Bermuda's sports leaders have been challenged to ensure the children in their sports compete honourably.

In addition, Executive Director of the Institute for International Sport at the University of Rhode Island, Dan Doyle, cautioned them not to underestimate the "value of losing".

Addressing the annual Sports Conference last Friday night, the guest speaker noted that sport could be a great benefit to a person's development or, conversely, it could instil negative traits.

"In many instances, sport has a very telling value as we raise our children . . . Teach your kids to be honourable competitors. It may not help them win every game but it surely will help them in terms of life."

He cited four levels of positive impact as he spoke on the topic "Ethics in Sport". These, he elaborated, were as follows:

1 Purely recreational - people simply seeking fun, friends and good exercise.

2 Educational - learning the value of teamwork, fair play and sportsmanship; learning the steps required to achieve proficiency; setting goals; dealing with loss; managing time; exposure to new people and place through sports travels and observing leadership qualities.

3 Becoming an honourable competitor - making the philosophical commitment to practise fair play and honourable competition in and out of sports; adopting a "don't punch back, play harder credo".

4 Practising a fit-for-life philosophy.

On the other hand, Doyle warned that if athletes feel "an entitlement to win" they may determine that cheating is okay and their decision-making becomes irrational.

"Because of the frequency of gamesmanship tactics, sports can foster a belief that short cuts are not only acceptable but admirable - to win at any cost is okay."

He charged that more lessons could be learnt from losing than winning though it's "more attractive to win than lose".

"A positive loser will spend time analysing why (he/she lost) and make proper adjustments. The loser in sports will often go deep below the surface to those introspective layers that can produce positive change.

"A loser in sports is forced to face the cold, hard truth and may develop a mental toughness and learn the hard way how not to repeat mistakes.

"Losing can show how to deal with life's downturns and also that you can survive and conquer them."