Sportsmanship Guidelines

The Sam Sezak Sportsmanship trophies are awarded to the fraternity, sorority, and men’s and women’s residence halls demonstrating the highest quality of sportsmanship throughout the academic year. Scores are given by the intramural officials, and the supervisors during Intramural Sports contests to determine the eventual winners.

Code of Sportsmanship:

  1. Conduct of Players
    1. Toward Teammates
  2. Demonstrate teamwork, cooperation, and subordination of the individual to the needs of the team by:
    1. Avoiding criticism, sarcasm, and crabbing;
    2. Reporting on time for all contests;
    3. Extending oneself to the limits of strength, endurance;
    4. Courage.
  3. Toward Opponents:
    1. Avoid making uncomplimentary remarks toward opponents and treat opponents with respect and consideration;
    2. Point out rules and violations while avoiding pointing out opponent’s violations;
    3. Compliment skillful performance by opponents;
    4. Win without boasting and lose without excuses.
  4. Toward Officials:
    1. Never question official’s decisions, which are a judgment type (e.g., in softball, was the pitch a strike or a ball?);
    2. When officials misinterpret rules, avoid heckling or arguing with them, but file a protest within the time limit set by the Intramural Constitution;
    3. Appreciate that the official is contributing his/her time for a very nominal wage to do a needed but difficult and thankless job and that he/she is making every effort to be impartial; and
    4. Realize that good officials never change their decision simply because players or spectators heckle or pressure them and that this kind of action will likely decrease the official’s efficiency. Good sportsmanship is simply a practical application of the Golden Rule to sports. The practice of good sportsmanship makes greater, not lesser, demands upon strength, determination, and self-control. It is not the soft or gentle way, but rather the tougher way, because the good sportsman does not look for special favors or advantages, but grants these to his/her opponent and then strives harder to win.

Player-Spectator Behavior Code

Profanity, attacks on officials, and altercations in the UMaine Intramural Sports Program are entirely unacceptable. These actions are absolutely out of line with the philosophy of the Intramural Sports Program. Therefore, the Executive Board of the Intramural Athletic Association has drawn up the following code:

  1. Unsportsmanlike Conduct
    1. Profanity
    2. Altercations
    3. Attacks on Officials
  2. Minimum Penalties
    1. Aggressor- 2-game suspension for the first offense. Disqualification for the second offense.
    2. Players leaving bench and coming onto playing floor or field-2-game suspension each player and loss of 25 points from All-Points total. Player (s) will be disqualified for second and subsequent offenses.
    3. Spectators coming out of the stands onto floor or field-organization lose 50 points from All-Points total. Second offense-team/organization disqualification.

Note: In addition to the above sanctions, Campus Recreation will forward unsportsmanlike incidents to the Director of Judicial Affairs.

For more information: Thad Dwyer (207) 581-1234