Services
Competition Not Conflict (CNC) is a program focused on understanding, preventing, and resolving conflict in sports while promoting competition. CNC, at the University of Oregon, combines professional athletics with world-class academics to help teams achieve optimal performance.
Destructive sports conflict has both direct and indirect consequences for teams and individuals. Direct consequences include decreased on-field performance, reduced self-esteem, and severed relationships. Teams waste valuable time and energy attempting to resolve conflict, which takes time away from improving skills that optimize performance. When teams fail to achieve optimal performance, they risk losing fan support, which can result in a decrease of market share and lost revenues.
Sports conflict indirectly affects athletes because it discourages children from participating in sports. Examples include research showing that girls who do not play sports have a higher rate of teen pregnancy and children who drop out of sports are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol. These consequences are reduced by preventing sports conflict and creating an atmosphere that allows children to have fun while competing in sports.
The CNC program helps athletic teams, ranging from youth sports, up to the professional level, recognize problems, fix those problems, and keep the problems from coming back. CNC offers a variety of services to athletic stakeholders in order to understand, prevent, and resolve conflicts.
| Services | Understanding | Preventing | Resolving |
| Conflict Coaching | ✓ | ||
| Consensus Building | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Courses | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Curriculum Development | ✓ | ||
| Digital Skill Training | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Facilitation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Individual Assessment | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Mediation | ✓ | ||
| Negotiation | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Negotiation Planning and Advising | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Ombudsing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Organizational & Team Assessment | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Organizational Development | ✓ | ||
| Research | ✓ | ||
| Sport Specific Conflict Observation | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Strategic Planning | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Workshops, Trainings, and Seminars | ✓ | ✓ |
My primary role is…
Administrators
Administrators are in a unique situation regarding sports conflict. Blame usually falls on the administration when destructive conflict occurs in an organization. Administrators experience the effects of sports conflict from a distance, but they have much to lose if conflict is mishandled. Cost of conflict may include loss of revenue streams, loss of good will, brand damage, time, stress, liability, repetitional damage and job termination. Prevention and understanding become incredibly important for the future success of the organization and the administration. CNC offers services to prevent future conflicts and resolve ones that are currently affecting organizations. Ignoring conflict can prove disastrous to individuals, teams, and the administration.
Contact UsAthlete
Conflict management skills are a core competency that athletes must learn in order to achieve optimal performance. CNC provides both on-and-off the field services to help athletes quickly resolve conflict so they have more time to achieve optimal on-field performance. The failure to achieve optimal performance affects individual athletes in many ways. Cost of conflicts for athletes may include sub-optimal on-field performance, suspension, premature end to athletic career, loss of scholarship, defamation, damage to future professional opportunities, damage to personal life, loss of product endorsements, and criminal sentence.
- On Field CNC offers a number of services aimed at understanding, preventing and resolving on-field conflicts. CNC takes a proactive stance to prevent conflicts that may occur during a sporting event. CNC strives to recognize what factors ignite conflicts, and understanding these factors is helpful in the prevention of future conflicts.If a conflict has already occurred, CNC is prepared to assist in the resolution process. CNC’s trained staff specializes in resolving specifically sport related conflict. Resolution services offered by CNC are always confidential and voluntary. Refusing to resolve conflict in sports can be extremely detrimental to performance and team morale. CNC offers solutions to conflicts that will prevent them from coming back.
- Off Field Athletes are encouraged to consult with CNC in order to learn how to understand, prevent, and resolve conflicts themselves. Athletes are better able to deal with conflict after they understand the negative effects of conflicts to the team. CNC offers trainings and workshops for teams to teach fundamental resolution skills.
Coaches
Coaches who ignore conflicts often risk more than other athletic stakeholders do. Coaches risk team losses, financial losses, job termination, damage to future career opportunities, and repetitional damage if conflict is ignored or mishandled. CNC’s main goal is to help athletic teams reach optimal performance by finding problems, fixing those problems, and keeping the problem from coming back. Through a variety of services, CNC is able to assist teams in reaching optimal performance.
Contact UsReferees
Sporting events are often high-stress situations where conflict occurs frequently. Referees face the unique challenge of attempting to manage conflict while maintaining control of the event. Costs of conflict facing referees may include job termination, loss of reputation, physical harm, and loss of dignity. Referees are encouraged to consult with CNC to learn techniques that will help them manage sporting events effectively.
Contact UsSupporters
Supporters are not immune from being involved in sport conflict. CNC is available to assist supporters in resolving conflicts that happen at sporting events. Supporters face many costs of conflict including loss of good will, losing dignity and spirit in connection with “their” team’s performance or personal behavior, and repetitional damage. Supporters can contact CNC regarding understanding and preventing future conflicts. Conflict prevention is important to creating an atmosphere that is fun and conflict-free for fans at sporting events.
Contact UsOther
There are varieties of ways to get involved with the CNC program and help in the conflict resolution process. CNC offers courses at the University of Oregon that help teach the fundamentals of sport conflict resolution processes. The CNC Club is available to link students with opportunities revolving around sports. Please contact us contact us to learn more about how to get involved.
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