Because I have the opportunity and the responsibility to make a difference in the lives of others, I commit to the following Code for Living.  I will take responsibility and appropriate actions when I fail to live up to this Code.

Questions:

1. What is the value of having a Code for Living?
2. What other Codes or value systems are a part of your life?
3. What are some of the things that you have been taught that are not written down but are an understood Code?
4. What is the value of a group of people having the same Code?
5. Who are the people who have made a difference in your life?
6. Do you think that you have “the opportunity and responsibility to make a difference in the lives of others?”  Why?
7. Why should we care about others?
8. What does it mean to “take responsibility when I fail?” 
9. Have you ever made a mistake and taken responsibility for it?  How did you feel afterward for having taken responsibility?

As an individual:

• I will try to develop my skills to the best of my ability and to give my best effort in competition. 

Questions:

1. Who have you known who worked the hardest on their development?  What did they do?
2. How do you develop your skills to the best of your ability?

• I will compete within the rules of my sport.

Questions:

1. Have you ever played against anyone whom you thought cheated?  How did you feel about them?
2. If you cheated, do you think you would feel good about winning?
3. What’s the difference between cheating and “playing dirty?”  What constitutes “playing dirty” in your sport?
4. “When the one great scorer comes to mark beside your name, He writes not whether you won or lost, but how you played the game.”  Those are the famous words of Grantland Rice, a sportswriter who lived at the first part of this century.  Do you agree?

• I will respect the dignity of every human being, and will not be abusive or dehumanizing of another either as an athlete or as a fan.

Questions:

1. What do we mean by the “dignity of every person?”
2. Has anyone ever called you a name?  How did it feel?
3. Have you ever thought about how it feels to another player when someone calls them a name, or says something mean about the way they play, or in any way ridicules them?  What about officials?
4. What do you think about booing, either a player or an official?

As a member of a team:

• I will place team goals ahead of personal goals.

1. Have you ever played with a person who was more interested in how they were doing than how the team was doing?
2. Have you ever been a part of a team where everyone worked for the good of the team?  If not, can you imagine what that would be like?
3. When would it be all right to place a personal goal ahead of a team goal?

• I will be a positive influence on the relationships on the team.

1. Have you ever been on a team when some of the players didn’t get along?
2. Have you ever been on a team when some of the players didn’t like the coach?
3. Have you ever tried to help out a situation where two people didn’t get along?
4. What would be the best way to encourage others to work through their problems?

• I will follow the team rules established by the coach.

1. Do you think that the coach and your teammates trust you to keep the rules?
2. Have you ever disregarded one or more rules established by the coach?
3. Can you see how your own sense of yourself, of who you are, would be influenced by whether or not you follow the rules established by the coach?

As a member of society:

• I recognize that my behavior becomes a model others may choose to emulate, and will seek to be a positive influence in my community and world.

1. Can you think of who some of your role models have been?
2. How often do you observe the behavior of others when they are playing?  And make comments to yourself about their behavior?
3. Have you ever understood yourself to be a role model, or at least a person others observed, and consciously tired to behave in a particular way?

• I will work toward the goal of giving a significant amount of my time and income for the betterment of my community and world.

1. Why should we be concerned about others?
2. Why should we give away our time and money?
3. What is a “significant” amount?