Tiger Woods: A Question of Character Development
In light of the recent Tiger Woods controversy and the numerous high profile football players in Australia, letting their off-field antics dictate their lucrative contracts, I wanted to investigate this phenomenon further. The media spotlight is so heavily focused on these sportspeople that it’s little wonder that there are such extreme views either way.
Firstly there would obviously be very few people who would outwardly support any of these ridiculous antics that these sportspeople are involved in. The question really lies on whether these antics should cost them their careers, sponsorship agreements and ultimately their livelihood.
Really the sponsorship issue can only be answered by the companies who take out the sponsorship of the athlete, if they deem that the offence is serious enough that it is going to affect their brand then they’ll terminate the sponsorship. Period. It is my opinion that there is no need to judge what companies do in terms of their endorsements, as there is a little moral grey area that is going to be debated, in most of these cases, and companies will choose to sit on one side or another. Of course however companies are going to make their decision based on public opinion.
Due to the recent Tiger Woods scandal, companies are looking to take out insurance on these sorts of incidents. The really interesting aspect to this though is what is this going to result in if companies do get insured for these incidents. When I first heard about this, I scoffed and said what will they think of next, however on further contemplation, this could be an incredibly positive move, and not just for the company, but for the athlete. Let me explain.
A vast majority of these athletes become famous very young, in Tiger’s case from the age of 3 when he made his first television appearance. The come to know fame and fortune very young and if they have a clean image at that stage then they are put up on an enormous pedestal. Men want to be them and women want to be with them, it appears that the sky is the limit.
The problem is that they haven’t necessarily developed the necessary character traits to support their new found fame and fortune to support these circumstances. As a result society begins to act like everything that they do/touch turns to gold. This can, as we’ve seen translate to morally questionable or even illegal activity. Hopefully if companies do become insured for sponsorship deals the insurers will force the companies to assist in the process of educating and developing the necessary character traits for the athlete to deal with the increased fame and fortune that the deal is giving them.
Also, if an athlete is good enough I don’t think it possibly can affect whether they can or can’t compete or I should say at least eventually get back to competing. If it’s a team sport they’ll often find someone who’s willing to give them another chance, if it’s an individual it’s highly unlikely that the sporting body will not allow the person to compete again, the obvious exception is if the sportsman has very seriously broken the law. Generally they won’t stop the person competing long term because it’s morally wrong.
All in all I definitely believe the key for any elite athlete is having that necessary character development training and education which should be provided by all the stakeholders that contribute to that person’s success. Ultimately when you have someone of a very high calibre it’s in everybody’s interest to make sure that the athlete doesn’t “go off the rails’.
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