Sportsmanship is all
about the character, skill, and practice of the people involved in sports. The
people include the players, their parents, general spectators and coaches.
Sometimes, winning a match becomes extremely important to some of the spectators,
especially to the parents of players – and that’s what happened in Dewey’s big
game, the Doseville Baseball Classic. In the game, some of the parents started
arguing with others and throwing things at each other. The incident was far
from displaying sports ethics and had a negative impression on the youths’
minds.
Here’re two ways good sportsmanship can impact the players.
It emphasizes fairness of the game
Rules in sporting events aren’t developed to make the game more difficult.
Instead, they’re there to keep things organized. Though it’s tempting to break
or go around those rules, players who respect them put their best foot forward
to keep the game fair.
It promotes teamwork
Though some players believe that their individual performance matters to them
only, negative behavior exhibited by one player impacts the entire team
severely. When every player is a strong believer of true sportsmanship, they
start to encourage and respect each other, and try to learn from constructive
criticism by others.
When players try to go beyond the game, they start looking beyond just winning
the game. They decide to be a good opponent, good teammate, and above all, a
good person, which help them to have an enjoyable and clean competition. This
also leads to creating champions, who’re able to excel both inside and outside
the field.
Call to action:
What other benefits do you think can be attained by following good
sportsmanship? Let me know in the comments section below. To keep the
conversation going, you can also connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and Good reads. To learn more about the advantages of good
sportsmanship, be sure to check out my books.
References:
Kerr Stephen and GameChanger. “Five Reasons Good Sportsmanship Matters.”
THESEASON, May 29, 2018. http://theseason.gc.com/coach-advice-five-reasons-good-sportsmanship-matters
THE HUDDLE. “The Meaning of Good Sportsmanship.” Louisiana High
School Athletic Association, May 24, 2012. http://lhsaa.org/news/the-huddle/the-meaning-of-good-sportsmanship