American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance - AAHPERD

 Issue: Nov/Dec 2005

Fit to Be Tied! The Relevance of Ties in Teaching Physical Education
Douglas W. McLaughlin & Cesar R. Torres

Abstract:
Because physical education programs around the country use sport or educational athletics to achieve NASPE’s goals, and sporting institutions play a significant role in the lives of many students, it is important to educate students about the meaning and complexity embedded in sporting contests. The more educated and sophisticated that students become in their understanding of sporting contests, the more likely they will be to realize the goals of a physically educated person as set forth by NASPE’s content standards. One such example is how to understand a sporting contest that ends in a tie. Currently, participants and spectators alike spurn ties in favor of determining a winner and a loser. This effort, however, often undermines the central purpose of sporting contests and promotes unwanted attitudes toward winning, losing, and competition. Thus, this article has three purposes. First, the authors establish an enlightened view of ties as meaningful contest resolutions and examine the distinction between outcome seekers and resolution seekers. Second, the article offers possibilities for fostering an appreciation of ties in physical education instructional settings. Finally, the authors discuss the payoffs that their approach to ties has for physical education, emphasizing not the achievement of some end, but rather living more fully a meaningful story through physical activity.

Article category: Philosophy of Sport