WO: In sports, the desire to succeed, sometimes at all costs, is related to ambition and the need to compete. How do you manage to convey and maintain the belief that sports have their rules and that fair play is rewarded? I know that the determination to win is very strong, especially in professional sports, and that it’s difficult not to cross the line. This is part of sports education, I reckon. What is the role of fair play in sports?
Michał: I am sure that this is the top thing for us, and we have no trouble with players crossing that line. I’ve been managing the school for four years, and I don’t recall anyone wondering, along the way, whether it is better to play fair and lose, or break the rules and win. We keep repeating to the coaches, the clubs we work with, and the players: there is a line that we do not cross
WO: I’ll ask you now as teachers. What do you do when you have two teams of young players who want to win at all costs, and you see that something is not going in line with the rules.
Kuba: There are two levels of fair play, the way we see it. One is that doping, taking substances to boost your body performance, all these types of measures are against the rules of fair play. This goes without saying. And there is also a second aspect to playing fair. Let’s say that there are two teams on the court, and three, four judges who run the game but treat them differently. I’d see it quite often in basketball. We do have so-called “good fouls”. How do you go about this? Well, there are limitations: the player has the right to foul five times in one game. Sometimes he needs to use them to stop an action, for example.
Michał: But in this case this is just part of the game.
Szymon: Yes, but not all parents will understand this. They’d more and more often ask us: “How come? How can the coach persuade my child to practice fouls during the game?
Tomek: For me it’s out of the question: it’s as if we were to prevent handballers from fouling when such allowed fouls are simply part of the game
I talked to the management team of the Marcin Gortat school:
Michał Feter – principal of the Gortat School in Łódź for the last 4 years. Previously, for 10 years Michał worked as a coach and management advisor (including project management), and was responsible for prospecting external funding for projects, evaluation, and coach competencies. He is the author of over 200 grant projects. From an early age he has been fascinated by sports. Spain is his hobby.
Szymon Nowak – occupational therapist, teacher and publicist by education, who has been active in volleyball for his whole life. He loves working with people and for people. Before joining the Gortat School he worked for the Dziewczynka z Zapałkami and JiM Foundations. At the School he is responsible for marketing and for the development of the volleyball project. Coordinator of the Gortat School Business Club. He does what he loves by working in sports.
Tomasz Solarek – graduate of the University of Łódź with a degree in English. He used to play basketball for the ŁKS sports club and the University of Łódź, and worked for 7 years for the Marcin Gortat MG13 Foundation, where he was responsible for coordinating the Marcin Gortat Camp project. At present, he works for the Gortat School and the Gortat School Business Club. He is responsible for collaboration with American colleges to prospect sports scholarships in the U.S. for Gortat School students.
Jakub Urbanowicz – graduate of the Łódź University of Technology with a degree in Management. He used to play basketball for the ŁKS sports club and the Łódź University of Technology. He is responsible for the development of Marcin Gortat Schools in Łódź, Kraków, Poznań, and Gdańsk. Co-creator of the Gortat School Business Club. President of the ŁKS Male Basketball Association.
Passion2Value The concept of conversations and projects based on the combination of passions and values from various fields. By working in a specific setting, exercising or developing your passions, e.g. in sports or music, based on broader knowledge and skills from other disciplines, you can learn something as an academic discipline. You can create valuable things and enjoy yourself at the same time.
