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NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF
SPORTS PROFESSIONALS
HISTORY
The National Institute of Sports Professionals (NISP), a stock corporation, was established in 1999 to meet perceived needs in sports counseling. The first board meeting and planning session took place in March 1999, and we completed our first market test in April 1999. The response from that limited market test validated our concerns.
In December 2000, Sports Systems International (SSI), a non-profit corporation, was established to take over the training and workshop aspect of this program.
Through NISP Advisory Board, we are developing training and certification standards for sports counseling, psychology, financial consulting,
law, medicine and other disciplines..
Together, NISP and SSI work hand-in-hand to promote honesty, integrity, and respect among athletes of all ages.
MISSION STATEMENT
During the past 10 to 15 years, we have seen an alarming change in behavior and attitude among athletes, the most glaring examples among professional athletes. Not only are these young men and women having more trouble with their own behavior, they set the tone, as role models, for much of our country’s youth.
The downward slide in sportsmanship, team spirit, and in the understanding of the essence of sporting endeavor have been matched by an increase in violence (both on and off the field), unethical practices, breaking the law, and self-aggrandizement. There is no doubt among knowledgeable sportspeople that the huge amount of money which has become increasingly available to athletes and teams, even at the college level, is a major cause for the increased pressure to win, score, and defeat your opponent at any cost.
Athletes today are bigger, stronger, more self-centered, use more drugs, and are more prone to violence and antisocial behavior than ever before in the history of sports. Walk through any high school today and see with your own eyes the way our young people mimic the pro athletes: hair of all colors, pierced body parts, idiosyncratic clothing, gang membership, anti-authoritarian attitudes, and other statements of negative individuality are now admired by too many students.
The National Institute of Sports Professionals (NISP) believes that today’s athletes need the help of more capable, better-trained professionals in order to deal with the changes in pressure, competition, and the prevailing attitudes. The primary mission of NISP is to develop and provide a systematic approach to counseling for athletes at all levels of competition, and build a nationwide association of professionals trained and certified to counsel athletes in performance, behavior, financial management, and
career planning.
Sports Systems International (SSI) is dedicated to stopping violence, dishonesty, and criminal behavior in sports worldwide. We plan to sponsor workshops for athletes, parents, coaches, personal trainers, health care professionals, and counselors at all levels of competition, in all states, in every sport, for both men and women, to raise the level of awareness regarding the problems, pressures, and issues relevant to sports, and athletes.
PRINCIPLES OF PRACTICE
While we believe that winning is the basic goal and the objective of competition, coaches and athletes should be aware of other aspects of competing in sporting activities:
1. Athletes should be encouraged to try to win if possible, but also to compete for the joy of competition, win or lose.
2. The development of character is a major goal of sporting activities.
3. Sports should be a means of learning about life in general.
4. Honor and integrity and more important than winning.
5. Sportsmanship entails attitudes, which keep athletic endeavors in proper prospective, and are compatible with overall mental and physical health and social development.
6. Honoring your opponent makes your victory greater, should you win, and your defeat, should you lose, no diminishment of you as a person.
7. Drugs, which enhance performance, unless used by all competing athletes, are not acceptable. Using performance-enhancing drugs makes victory meaningless.
8. Athletes should be encouraged to compete to their best ability and learn to assess realistically the limits to which they can aspire.
9. It is never necessary to demean, diminish, or otherwise emotionally abuse an athlete.
10. It is never necessary to abuse an athlete physically.
The National Institute of Sports Professionals is pledged to build a system of care for athletes of all ages
through training and workshops for professionals, coaches, parents, and athletes.
For more information
email
Dr. Freeman
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