Lions emphasize ethics

The Vanguard University athletic department is making great strides

in the areas of ethics and character in sports through its

participation in the NAIA’s Champions of Character program. In late

August, NAIA teamed with Buffalo Funds to award Vanguard and the

College of Saint Mary in Nebraska each a $5,000 grant to assist with

their campus Program Center initiatives.

Today during chapel, Rob Miller, the NAIA director of Champions of

Character Initiatives, will present the athletic department with the

award.

Tonight, Vanguard University will host the Passkeys Foundation

event, Ethics in America, at the Grove of Anaheim from 7 to 9 p.m.

The Passkeys Foundation is matching the NAIA grant sponsored by

Buffalo Funds to aid in the development of the Program Center.

The evening festivities will recognize the goal of Vanguard

University’s Program Center and Buffalo Funds to change the culture

of sport. The Passkeys Foundation’s event, Ethics in America, also

will honor former NAIA and UCLA Coach John R. Wooden with the 2005

National American Heritage Ethical Distinction Award.

“It’s a big thing for us,” said Bob Wilson, Vanguard’s athletic

director.

Wilson, a certified Champions of Character director, said the

school needed five specific things in order to have a Program Center:

Certified instructors to do presentations to talk about core values

mixed with their own personal stories; certify student-athletes

through presentations to them; certify coaches; make a commitment to

reach 2,500 people in the community; and train someone to train

instructors.

“We’ve done the first four,” Wilson said.

Presentations will be given by certified Vanguard athletic

directors such as Wilson and Beth Renkoski, or certified coaches such

as Scott Mallernee (baseball) or Russ Davis (women’s basketball).

Presentations are given to coaches, athletes, parents, youth coaches

and anyone else who is interested.

“We want to make it applicable right away. We want to give you

ways to change behavior. That’s what is rewarding for us,” Wilson

said. “Through it all, we think behavior can change.”

Wilson said Vanguard has reached 750 to 1,000 people already.

“And we haven’t even really got this thing going yet,” he said.

“We’re going to send fliers to every high school and middle school in

Orange County and hopefully start doing more presentations.”

Presentations to look forward to include “How to teach character

through sport” and “Role of the parent.”

“That’s a great one,” Wilson said. “It was developed through the

comments of athletes. Things athletes were glad their parents did or

wish they did.”