• Courtesy
• Stills from the VPA's sportsmanship video

So-called "inspirational" videos rarely are. It's tough to deliver an earnest message without seeming cringey. But a new spot on sportsmanship from the Vermont Principals' Association pulls it off.

The five-and-a-half-minute message, created in conjunction with Mt. Mansfield Media, intersperses interviews with coaches and school officials with footage of fist-pumping moments in Vermont athletics. It includes multiple scenes of crowds going wild.

People get emotional over sports — and that's the point, says South Burlington High School principal Pat Burke. "We create the heat of the battle in order to have composure within that," he says.

• Courtesy
• Stills from the VPA's sportsmanship video

Winooski athletic director Sam Jackson asks: "If we can't teach life skills through this game, then why are we doing it?"

The video is part of a new effort from the Vermont Principals' Association to address bad behavior at scholastic sporting events. The past couple of years have seen high-profile incidents of racist name-calling and even violence. On January 31, an Alburgh man died on his drive home after participating in a brawl that broke out at a middle school boys' basketball game.

• Courtesy
• Stills from the VPA's sportsmanship video

In the video, Lauren Thomas, assistant executive director of the Vermont Principals' Association, warns: "Our adults need to be better and model [good] behavior, or we're just not going to have sports."

That would be a shame, she said in an interview. Scholastic-based athletics appeal to kids who otherwise might not make it through school. Sports teams provide community and a sense of belonging.

The VPA governs middle- and high-school sporting events; Thomas pointed out that the video is part of a larger set of resources to help member programs, including guidance on behavioral expectations, signage at games and advice on using restorative justice practices to address harms.

• Courtesy
• Stills from the VPA's sportsmanship video

Thomas is hopeful that the video's message will spread — she sent it to athletic directors at all 79 participating schools, and many have shared it with their teams and on social media. As of press time, it had been viewed more than 6,000 times.

See the video at vermontthirdspace.org/video-page.