Sportsmanship

Sportsmanship

Yeah, I know, not every teen in school plays a sport, but even for those who are not athletic, learning how to be a good winner and a good loser is a big part of growing up. Aside from making a few lists about the characteristics that people with good sportsmanship posses, I'm going to tell you a nice little story about why being a bad sport hurts you just as much as the people around you. Oh, and incase you were wondering, yes, there is such a thing as a sore winner.

A few words about being a good sport when losing . . .

Whether you're losing a rousing game of go-fish, or your team is being crushed in the division championships, being a good loser is an essential part of your game. Even if your skills in whatever you're doing don't match up to those of your opponent, and even if you're losing miserably, you should always show yourself and those around you the uttmost respect. Good losers:

-Don't cheat in an attempt to try and turn the game around
-Don't blame their teammates for the loss
-Try their hardest to the bitter end
-Don't badmouth the other team
-Don't have a bad or negative attitude
-Learn from their losses and improve for next time
-Don't get frustrated with themselves or others

Even though one might think doing the above is easy, I assure you, it's not. When you're on a softball team that's losing 20 to 0 in the second inning, all you want to do is give up and go home. And, as in my situation, if you're the only person on the team who can play well, all you want to do is scream your head off at your teammates because they can't catch. But you CAN'T do that. Don't you think your teammates feel bad about their errors to begin with? Why would they need abuse from you to make them feel any worse? I know (from personal experience, yet again) that if you strike out every time you get up you'll have some choice things to say about the umpire and the other team, but please, please, please hold your tongue! Be the adult in the situation, and take control of your actions! Though winning sure is fun, when you're losing, people get a glimpse at your true colors. Keep a level head, and a smile on your face. If you tried your best, then there's no reason you shouldn't be proud of your performance, even if you did lose. Keep your head up! Think of it this way - whatever sport or game you're playing, it's still just a game. There are a thousand worse things that could happen than losing a game.

A few words about being a good winner . . .

Like I said before, there really is such a thing as a sore winner. Unfortunately, I've encountered my fair share of sore winners in my lifetime, and I beg you, please don't become one of them! Although I've been told that there is nothing worse than a sore loser, I beg to differ - it's sore winners that have the real problem. If you're a good winner, you:

-Stay polite towards game officials (umpire, referees, etc.)
-Don't make fun of the other team, even if they're terrible
-Don't get too cocky
-Encourage your team's success, and not the other team's failure
-If you're winning by a tremendous amout, don't keep running up the score, odds are that the other team is humiliated enough to being with, you don't need to rub it in their face and make them feel worse

Stay dignified! Be polite, and don't give the other team anything bad to say about you after your game is through. Put yourself in their shoes. If you were losing miserably, how would you want the other team to act towards you? Don't get full of yourself - remember, even though you might be winning NOW, if you let your guard down, the other team might come back to win the game. If you're playing a sport in which you can cheer during the game, don't use any negative or mean cheers! Playing a sport should be fun, and you don't have the right to take the fun out of it for the other team by making fun of them or humiliating them. When I see a team with a lot of talent and skill completely humiliating a bad team, I never think of them highly because of their lack of sportsmanship, even if they are the most talented players ever to walk the Earth. Keep that in mind when you're annihilating someone in the future.

Now gather 'round children, Caille Fille's going to tell us all a story . . .

Well, as a few of you might already know, I was on my high school's JV softball team this year. The varsity coach talked to me before the season and told me that I was very qualified for a spot on varsity, but that they already had two catchers, and I wouldn't have any playing time. She asked if I would rather stay down on JV and play in every game (even though I knew we wouldn't win any of them). Though I've had some bad experiences with JV teams, I opted to stay on JV and play, because catching for a losing team is still more fun than being a bench warmer for an entire season.

I was the only person on the team who could hit, catch, and throw. I play on a travel team that is better than my school's varsity team, so I guess it's fair to say that I'm a very good softball player. If there were nine of me, we could have had a pretty good team. Unfortunately, this wasn't so. Our first baseman was lazy and couldn't catch. Our second baseman never knew what was going on. Our shortstop had an attitude, and our third baseman quit halfway through the season. As soon as we started losing a game, everyone BUT me gave up. I was always back there behind the plate, working my butt off. If we went a single game without losing by an enormous margin, it was becuase of my hard work, stopping wild pitches from going behind me. Despite the fact that our team never, EVER seemed to try, I was impressed by the fact that we always kept our mouths shut, no matter how much we wanted to tell off girls on the other team. They made some of the cattiest comments I've ever heard, and it took an incredible amount of self discipline to be able to turn my back on them and walk away from the field with my head high. But I did it, along with all the other girls on my team. It was the one thing we excelled at.

We won two games that whole season. I'll never forget them. They were probably the two best days in the spring, because I wasn't faced with the burden of carrying the entire team on my back. Even though we did win by a lot in both cases, we were good sports. We never made fun of the other teams, we never stole home when we were up by 20 runs, and we never stretched out innings as long as they could go. I know that a few of us purposely struck out just to end an inning, so that the other team wouldn't feel so bad about the loss. We knew how it felt to be made fun of, and we knew what it was like to sit in the field for an hour, praying that we might be able to make a single out.

The ULTIMATE example of a sore winner is Wading River's JV girl's softball team. They beat us 35 to 1. That one run was my homerun (it's not like their pitcher was good or anything), and even though I hit it WAY over the fence, they still made fun of me and my team as if we couldn't hear them doing it. They made fun of the way we swung, of our cheers, everything from our uniforms to the way I wore my hair. Their coach practically encouraged it, and they stole home numerous times in the second to last inning . . . after they were up 20 to nothing. They bunted, stole as much as possible, and ran up the score as high as it would go. I wanted to cry. I love softball with all my heart, it's one of my favorite things in the world, and yet at that moment, Wading River made me hate it. At that moment, I never wanted to set foot on a softball field ever again. Despite all of that, we still shook hands with the other team at the end of the game, and wished them luck with the rest of their season. We still ended the game with our heads high. We didn't fight back, or stoop to their level. On the busride home, we retaliated by complaining about them as much as our hearts desired - but of course, being the good sports that we are, we did it when they couldn't hear us. We used Wading River as an team we could learn from - we would analyze our own behavior, and make sure that it in no way resembled Wading River's. After Wading River, we didn't encounter another sore winning team. Even though we lost all but two games (not counting a third win we got because the other team forfeited), we still managed to have fun. Hey, isn't that was sports and games are all about?

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