Anyone who has ever bought an official program at a local high school playoff game has undoubtedly seen the California Interscholastic Federation’s colorful “Pursuing Victory with Honor” logo on those pages.

What does it mean, exactly? And where did it come from?

According to www.cifstate.org, the CIF’s credo came to life following a May 1999 summit in Scottsdale, Ariz., entitled the Arizona Accord Conference.

Sports figures like Olympian John Naber, UCLA basketball coaching legend John Wooden and sports broadcaster Bob Costas — not to mention scores of college and university presidents, coaches and athletic directors, as well as representatives from national youth organizations — convened to discuss the ethical and character-building aspects of athletic competition.

The conference was put on by Michael Josephson’s Josephson Institute of Ethics, the Character Counts! Coalition and the United States Olympic Committee.

The hope was that the core values they developed at the conference would be used widely across the country and perhaps the world.

The CIF, representing the state’s high school athletic programs, was one of the first to jump on board, unanimously adopting the principles of “Pursuing Victory with Honor” at its 1999 Federated Council meeting.

Former CIF executive director Jack Hayes is credited with pushing to adopt the program.

“Jack said, ‘Hey, this is great. We need to get on board with this,’” said Emmy Zack, the CIF’s director of communications.

The meeting consisted of educational leaders from among the state’s high schools — which numbered 1,263 at the time and now total more than 1,400.

Pursuing Victory with Honor involves six pillars of character — trustworthiness, respect, responsibility,

fairness, caring and good citizenship — interwoven into 16 principles.

Among those principles, coaches, administrators, parents and game officials are implored to promote

sportsmanship and foster good character.

Also, athletes are directed to understand that participation in school sports is a privilege, not a right — and to earn that privilege, student-athletes must abide by the rules and conduct themselves as positive role models who exemplify good character, on and off the field.

When reviewing the 16 principles of Pursuing Victory with Honor, it becomes clear that if all involved hold up their respective ends of the bargain, participating in scholastic sports will enhance the academic, emotional, social, physical and ethical development of student-athletes and teach them life skills that will help them become personally successful and socially responsible — which, in a nutshell, is the third principle on the list.

Zack said that the Pursuing Victory with Honor concept is “ever-evolving,” and that the CIF hands out awards to male and female student-athletes three times a year.

“We want to recognize the kids who exhibit the characteristics of Pursuing Victory with Honor,” said Zack.

Beyond the measures taken on campus grounds, in the gyms and on the playing fields, Pursuing Victory with Honor also calls for vigilance in regard to the use of alcohol, tobacco, drugs and performance-enhancing substances.

It also calls for compliance with all laws and regulations, including those related to gambling and drugs.

A review of the principles quickly demonstrates that Pursuing Victory with Honor covers the bases, even citing that commercial relationships should be continually monitored to ensure against inappropriate exploitation of the school’s name or reputation.

While Zack said it is a “really hard thing to quantify” how well schools are meeting the standards, local schools do participate.

Napa High and Vintage, for example, read portions of Pursuing Victory with Honor to the crowd and participants before selected athletic events.

“If two kids (on opposite teams) are trash-talking each other, they may be the only two people that know it’s going on,” said Zack.

But the CIF and school officials are monitoring the conduct of athletes game in and game out, and they gain a good sense of who’s doing the best job of representing the principles.

When it comes to Pursuing Victory with Honor, she said, “we are constantly trying to promote it in our schools.”