience

implementing change, rather than just being a custodian of a program for 2 years. This decision

paid off and I gained valuable experience both with my job and in the classroom, earning my

Masters of Science in Education, specializing in Sport Management. Within a few weeks of

graduating, I was hired in my field of study, and moved to Mount Royal University in Calgary,

AB.

While at Mount Royal, I gained more experience in my field, overseeing Intramural and

Club Sports, but was also given the opportunity to work on several research projects and to teach

courses. This opened my eyes to the idea of moving up in the world of Student Affairs, which

interested me. In order to do that, however, I needed a PhD. This is how I ended up studying

towards a doctorate in Higher Education Administration, with a minor in Sport Management,

here at George Mason University. I chose to keep Sport Management as a minor because both

sport and recreation are integral parts of the collegiate student experience, which I aim to oversee

in my future career plans.

The importance of lifelong learning

“In order to survive and prosper socially, politically and economically, we must build a

learning society based on a culture of lifelong learning in which everyone should be able,

motivated and actively encouraged to learn throughout life” (De La Harpe & Radloff, 2000).

The constant challenge to improve is a personal foundation of mine. I believe that we

must constantly evaluate our situation and ask ourselves “is this the best that I/we can do?” If the

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answer is no, we must look to learn and improve. Data plays a large role in this reflection for me,

as it helps drive informed decision making on what is working and what parts of the status quo

can be challenged.

A comment I have heard many times is “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. I personally think

that this is a terrible philosophy to have. It drives people to maintain the status quo, which can

lead to being left behind as the world around us continues to evolve. This does not mean that we

should always be changing, just for the sake of change, but we should ask ourselves “is this the

best that we can do?” on a consistent basis. If the answer is yes, great! Keep going with where

we are at, but if not, we must ask ourselves how can we learn and get better.

This brings me back to the quote from De La Harpe & Radloff that started this section.

Lifelong learning enables us to continue evolving and moving forward as a collective societal

group. This evolution that comes after asking “is this the best we can do?” can only happen with

a population that is willing to learn and try new things in order to prosper.

Being a Consumer of New Knowledge

An important aspect of life is constantly seeking to learn and improve. Businesses do this

on a regular basis, by gathering and consuming new knowledge about products and services from

customers themselves, in order to improve those products and services to gain more profits

(Grabher, Ibert, & Flohr, 2008). Individuals must also consistently look to consume new

knowledge in order to stay marketable to their customers, potential employers.

A great way to do this is to consistently seek new knowledge from all sources available.

For Sport Management professionals, new knowledge comes in the form of scholarly journals,

books, magazines, professional contacts, conferences, and more. It is important to be searching

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for this information on a regular basis as our profession is always evolving and new information

is always coming out.

As a campus recreation professional, I primarily gain new knowledge from my peers, by

reading an online discussion community posts where members of my professional organization,

NIRSA, post questions and answers about both existing and emerging issues. I also attend

several conference a year where I sit in educational sessions and hear about new, innovative

ways different campuses are administering their facilities and programs. This is not all one

directional, as I also present at conferences to share my knowledge with my peers, encouraging

them to be consumers of new knowledge as well.

I take the time to attend these conferences, present, read, and talk with my peers as I do

not want to be left behind in this field, stuck using antiquated information. To me, a true

professional in a field is always looking to be the best they can be, which involves seeking out

and utilizing new knowledge.

Definitions

Profession

Abraham Flexner was an American educator most well-known for the Carnegie

Foundation funded Flexner Report in 1910, which was critical of the quality of medical

education in the United States and led to many reforms in medical education across the country

(Barzansky, 2010). In 1915, Flexner attempted to define the field of social work and in doing so

developed criteria for an occupation to be considered a profession, saying that it must:

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(1) possess and draw upon a store of knowledge that was more than ordinarily complex;

(2) secure a theoretical grasp of the phenomena with which it dealt; (3) apply its

theoretical and complex knowledge to the practical solution of human and social

problems; (4) strive to add to and improve its stock of knowledge; (5) pass on what it

knew to novice generations not in a haphazard fashion but deliberately and formally; (6)

establish criteria of admission, legitimate practice, and proper conduct; and (7) be imbued

with an altruistic spirit. (Flexner, 2001)

Walter Metzger, a historian and professor at Columbia University, added to this

definition by stating that the "paramount function of professions ... is to ease the problems

caused by the relentless growth of knowledge” (Buhai, 2012).

Both Flexner and Metzger’s descriptions of professions apply to the field of Sport

Management. As the Sport Management industry in the United States alone has grown to involve

over 120 million participants with an economic impact of almost $200 billion (Humphreys &

Ruseski, 2008), it has become a profession. New knowledge is regularly developed by

researchers dedicated to the field, associations of professionals have been established to regulate

the field and assist in passing on information to novices of the field, and most professionals in

the field have skills and knowledge that the general public as a whole would lack.

Ernest Greenwood, a social work researcher and professor at the University of California

Berkeley who developed his own criteria for a profession, saying that all professions possess:

“(1) systematic theory, (2) authority, (3) community sanction, (4) ethical codes, and (5) a

culture” (Greenwood, 1957). The Sport Management industry, based on this definition, has

moved from what many view as a pastime to a profession over the last few decades.

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Professionalization

Greenwood’s criteria was developed as he was attempting to professionalize the field of

Social Work. Professionalization is the act of professions as a whole developing their own

standards, culture, and authority to self-regulate (Wilensky, 1964). Important aspects of these

definitions of professionalization revolve around the ideas of authority and the ability to self-

regulate.

In the field of Sport Management, associations like the North American Society for Sport

Management (NASSM) have professionalized themselves by developing their own canons and

principles to operate under and maintain committees to regulate professionals who violate said

principles (North American Society for Sport Management, n.d.). Numerous other associations

of Sport Management professionals exist, including the National Association of College

Directors of Athletics, Sport Marketing Association, and the Sports Turf Managers Association,

each with their own statutes and self-regulations, showing that the field has truly been

professionalized.

Professionalism

Just because an individual is part of a profession does not mean that they will exhibit the

traits of ‘professionalism’. VanZandt (1990) explained professionalism as an “intrinsic

motivation… the way in which a person relies on a personal high standard of competence in

providing professional services… a person’s willingness to pursue professional development

opportunities that will improve skills within the profession”. Self-reflection also plays a role in

professionalism, as professionals will reflect on their personal experiences and use that

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experience to grow and refine their understanding of the field (Elman, Illfelder-Kaye, & Robiner,

2005).

Being a consumer of new knowledge is an important part of being a professional, as

professionals must always look to improve themselves and their field. This desire to improve is a

learned behavior that comes from both experiences the individual goes through and

from observing how others in the profession behave. The professional then develops

their own version of professionalism based on a combination of those experiences,

observations, and self-reflections.

De-professionalization

The phenomenon of de-professionalization occurs when technological advances

and standardized practices in a field allow for just about anyone to join the field

(Epstein, 2014). Epstein (2014) uses the example of the medical field, in which

computers and machines are now able to perform tests on blood and urine, taking the

work out of the hands of professionals who were formerly trained in the field as the

tasks can now be completed by individuals who do not need to have a specialized

skillset and knowledge. If the field of sport management becomes one that anyone off

the street can readily become a professional in, it would mark the de -professionalization

of the profession.

Sport vs. Recreation

A very basic definition of sport comes from Jeu (1972), as “a challenge taken on before

an assembled crowd”. This definition, while partially correct, misses the mark when it comes to

references of an assembled crowd, as competitions between individuals can still occur even

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without a crowd. Jeu (1972) also offers the definition of “when physical pleasure ends and the

desire to stop the opponent begins”, which makes the assumption that sport must be a challenge

between humans.

Historically, competition against a human opponent has been a defining aspect of sport,

as in Jeu’s description, however, I tend to agree more with Krein’s (2015) more recent

publication on the subject, in which he argues that individual sports in nature are also

competitive, with mountaineers, surfers, and skiers all competing against the natural features of

their landscape. The competitive nature of sport does not just apply to stopping and defeating

other humans, such as another team in a baseball game or another runner in the 100m dash, but

also to defeating natural elements.

McIntosh’s (1970) definition of “Sport refers to all physical activities which are not

necessary for the survival of the individual or the race and which are dominated by a compulsory

element” is much broader and in many ways encompasses the concept of ‘recreation’ into his

definition of ‘sport’. By McIntosh’s description, any form of walking unrelated to survival,

would fall into the definition of sport. Madow (1965) would disagree with McIntosh, however,

as he would see walking that is unrelated to survival as part of the ‘voluntary’, ‘pleasure’ and

‘leisure time’ concepts of his definition of recreation: “Recreation is considered to be activity

voluntarily undertaken, primarily for pleasure and satisfaction, during leisure time”.

The key differences between ‘sport’ and ‘recreation’, to me, are the concepts of pleasure

and leisure time, such as in Fairchild’s (1970) “Any activity pursued during leisure, either

individual or collective, that is free and pleasureful, having its own immediate appeal, not

impelled by a delayed reward beyond itself, or by any immediate necessity” and Pigram’s (1983)

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“Having fun or enjoying a pastime or diversion. It also means the various pastimes or diversions

– forms of recreation – themselves”. Recreation is done more for fun in one’s spare time, while

sport is a challenge between humans or a human and nature.

Can a recreational activity become a sport? Absolutely, it happens when the activity

shifts from being primarily for fun into the competitive realm.

How to become a Sport Management professional

I believe that to become a professional in the Sport Management field, one needs to

ensure that they are a both a lifelong learner and a consumer of new knowledge. A professional

must have the intrinsic value to learn and grow in their field, which are traits of both lifelong

learners and consumers of new knowledge.

To do this, professionals need a formal liberal education that gives them a broad

knowledge of the world around them before focusing in on a specific subject that allows them to

solve problems in a real world setting (Association of American Colleges & Universities, n.d.),

by being able to diagnose a problem, evaluate his/her options, and then chose a course of action

to solve the problem. It is imperative that the education be broad as to encourage the professional

to seek new knowledge from a wide variety of sources, not just ones in his/her specific field, to

assist in bringing in creative new ideas into the field. In many ways, a professional should be a

‘visionary’ in the field, seeking to bring new ideas and processes into the profession.

Professionals should also look to make those around them better, by helping share their

knowledge in the field. If all of the collective individuals in a profession are able to share their

ideas and knowledge, such as at conferences and by publishing research in journals, the

profession as a whole moves forward. True professionals should not try to hoard information and

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knowledge to put themselves ahead of others – they should be able to improve everyone they

interact with in the field.

Through the professionalization processes, guidelines, canons, and principles for

individuals in the field to adhere to have been developed by professional associations to self-

regulate the industry. Professionals in the field should ensure that they always follow those

statutes and adopt them as part of their own moral principles.

I believe that I attempt to adhere to these principles on a daily basis while working in the

Sport Management industry. I consider myself to be a collegiate recreation professional and

follow the professional ethics established by NIRSA, our professional organization (NIRSA,

2001). I continue to expand upon my personal knowledge by continuing my education, both

formally at George Mason University, but also by attending conferences, reading journal articles,

and networking with my peers. I assist in helping those around me by serving on association

leadership committees, conducting research, presenting at conferences, and helping develop my

student employees and program participants. I have a goal of ensuring that de-professionalization

does not occur in the field and, along with many of my colleagues, will continue to work to

ensure the collegiate recreation professional remains a desired profession.

I believe that my personal professional philosophy will allow me to continue to succeed

in this competitive industry and help move my profession forward.

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References

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Buhai, S. L. (2012). Profession: a definition. Fordham Urban Law Journal, 40(1), 241-282.

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Madow, P. (ed.) (1965). Recreation in America. New York, NY: H.W. Wilson.

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