The Many Parts to Sportsmanship

   Sportsmanship is a combination of many things such as positive attitude, respect, and hard work. These three things are key aspects to what sportsmanship is and are very important because they determine the type of player you are, and the type of game you will play.

   A good example of the impact of attitude is after a loss of a game and a player has a negative attitude, that player may cause a negative effect other players and take only negative things from that loss. They may dwell on their mistakes and the mistakes of their other team players in a way of pointing fingers and making accusations. Instead, if that player has a positive attitude after dealing with a loss, they would reflect on themselves and their team and view all mistakes as a learning experience for improvements everyone could make in the next game. A positive player also cheers the team both on the court and from the bench, rather than being negative and not paying attention to what is going on.

   A player that has good sportsmanship shows respect as all times, even when things get tough. Every player should take responsibility for their actions and even if they do find themselves upset over a play or a bad call by the referees, they should still show respect. They should show respect to the opposite team’s players, respect to the coaches, respect to the referees, and most importantly...they should show self respect. No matter how important they think the game is, they should pick their head up and keep moving forward. Just like the saying my dad taught me, “A loss is water off a duck’s back, but the learning experience is invaluable.”

   Sportsmanship is a reflection of hard work. It is important to always work hard no matter where you are: in practice, in a game, and most importantly, in school. There are many good reasons to always work hard like winning, improving overall skills but more importantly is not letting yourself and the team down. A good example of this is a player that is not allowed to play because they are not doing well academically. Parents and coaches agree that school is more important than sports and a player that doesn’t uphold this value will hurt the team in the end because they are not there to participate in practice or at games, and cannot contribute to the team. Every team needs all its players to be committed to being a team, otherwise it really isn’t a team. That commitment includes following the instructions of your parents and teachers.

   Positive attitude, respect and hard work are three things that reflect good life values and help a player develop good sportsmanship. A truly good player shows sportsmanship all the times, in life, and when they’re on the court.

N’Shel Dennis