1
Personal Research Paper
Galvanis Mbu
Department of Sport Management, Liberty University
SMGT 503: Ethics in Sport
Dr. Martin
February 25, 2024
2
Personal Research Paper
The course "Ethics in Sport" has been informative in revealing the different ethical
beliefs in unique societies that influence the contexts and perceptions of sports and sports
participation in intercollegiate and professional athletics. Ethics are considered influential factors
in sports as they involve individual behaviors and acts that may, in one way or the other, alter
others' views on sports. Ideally, there are various interactions between individuals involved in
sports or supporting sports participation, with coaches, parents, athletes, and officials playing a
pivotal role in ensuring ethical sports. Ethically acceptable behaviors in sports have been
advocated for, and awareness created by sharing helpful information with participants and
coaches concerning the expected conduct. The set ethical considerations, legal requirements, and
sanctions help control unethical sports practices by setting limits for participants, coaches,
spectators, and administration to use their power in jeopardizing vulnerable groups. It has been
an excellent experience with this course in that my future career goals are influenced and feature
more recommendable moral values while incorporating scripture in shaping the fate of sports by
enhancing ethicality and opportunities for sports participation.
Mission/Vision/Cause Statement
When describing ethical beliefs as analyzed in this course, mission and vision statements
and cause statements are critical for communicating the goals of ethical plans and their motives
and developing responsible sports stakeholders while establishing professional standards that
foster ethical practices.
Mission Statement
According to Li et al. (2017), a mission statement forms a foundation for summarizing
formal goals and values that a company or an individual needs to embrace to target ethical
3
beliefs successfully. In my professional journey, my mission statement is "striving to glorify God
and spread good news to different nations through sports." Despite how brief or vague the
statement may seem, it encompasses my career goals and is attainable, especially when broken
down into simple parts for easy comprehension. Ideally, glorifying God is the primary goal
depicted in this mission. However, it can be achieved through sports as they bring several people
together who have a similar idea of worshipping God. The Biblical anticipation that where two
or three people gather in the name of God, the Lord is there with them is a strong convincement
that this goal would be achieved through sports (New International Version, 1978/2024, Mathew
18:19-20).
Another goal of the stated mission is to share the teachings about Christ with other
individuals in the sports industry. While a positive atmosphere of sports depends on ethics
backed by Christian values, sharing the body of Christ would improve the participants' ethical
conduct and determine future intercollegiate and professional sports coaches. Christian values
will be a priority for ensuring safe and fair participation. Preaching the gospel parallel to sports
events and quoting Bible verses to justify desirable conduct during individual interactions will
enhance adherence to ethical considerations such as fair and safe competitions, drug-free sports,
and compliance with game rules. Parents, coaches, and fans must collaborate to ensure good
sportsmanship by emphasizing ethical practices around sports. Therefore, leading Christian lives
for coaches influences other individuals to showcase the desired behaviors during sports
participation, sponsorship, or spectatorship.
The mission statement also focuses on personal development as a coach. I want to grow
my faith in Christ and develop into a responsible leader to my family by leading a Christian life
through sports. Servant leadership embraced in leading sports teams will also be reflected in
4
familial relationships to guarantee quality service for the other family members. I am developing
as a believer and enhancing friendship and citizenship by supporting other individuals and
helping them grow strong personality traits that reflect Christian teachings. This mission
statement allows me to achieve my goals by creating ethical and moral guidelines in sports
frameworks and other life situations.
Vision Statement
In this case, the vision is used to denote the clear and concise summary of personal
dreams regarding professional life. The vision statement expands on the career goals in the sports
context as promoted by the ethics learned in this course. While the mission discussed the present
goals, the vision statement highlights where I see myself in the future as a professional coach
(Davenport, 2022). The appropriate vision statement in this context is "to be an ethical leader in
the sports industry as an athletic director while applying the learned competencies in leading my
family responsibly, leading good citizenship, and deepening my relationship with Christ.
Per the vision statement, my future career entails athletic directors. I will work hard to
demonstrate strong leadership skills and change the perception of sports as only associated with
competitive fate to ethical practicality where individuals care about their competitors and strive
to manifest Christian values. However, this is a more significant position for optimizing diversity
and inclusion in sports by addressing gender and racial barriers to sports participation. Still, the
future personal life is depicted in the vision in that accountable family leadership and leading
good citizenship are priorities. Striving to be a model citizen overlaps with the idea of good
citizenship embraced as per the mission statement. Still, deepening the relationship with God
through sports is critical in enhancing personal and spiritual growth. The mission statement
5
aligns with the vision and depicts unique aspects of personal, professional, and spiritual life, all
of which sports promote.
Cause Statement
A genuine foundation for moral and ethical decision-making requires a cause statement.
The cause statement explains the motives for meeting the goals described in the mission and
vision statement. My cause statement guiding my professional and personal achievements is
"looking forward to praising God in my actions in the different sports industry in all contexts I
find myself in." The motivation to praise God aligns with integrating evangelism and Christian
values alongside sports to ensure that the participants follow the ethical requirements and
observe human dignity in their interactions with others. The cause statement impacts good
citizenship, future career, and spiritual development. The stated mission and vision statements
are chosen based on the motivation to lead ethical practices in sports by embracing Christian
values and observing ethical considerations as a coach and future athletic director. Reflecting the
cause behind the vision and mission statement necessitates success.
Goals
There are short-term and long-term goals for the transition from college to an anticipated
future career. The reflection on plans in this section lays out how the future life should look by
examining the current position and featuring the possible adjustments to reach life goals (Lussier
& Kimball, 2023). I have always wanted to make achievements in my life. Therefore, I would
rather keep working hard and making achievements in my career and personal life than remain a
coach for the long run and stay stagnant regarding the development and growth of my
capabilities. Besides this ole in sports, I take my time to take more classes for my master's
program that I believe will bring more opportunities for career choices.
6
Five-Year Goals
Based on my career anticipation, I see myself as an assistant athletic director at a public
institution in five years’ time. To achieve this goal, I am studying hard and aiming for more
experience with sports through coaching high school and mentorship from the athletic director. I
aim to finish my master's degree five years from now, which will optimize doors in striving to
meet my professional goals. Regarding my personal life, I also have influential goals to engage
in a familial relationship and provide a good life for my family. This goal advocates for financial
investment; hence, I need to start saving as early as now to feed and shelter my family and
educate my children.
It is one of my short-term goals to grow my faith and continue serving God, although it
has a long-term effect on my life and the individuals around me. I will also introduce my family
to Godly life and ask them to participate in all worship. My religious beliefs matter in leading a
straightforward life and adhering to my role and responsibilities while ensuring accountability. I
must stay active in church and take advantage of opportunities accrued in sports to preach good
news to others. I also believe in prayers and could be the source of confinement to achieve all the
other goals.
Ten-Year Goals
I want to look totally different from my current position in the next ten years. With my
goal for constant career development through academic achievements and growing experiences, I
would like to be the head athletic director in a public institution in ten years. My experiences
with coaching and assistant athletic director roles will provide extensive experience and
qualifications for a head athletic director. I started with sports participation as a professional
athlete, advanced to coaching, and would like to keep the trend advancing (Wendling & Sagas,
7
2020). However, my professional position in ten years will depend on achieving the five-year
goal of becoming the assistant athletic director. Being promoted from an ordinary coach to an
athletic director without experience in close work relationships with the role will not be possible.
However, through hard work in academic and field performance and prayer, promotion from a
coach to athletic director and then to head athletic director is possible. As the assistant director, I
will work hard to meet all roles and responsibilities and learn new ideas about the head athletic
director. This idea will make obtaining what is required to serve as the head athletic director
easier and optimize the chances for promotion.
Despite the short-term goal of growing my faith in Christ, it is my life-term duty to serve
God. However, in the next ten years, I will feel humbled and honored to serve God and treasure
him for all the achievements I believe I have obtained. I would also like to take a leadership role
at my local church when fully oriented to the doctrines of the Christian faith. Achieving the
anticipated spiritual solely depends on my diligence in living a Christian-centered life. I will not
mind doing anything possible to develop a strong relationship with God and teach others about
Christ. The 5-year and ten-year goals comply with the mission and vision statement of my career
and personal life; hence, achieving them makes me feel honored for hard work and God's support
in making it.
Values
Suggestive values are essential for ensuring one's goals are achieved as they dictate the
necessary discipline for empowering one. Per MasterClass (2022), personal values are central
beliefs and tenets guiding one's actions. The values are depicted in routine lives and influence
interactions with other individuals or situations at hand. The vital personal values to help achieve
the goals as described in the mission and vision statements include:
8
Respect
Respect involves valuing others and preserving their dignity as humans. Respect in this
scenario entails considering others' ideas by listening attentively and admiring their positive
vibes to make achievements out of them. Being a Christian, Respect is a core principle for
leading my life. I believe in the Bible's teaching to respect everyone we interact with as a sign of
love for one another, fear of God, and honor to the emperor, which brings a unique value and
enhances goal achievement (New International Version, 1978/2024, 1 Peter 1:17). Respect
complies with my mission and vision as it is a way of glorifying God and leading others to serve
God. Respecting subjects and one's bosses helps one learn more from others and equips the
person with more growth and development capabilities for their career and personal goals.
People need support from one another to achieve their goals. For instance, in this case, respecting
the assistant director and head athletic director will inspire appropriate support for a coach to
follow the right path and grow to occupy similar roles in the future.
Selflessness
This value involves caring for others rather than centering on one's needs. Selflessness
helps address greed and leads people to do what they might expect to be done for them.
Selflessness brings an empowering atmosphere for supporting one another in achieving their
academic, professional, or personal goals. Although it could be difficult to lead selflessly, I
would struggle to maintain the value of obtaining Respect from others throughout my
professional life.
Loyalty
Loyalty is another significant value that entails firmly believing in something and
sticking to one's word and actions. In today's competitive world of sports, loyalty to my mission
9
and vision in my sports career is relevant to achieving the five-year and ten-year goals. I want to
create appropriate trust in various roles and responsibilities, including assistant and head athletic
director's roles, to enhance opportunities to achieve my goal of serving in these positions. My
loyalty will extend to my professional goals and my employer's organizational mission.
Kindness
Just as I have always tried to be kind to sports participants in my coaching journey, this
value will continue in embracing higher-level positions. I will always treat others well and in a
friendly manner by implementing effective sporting policies that enhance participation
opportunities and enable each to compete fairly and safely. Knowing the fate of Christians and
non-believers, I will always advocate for Christianity to bring more people to light as a sign of
love and kindness. Kindness will be used to induce positive responses from subjects and enhance
the achievement of institutional goals (MasterClass, 2022).
Compassion
Compassion is critical in my academic, personal, and professional life. It involves
understanding others' experiences, sympathizing with them, and taking action to help with the
situation. I will always teach others to be compassionate as it allows people to develop adaptive
thoughts, behaviors, and emotions in response to stressful situations. With the understanding of
how compassion has helped me build strong resilience and sustainable performance under
pressure in my coaching career, I will advocate for this value to my subjects and seniors in all
positions within the sports management structure. Promoting compassion among sports
stakeholders enhances compliance with the sports rules and ethical requirements to protect others
from physical, emotional, and mental injuries. My desire to occupy higher positions in
institutional sports is related to my goals for serving others. Therefore, compassion is relevant in
10
helping the less fortunate and those struggling with sports participation barriers by setting
suggestive policies that encourage equality and fairness in competitions (Arieli et al., 2020).
Humility
Humility is an influential value stressed in the Bible to ensure that individuals understand
that God exalts them and that they should not use their positions to boast around or be overly
proud but to serve others. I have always wanted to lead by example and integrate servant
leadership to help others do tasks that may seem awkward despite their necessity. Humility is
part of my personality, as it always forces me to respect people and listen to them regardless of
their positions. I finally obtained helpful insights from their words, actions, and stipulations
(Huynh et al., 2020). With my spiritual journey, I would like to be humble enough to glorify God
and value Him and his word over other things. Humility and fear of God will lead me to reach
and honor life as anticipated in my mission, vision, and personal, career, and life goals.
Resilience
Resilience refers to toughness that keeps one moving forward despite the experienced
challenges to meet one's goals. I want to be a person who never gives up until they achieve their
goals. Although it has been a challenge to remain resilient to my goals, I plan to stop taking
things personally and always find new ways to evade groups wanting to bring me down. My
slogan of "forward ever" would enable me to achieve all the set goals by the end of five and ten
years.
Honesty
Honesty is a critical value that I have learned in sports participation and coaching roles. It
involves acting truthfully by avoiding deception, cheating, and stealing. The issue of cheating in
sports and the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) has been highly discouraged, and this
11
taught me the value of being honest in my actions and decisions in sports participation and
coaching (Champion et al., 2020). I will integrate this value to ensure the right path toward
achieving my goals without taking advantage of other people or intimidating them for one's
benefit.
Responsibility
I want always to lead a responsible life and be understood as someone who can honor the
given roles and responsibilities without delay. As I anticipate life, career, and academic changes,
I know the growing responsibilities. Therefore, I will always be responsible for job roles, family
duties, and church responsibilities without failing. If I make any contradicting decision in my
line of duty, I will be ready to take responsibility for the consequences. Responsibility is a
significant value in attracting Respect from others.
Accountability
A responsible person or leader must always be accountable for their actions. I have
learned to understand one's mistakes and not judge others for a course. Hence, this value will
always lead me to success by learning to be accountable for my actions, taking possible measures
to rectify my mistakes, and moving toward my goals. Ultimately, I want to avoid blaming other
people for failure at all costs, as this will help me improve my performance and foster the
achievement of my goals.
Biblical Integration
The mission, vision, cause statement, and plans for my academic, professional, and
personal life reflect a comprehensive context for integrating Biblical teachings and expectations
in leading trustworthy exercises toward my goals. One goal is to embrace a healthy relationship
with God by growing my Christian faith and preaching the gospel through sports. This plan
12
aligns with Biblical teaching in Luke 10:27, which advocates for a solid relationship with God by
loving God with all one's heart, soul, strength, and mind (New International Version,
1978/2024). God wants us to be His children who love Him, and God loves them to ensure a
good relationship that will attract his blessings and guarantee success in whatever we do.
The values considered essential in promoting the achievement of my goals are related to
ensuring a good relationship with other individuals. The Bible's Golden rule teaches us to do to
others what we would like them to do to us (New International Version, 1978/2024, Luke 6:31;
Mathew 7:12). This explains why biblical requirements guide my values, as I would not want to
do the wrong to others to achieve my goals. I believe my future plants will work as God wants
them and not as I plan. Ideally, even if I fail to achieve my goals, I know that God has a plan for
my life. God reveals that He has a plan for his people, plans to prosper and not harmful ones;
they are plans of hope and a future (New International Version, 1978/2024, Jeremiah 29:11). I
feel empowered to continue with my life admirations as God will one-day grand my
expectations. I find it comforting to involve God in my future goals because He will never
disappoint me.
13
References
Arieli, S., Sagiv, L., & Roccas, S. (2020). Values at work: The impact of personal values in
organisations.GApplied Psychology,G69(2), 230-275. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12181
Champion Jr, W. T., Karcher, R. T., & Ruddell, L. S. (2019).GSports ethics for sports
management professionals. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Huynh, H. P., Johnson, C. E., & Wehe, H. (2020). Humble coaches and their influence on
players and teams: The mediating role of affect-based (but not cognition-based)
trust.GPsychological Reports,G123(4), 1297-1315.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294119839028
Li, S. T. T., Frohna, J. G., & Bostwick, S. B. (2017). Using your personal mission statement to
INSPIRE and achieve success.GAcademic Pediatrics,G17(2), 107-109.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2016.11.010
Lussier, R. N., & Kimball, D. C. (2023).GApplied sport management skills. Human Kinetics.
MasterClass, (May 3, 2022). Personal Values Explained: 7 Examples of Personal Values.
Masterclass. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/personal-values
New International Version, (2024). Bible Study Tools. https://www.biblestudytools.com/niv/.
(Original work published in 1978).
Wendling, E., & Sagas, M. (2020). An application of the social cognitive career theory model of
career self-management to college athletes’ career planning for life after sport.GFrontiers
in psychology,G11, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00009
