Category: Sport

Manifestos that present a new way of playing a game.

The Laws of Cricket

Creator

The earliest known laws of cricket were created in 1744 but not actually printed until 1755 by members of the London Cricket Club.

The Marleybone Cricket Club (MCC) was founded in 1787 and a year later presented what is now adopted as the modern laws of cricket. They called it ‘The Law of the Noble Game of Cricket’. Many updates and revisions have been adopted since.

The MCC remain the custodians of the Laws of Cricket and are responsible for the debating, decision making and drafting of the Laws.

Purpose

The laws of cricket define how the game of cricket shall be played.

The Laws of Cricket

Manifesto

There are 42 Laws of Cricket. Many are quite detailed. Here are the headings for the 42 Laws:

  1. The players (how many people per side)
  2. The umpires (the people who apply the laws)
  3. The scorers
  4. The ball
  5. The bat
  6. The pitch
  7. The creases
  8. The wickets
  9. Preparation and maintenance of the playing area
  10. Covering the pitch
  11. Intervals
  12. Start of play; cessation of play
  13. Innings
  14. The follow-on
  15. Declaration and forfeiture
  16. The result
  17. The over
  18. Scoring runs
  19. Boundaries
  20. Dead ball
  21. No ball
  22. Wide ball
  23. Bye and Leg Bye
  24. Fielders absence; Substitutes
  25. Batsman’s innings; Runners
  26. Practice on the field
  27. The wicket-keeper
  28. The fielder
  29. The wicket is down
  30. Batsman out of his/her ground
  31. Appeals
  32. Bowled
  33. Caught
  34. Hit the ball twice
  35. Hit wicket
  36. Leg before wicket
  37. Obstructing the field
  38. Run out
  39. Stumped
  40. Timed out
  41. Unfair play
  42. Players’ conduct

There are also five appendices that provide further details to the rules.

Source

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_of_Cricket

https://www.lords.org/mcc/the-laws-of-cricket

Comment

Cricket is a rare sport that presents its ‘how to play instructions’ as ‘laws’. The majority of other sports call them ‘rules’.

While the exact reason for this is not clear, the Wikipedia page points to a possible explanation.

Cricket was first played as a boy’s game. The rules at this time varied based on who and where the game was played and they passed on by word of mouth.

Later, as adults began to play, high stakes betting on games became the norm. There were even instances of teams being sued of non-payment of lost wagers.

This connection to betting and legal cases is a likely prompt for the ‘laws’ to be created.

Today the ‘laws of cricket’ sounds very formal and serious compared to mere ‘rules’.

As is typical of sporting rules they define:

  • How many people play,
  • How you score and win
  • How you play,
  • The equipment they used and
  • The conditions in which they play (including the details of the wicket size).

Many of them are very specific to cricket such as: what defines an innings and when a follow-on can be enforced.

What you call your manifesto is important as it will set the tone for how it will be interpreted. Do you need laws or rules?

More

James Naismith – The 13 Rules of Basketball

Royal Yachting Association – Guiding Principles

The Tough Mudder Pledge

James Naismith – The 13 Rules of Basketball

Creator

Dr James Naismith was a Canadian born physical education instructor.

Purpose

In 1890, Naismith moved to Springfield, Massachusetts to work at the YMCA International Training School.

He was given the task of designing a new indoor game to provide an “athletic distraction” for a rowdy class of students to help survive the harsh New England winter. He had 14 days.

The challenge was to develop an activity that would work on a wooden floor in an enclosed space. After studying various sports, he realized that a game based on horizontal passing wasn’t going to work – but a vertical pass would.

After hanging two peach baskets ten feet in the air as the goals, Naismith wrote up 13 rules and basketball was born.

James Naisbith - The 13 Rules of Basketball
Photo by Fabio Jock on Unsplash

Manifesto

1. The ball may be thrown in any direction with one or both hands.

2. The ball may be batted in any direction with one or both hands (never with the fist).

3. A player cannot run with the ball. The player must throw it from the spot on which he catches it, allowance to be made for a man who catches the ball when running at a good speed if he tries to stop.

4. The ball must be held in or between the hands; the arms or body must not be used for holding it.

5. No shouldering, holding, pushing, tripping, or striking in any way the person of an opponent shall be allowed; the first infringement of this rule by any player shall count as a foul, the second shall disqualify him until the next goal is made, or, if there was evident intent to injure the person, for the whole of the game, no substitute allowed.

6. A foul is striking at the ball with the fist, violation of Rules 3,4, and such as described in Rule 5.

7. If either side makes three consecutive fouls, it shall count a goal for the opponents (consecutive means without the opponents in the mean time making a foul).

8. A goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or batted from the grounds into the basket and stays there, providing those defending the goal do not touch or disturb the goal. If the ball rests on the edges, and the opponent moves the basket, it shall count as a goal.

9. When the ball goes out of bounds, it shall be thrown into the field of play by the person first touching it. In case of a dispute, the umpire shall throw it straight into the field. The thrower-in is allowed five seconds; if he holds it longer, it shall go to the opponent. If any side persists in delaying the game, the umpire shall call a foul on that side.

10. The umpire shall be judge of the men and shall note the fouls and notify the referee when three consecutive fouls have been made. He shall have power to disqualify men according to Rule 5.

11. The referee shall be judge of the ball and shall decide when the ball is in play, in bounds, to which side it belongs, and shall keep the time. He shall decide when a goal has been made, and keep account of the goals with any other duties that are usually performed by a referee.

12. The time shall be two 15-minute halves, with five minutes’ rest between.

13. The side making the most goals in that time shall be declared the winner. In case of a draw, the game may, by agreement of the captains, be continued until another goal is made.

Source

https://www.usab.com/history/dr-james-naismiths-original-13-rules-of-basketball.aspx

https://www.thoughtco.com/james-naismith-basketball-1991639

Comment

At first glance it might seem a little strange to think of the rules of a sport as a manifesto, but here’s how I think it fits…

A manifesto is a public declaration of your intent.

If we are going to play a sport, a game or literally any activity together we’d need some sort of agreement about what we intend to make happen. This might be loose and informal or tight and formally written down.

In sport, we need to firstly define the aim of the game. In particular, how do we win? If we don’t do this publicly, it would mean some players might be doing basketball while others would be doing football. That would be confusing!

Then it follows to define some rules of behaviour.

In sport, this includes the boundaries of play – we need to decide where the rules apply and where they don’t. Or, like in basketball the ball is ‘in play’ or ‘out of play’.

Plus, this also includes the more obvious rules of play. Can I run with the ball? Can I tackle someone? What happens when someone doesn’t follow the rules?

For me, sport provides the classic Rules Based Manifesto, which has two distinct parts:

  1. A unique context – Basketball is a unique situation compared to football or tennis.
  2. Specific rules for success – how you play to win at basketball is completely different to football or tennis.

Geelong Football Club: Theme Song

Creator

Past player John Watts was responsible for the Geelong Football Club’s theme song. He got together with his team-mates during the 1963 season to pen the words.

Fittingly, Geelong won the premiership that year.

Surprisingly, for a footy theme song the music is from an opera. It’s based upon The Toreador March, from the George Bizet’s Carmen.

Geelong Football Club - Geelong Cats

Purpose

A football theme song is a great way to unite the players and supporters. In the AFL, typically the theme song is played after each match the team wins both on the loudspeakers at the ground and as a bonding ritual for the players in the rooms.

Manifesto

We are Geelong, the greatest team of all
We are Geelong; we’re always on the ball
We play the game as it should be played
At home or far away
Our banners fly high, from dawn to dark
Down at Kardinia Park

So! Stand up and fight, remember our tradition
Stand up and fight, it’s always our ambition
Throughout the game to fight with all our might
Because we’re the mighty blue and white
And when the ball is bounced, to the final bell
Stand up and fight like hell!

Source

Listen to an audio version here

The Official Geelong Football Team website

Geelong Football Club on Wikipedia

(image from Wikipedia)

All AFL football team club songs

John K Watts – creator of the song

Comment

In my opinion, the words here are less important here than the actual music and having a catchy chorus. It’s meant to be a rousing tune that is bellowed out by a crowd of players and supporters – not crooned by a sultry singer.

A look at the specific words reveals a few layers of good goal setting:

  • ‘Greatest team of all’ is a strong and broad aspirational goal.
  • ‘Play the game as it should be played’ is a statement of intent around the attitude of the players
  • ‘Remember our tradition’ is a call to the past and all players and supporters that have gone before them
  • ‘Fight with all our might’ is another creative statement of being and action.

The power of this theme song comes from its call to identity. It starts with the magic word ‘We’. And it boldly states who ‘we’ is: “We are the greatest team of all”. If you wanting to unite your team and community, an inclusive ‘we’ is a great place to start.

PS: I’m a Cats fan, that’s why I featured there song and not one from a rival club. Go Cats!

More

It’s also worth noting that there are occasional updates and tweaks to the lyrics and format.

The Tough Mudder Pledge

Creator

Will Dean and Guy Livingstone, co-founders of Tough Mudder

Purpose

Tough Mudder is a physical adventure challenge along the lines of a military commando course.

The pledge is intended to provide guideline rules for how to approach the challenge.

“The pledge demonstrated our belief that there was a craving among people, particularly young people, not only for challenging experiences but for an authentic set of values they might sing up to and, over the course of the afternoon and beyond, believe in.” (Page 5)

Manifesto

  • I understand that Tough Mudder is not a race but a challenge.
  • I put teamwork and camaraderie before my course time.
  • I do not whine – kids whine.
  • I help my fellow Mudders complete the course.
  • I overcome all fears.
Will Dean - It Takes a Tribe - Building the Tough Mudder Movement

Source

Will Dean, It Takes a Tribe: Building the Tough Mudder Movement, Portfolio Penguin, 2017, Page 5.

Tough Mudder Website

Comment

There are a number of things that I love about the Tough Mudder pledge.

  1. Prior to reading this, I hadn’t thought to include a ‘pledge’ under the manifesto umbrella. But, it does fit neatly and powerfully.
  2. A manifesto is a declaration of your intent. A pledge takes this further and raises the commitment level by converting it into a promise. This implies you are forming an agreement to another person or group – it’s no longer just ‘me’, it’s also ‘we’. It’s a perfect strategy for building a tribe, which is exactly what Tough Mudder want to achieve – and have been so successful at doing.
  3. From the nine Manifesto Manifesto principles this one has cleverly adopted the ‘inspire being’ element. The first line sets the context ‘not a race but a challenge’. From this it shares four attitudes for people to adopt to face that challenge – teamwork, no whining, help others and overcome fears.
  4. The Tough Mudder manifesto is also double-sided – it’s a set of rules that works for both the Tough Mudder internal team plus all of the external customers – the course participants.
  5. Plus, it’s simple and concise – only five rules to follow. This makes it short enough to remember which makes it more likely that people will adhere to it.

Paul Roos: 25 Points to Success

Paul Roos - Here It Is - book coverCreator

Paul Roos is a former AFL (Australian Football League) player and coach. He played a total of 356 games for Fitzroy and Sydney and was a two-time All-Australian captain. He also coached Sydney and Melbourne. Roos was the coach of the Sydney Swans in 2005 when they won their first premiership in 72 years. Roos is a member of the AFL Hall of Fame and currently works in the media.

Purpose

When Roos finished his playing career after 16 years and 356 games (only 12 people have played more games) he sat down and made a list of 25 things “I liked and disliked about coaching and playing. I wanted to make sure I never forgot what it was like to be a player.” (Page 5)

The list became the basis for his coaching at both Sydney and Melbourne.

Manifesto

The secrets of the Roos method: 25 points to success

  1. Always remember to enjoy what you’re doing.
  2. Coach’s attitude will rub off on the players.
  3. If coach doesn’t appear happy/relaxed, players will adopt same mentality.
  4. Never lose sight of the fact it is a game of football.
  5. Coach’s job is to set strategies: team plans, team rules, team disciplines, specific instructions to players.
  6. Good communication skills.
  7. Treat people as you want to be treated yourself.
  8. Positive reinforcement to players.
  9. Players don’t mean to make mistakes – don’t go out to lose.
  10. 42 senior players – all different personalities, deal with each one individually to get the best out of him.
  11. Never drag a player for making a mistake.
  12. Don’t overuse interchange.
  13. Players go into a game with different mental approach.
  14. Enjoy training.
  15. Make players accountable for training, discipline, team plans – it is their team too.
  16. Weekly meetings with team leaders.
  17. Be specific at quarter, half, three-quarter time by re-addressing strategies – don’t just verbally abuse.
  18. Motivate players by being positive.
  19. After game don’t fly off the handle. If too emotional say nothing, wait until Monday.
  20. Surround yourself with coaches and personnel you know and respect.
  21. Be prepared to listen to advice from advisers.
  22. Keep training interesting and vary when necessary.
  23. Team bonding and camaraderie is important for a winning team.
  24. Make injured players feel as much a part of the team as possible (players don’t usually make up injuries).
  25. Training should be game-related.

Source

Paul Roos, Here It Is: Coaching Leadership and Life; Viking, Penguin Random House, 2017, Pages 21-22.

Comment

This is a classic list manifesto. What stands out in reading his book is that he demonstrates and examples of each of the principles and how he used them throughout his coaching career.

The most interesting thing is the insight – to be a good coach, I need to remember what it’s like to be a player.

This applies in some many places. For instance:

  • To be a good manager I need to remember what it’s like starting out in your career
  • To be a good presenter I need to remember what it’s like to be an audience member
  • To be a good writer I need to remember what it’s like to be a reader

I think most of us can apply that rule to our own work in some way.

More

Paul Roos website

Paul Roos podcast – he shares these lessons applied to work, life and business

Dr Alan Goldman – A Toxic Leader Manifesto (a great comparison – how many show up on both lists?)

Quigley and Baghaic: As One Manifesto

Sally Mabelle: From Separation to Connection

 

Greg Strosaker: The Running Manifesto

Greg Strosaker: Running Manifesto

Creator: Greg Strosaker blogs at Predawn Runner. He’s a husband to a paediatrician, father to three boys, product management professional and an age-group competitive marathon runner in Cleveland, Ohio. He runs predawn to fit it into his full life.

Purpose: For those who have a full life and want to make your running a bigger part of it, without having to sacrifice the other things that matter to you.

The Running Manifesto

Every run has a purpose. There is no room for zombie shuffles.

Banish the snooze button. You’ll appreciate the advice in two hours.

Busy streets are not busy at 4:30AM. Get at it.

Fear and frustration lead to the dark side. Embrace it. The dark side is good for runners.

If you are thinking about your pace, increase it. There is plenty of time when you are not thinking about your pace.

Uphills separate the contenders from the pretenders. You’re going to be tired anyway, why not push it.

Downhills are for dreaming. But you better make it quick.

Cross-training is like Chinese food. I’m hungry again in an hour.

I do speed work on Monday. It’s now the best day of the week.

Negative splits are nirvana, but going out too fast teaches you how fast you can go.  Sacrifice to learn.

Some days, all directions will be uphill and into the wind. Deal with it.

Snow and ice are an opportunity to practice precise footing. They are not an excuse.

Rest days are luxuries. I hate luxury.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I– I ran the one less traveled by, then I ran the other one. And that has made all the difference. (with apologies to Robert Frost)

 

Source

The Running Manifesto on PreDawnRunner.com

Image: Greg in action, borrowed from his website.

 

Royal Yachting Association: Guiding Principles Manifesto

Royal Yachting Association Manifesto

Creator: The Royal Yachting Association are the UKs national body for dinghy and yacht racing, motor and sail cruising, RIBs and sportsboats, powerboat racing, windsurfing and personal watercraft. They are also a leading representative body for inland waterways cruising.

Purpose: In answer to calls from clubs and members the Association has articulated it’s guiding principle more clearly.

Royal Yachting Association (RYA) Manifesto

The Royal Yachting Association has three central themes:

  1. Promote Recreational Boating
  2. Influence legislation that may impact boating
  3. Resisting legislation that may adversely impact recreational boating

Source

Article on MBY.com – 7 September 2011

Complete Manifesto

Image from Key Yachting

 

 

Mat Robar: The Wanna Be Surf Bum Manifesto

Mat Robar: The Wanna Be Surf Bum Manifesto

Creator: Mat Robar is a former Inc. 100 corporate finance manager turned Adventure Capitalist, Mat now travels the world in search of warm water, big waves and powder snow.

Purpose: To chase an ideal – to chase passion.

The Wanna be Surf Bum Manifesto (edited)

I chase an ideal, I choose to chase passion.

…For all intensive purposes, happiness can be broken down into 3 levels.

• Pleasure – The shortest lasting happiness that is based off stimuli and always chasing the next high.  It is this happiness that most people focus on with things like material possessions or sex, yet it has been proven to be a very fleeting form of happiness.

• Passion – The second longest form of happiness is Passion.  Passion refers to a state in which you achieve “flow” or what is sometimes referred to as “being in the zone.”   Time passes without notice when you are passionate. When you find something that not only gives you pleasure but also becomes a passion then you have achieved this second level of happiness.

• Higher Purpose/Ideal – The longest lasting form of happiness is being connected to or with a higher purpose.  This supports Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs that states once the basic fundamentals of life are met, human beings desire to be connected to a higher purpose or something bigger than themselves.  It is this purpose or ideal that in turn gives purpose and meaning to life.

As a general rule, the vast majority of the population chooses to chase pleasure and vow to get to passion and purpose once they reach the proper amount of happiness.  When in reality to achieve long lasting happiness you must actually do the exact opposite.  Find your purpose first and then layer passion on top of your purpose and ultimately find the pleasure that comes along with it, not the other way around.

This is a concept that I believe we all know inherently, but we lose over time as the world pushes us back to and rewards us for pleasure based happiness.  To have seen this concept so simply laid out like above was a turning point in my belief system, lifestyle and life.

Just as the surf bum spends his days in search of Zen through surfing and the stoke that goes along with every wave, we too must each find our own purpose and have the courage and strength to pursue it.

This site is dedicated to and written by those who are out there doing it, living their dreams, finding their purpose and pursuing their passions. I encourage you to peruse the site, get involved and starting thinking about how you can take some of the ideals and concepts referred to above and apply them in your life today.

 

Source

Mat’s complete Manifesto

 

 

Dave Gilmore: Summer Softball Manifesto

Dave Gilmore: Summer Softball Manifesto

Creator: Dave Gilmore lives in Baltimore, works for a sports-oriented non-profit, and writes “The Win Column” for BaltimoreSportsReport.com

Purpose: Principles to keep summer softball “fun for everyone”.

The Summer Softball Manifesto (edited)

“I’m just lobbing it in.”?*

You have to remember, once the dust settles, an out-of-shape dude is going to take a step and lob a big neon-colored ball in at roughly 13 mph.  It’s silly to get worked up about anything that involves throwing something underhand.  It’s not worth sliding.  It’s not worth name-calling, cheating, accusing people of cheating, or injuring your has-been self.  It’s slow-pitch softball.  If it were more serious, they’d call it something else.

*Borrowed from a Seinfeld episode.

Beer, Sweat and Tears?…

Basically, even though I’m usually too dehydrated to have a beer until after the game, I’m pro-beer and softball. I know, such a controversial stance.

Carry a Big Stick?…

You can level the playing field if your team pulls together an extra $250 and gets a decent bat every season.  For reasons scientific and unfathomable, softball bats seem to lose their “pop” after a season or so.  Certain bats also just make the ball fly like that dusty thing you’re swinging simply cannot.  Just the confidence of having such an instrument in the hands of your average hitter is worth the purchase.

Girls, Girls, Girls

Why would you enter a team in a co-ed softball league if you didn’t plan on using any of your female players?  So, here is my message to female softball players and the team managers who perpetually stick them at the bottom of the order playing catcher, second base, and right field: you’re not helping.  If you haven’t played a lot of ball in your life, the only way to get better is to get up there and take your cuts.  Take a few ground balls off the shins, be aggressive on a 2-strike count, and try and stretch a double into a triple.  It’s completely arcane to believe that women are incapable of competing evenly in a softball league where the prize for first place is usually a big bag of nothing and at most a plastic trophy.

—

…There is something intrinsically wonderful about taking to a patch of dirt and playing a full-fledged game of softball.  …There’s a level of orchestration there that only adults are capable of.  Its antiquity– no scoreboards, old-timey terminology, funny socks, is part of its charm.  The fact that nearly every company with more than 10 people can and usually does field a team at some point, is unique solely to this country…

 

Source

Article on BaltimoreSportsReport.com – June 17, 2011

 

Michael Tunison: The Football Fan’s Manifesto

Football Fan Manifesto

Creator: Michael Tunison, football blogger at KissingSuzyKolber.com. His book, The Football Fan’s Manifesto was published by Harper Collins in 2009.

Purpose: The essential rules and ten commandments that every football fan should know.

The Football Fan’s Ten Commandments

1. You Must Choose Your Team by the Age of Eight.

2. Value That Team Above All Else, Even Yourself.

3. Under No Circumstances Can You Switch Teams (And Expect to Live).

4. There is a Limit to the Amount of Merchandise You Can Own (But It’s Very Generous).

5. Sportsmanship is for the Athletes. Fans Can Gloat Endlessly.

6. A Self-Induced Coma to Skip the Off-season is a Practical Solution to an Annoying Problem.

7. An Inoffensive Fantasy Football Name is a Lame Fantasy Football Name.

8. Wealth Doesn’t Matter So Long As You Don’t Have to Work Weekends.

9. Respect Superstitions. If Your Team Lost, It’s Because You Jinxed Them.

10. In Life, the Order of Importance: Football First, Football Second, Football Third, Family . . . uh, I Don’t Know, twelfth?

Source

Book Promo: http://www.harpercollins.com.au/books/Football-Fans-Manifesto-Michael-Tunison/?isbn=9780061735141

Authors Blog: http://kissingsuzykolber.uproxx.com/