The movie “Glory Road” elaborates different pertinent aspects in sports management. Essentially, the movie reveals how a rookie coach having a weak team manages to apply sport management principles and finally comes out successful. Moreover, the manager operates in a sports environment characterized by racism and internal wrangles within the team. The manager, Don Haskins masters very well all his managerial responsivities and overcomes cultural and stereotypic notions to beat a very strong opponent. The movie reveals many aspects of sports management such as decision-making, leadership, problem solving, sports culture, and diversity, among others.
While the movies revolve around the ability of underdogs to win a big game, it comprehensively covers racism in American sports. The aspect of racism in the American sports serves as a reflection of how cultural and diversity issues come into play in the sporting industry. At that time, basketball teams in colleges allowed for cultural diversity but to a limited extent because of the ‘informal rule.’ Specifically the rule stated that any team manager had to play not more than two black players on the road, one at home or three when the team was behind relative to others. In respect to cultural issues, the stereotypes at play were that African players never made good basketball players, and a manager had to make sure that very few blacks constituted a team. Although the team’s composition reflected cultural diversity by having both blacks and white players, the cultural stereotypes determined who could win or lose. However, Don Haskins went outside the cultural centered sports realm and proved that even blacks were excellent players by beating the renowned Kentucky team of the whites. In essence, it is essential to allow for diversity in team composition because it sporting is not about culture but skills and training.
Accepting to coach the weakest team and still having hopes of victory reveals is a good sign of the problem-solving ability of Doe Haskins. Usually, sports managers determine the root causes of a problem, the processes and the people involved and address them without yielding to pressure from fans or any other outside groups (Lussier & Kimball 7). The movie tells the story of obtaining success while pointing to the exact barriers and not the personalities. For example, Doe Haskins readily inherits a weak team not because he does not want to win but because he knows the problem and has the confidence to addresses it. In sports, a manager may not enjoy the confidence of fans and players but it takes independence and determination to put the plan of success into action. Additionally, leadership in sports management is crucial to the success of a team. For example, Doe Haskins leads the team by providing solutions to problems and is not sidetracked by the resistance of players or school administrators. Moreover, in sports management managers make big and sometimes unpopular decisions and implement them to achieve the intended outcome. In the movie, Doe Haskins changes the playing style of his team because he considers it as risky and a sign of discipline and through commitment, he trains and builds team spirit, which serves as a bond of the collective responsibility to win the big game.
In conclusion, the movie covers pertinent issues in sports management and the evolution of sports to cultural diversity. Effective sports management requires good leadership skills, problem solving and ability to embrace cultural diversity. Therefore, it is important to identify the problems, offer exemplary leadership and build team spirit across cultures to win games.
Works Cited
"Glory Road F U L L M O V I E." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2015.
Lussier, Robert N, and David C. Kimball. Applied Sport Management Skills. N.p., 2014. Print.
