National Sportsmanship Day

Floor Speech

NATIONAL SPORTSMANSHIP DAY -- (Senate - March 04, 2008)

Mr. REED. Mr. President, today marks the 18th annual National Sportsmanship Day. This initiative, the largest of its kind in the world, is a program of the Institute for International Sport based at the University of Rhode Island. Since 1991, the program has promoted the highest ideals of sportsmanship and fair play among not only the young people of Rhode Island but also among youth in every other State and, indeed, around the world. This year alone over 7 million children in more than 14,000 schools throughout the United States and countries as diverse as Ghana, Nigeria, India, Australia, and Bermuda, will celebrate National Sportsmanship Day.

Our appreciation of sports is deep-rooted. The ancient Greeks, for example, recognized ``a sound mind in a sound body'' as the foundation of a good education. But a complete individual not only develops the mind and body, he or she also develops and exhibits fairness and honesty, key elements of sportsmanship.

This year, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, the famed Olympic Gold medalist, serves as chair of the National Sportsmanship Day program. She and the program's founder, Dan Doyle, remain committed to the goal of making sports a more positive force in society. They hope to achieve their objective by focusing this year on improving parental involvement in athletics, encouraging parents to be good sports on the sidelines so they can be good models of ethical behavior for their children.

I am proud that Rhode Island is the home base of this program, and I hope it enjoys continued success.

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