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The front and back pages of the tabloids this year have been littered with stories of players from rugby league, rugby union, AFL, football and even cricket bringing the game into disrepute.
These talented young men are inducted into elite training programs where their personal status is immeasurably enhanced. They have very high levels of testosterone, which serves to give them the drive to excel in their sport.
Testosterone also underpins their libido. The higher the testosterone, the higher the libido.
The combination of status and libido is a potent mixture. When combined with alcohol it can become volatile and often leads to anger, especially when either status is challenged or testosterone driven desire is denied.
This, however, applies to all males. It is a fact of life that we all have to cope with. The difference is that only the select few have the complete and undivided attention of the tabloids.
The solution to better player behaviour is education in emotional intelligence (EI), which is the first step.
EI is having a high level of self-awareness: recognizing and acknowledging a feeling as it happens. Managing emotions, handling feelings so that they are appropriate, realizing what is behind a feeling, finding ways to handle fears and anxieties, anger, and sadness.
The final step is to have a strong club mentoring program where senior players are mentored by respected older men and junior players are mentored by senior players.
Each mentor is held accountable for the actions of his charge.
Anger is a secondary emotion which, if understood, can be managed appropriately. In doing so, it will help to minimalise players bringing the game into disrepute.
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