Having
good sportsmanship is about more than knowing how to win the right way, it’s
also about knowing how to represent your team and/or yourself with dignity if
you DON’T win. Learning good
sportsmanship from an early age is so important. If it is taught early and
properly, it is something that a young athlete will carry with them throughout
their sports careers.
There
are some great ways to teach young athletes to embrace good sportsmanship. It doesn’t mean that they have to be happy
about not winning. Everyone who competes
in anything wants to excel and they want to win. But it doesn’t always work out that way, and
the sooner a young athlete learns how to handle themselves in the face of
disappointment, the sooner they will grow even more in their chosen sport.
Remember that You Are an Example
Coaches
and parents of young athletes can do a lot to show the kids that sportsmanship
goes farther than just them. Everyone
has seen irate parents or coaches at a youth match or game and the kids are
watching…and learning. It’s easy for
things to get heated when emotions are high and everyone is excited, but when
the coaches and parents work together to show the team how they should act,
even if they don’t win, that will leave an impression.
Make Good Sportsmanship Part of your
Practice
One
of the best things a coach can do for his team is to teach them to encourage
the other players on the team. Have
them clap for each other during drills, have them yell out words of
encouragement when they are moving the ball down the field and most
importantly, have them offer encouragement even if a player makes a mistake. It’s that team spirit and togetherness that
will prevail no matter what the outcome of the match is.
After
the match is over, teach the young athletes to line up and shake the hands of
the other team. Be sure that you shake
the other coach’s hand as well which will reinforce the lesson you want to
teach them. It’s okay to be disappointed;
it’s okay to be upset, it’s NOT okay to act out on the field, stomping off,
throwing things or shunning the winning team.
Nothing will mar the reputation of a team faster than showing poor
sportsmanship after a loss.
Respect the Officials, Even When It’s
Hard
It’s
easy to take frustrations out on a referee or official, especially when the
call is against your team, but when you can maintain your cool and show the
team that yelling at or insulting the referees and officials is not the thing
to do, they will follow suit. Everyone
has watched a referee make a bad call.
It’s easy to forget that they’re impartial (or should be) to the match’s
outcome and they’re doing the best they can to make the right calls. Sometimes those calls WILL be wrong, and it’s
okay for the team to hear you talk about a bad call, but instead of letting
loose with a string of insults about the ref himself, talk about why the call
was a bad one and what the referee missed in his decision.
Sportsmanship,
good and bad, is everywhere in sports, and young athletes won’t always act the
way they should because they ARE young.
It’s up to the parents and coaches to work consistently with them to
instill the values that make their team not only great at winning, but a team
to respect even during the times they might lose.