A Little Venting and A Little Lesson In Sportsmanship

What is sportsmanship? Webster’s dictionary says “Sportsmanship is: Conduct and attitude considered as befitting participants in sports, especially fair play, courtesy, striving spirit, and grace in losing”. This is what I expect my coach to teach my child as well as all the other coaches of all youth ball teams. As adults each one of us should act in a way that teaches children to be respectful, positive, and honest. This baseball year we have been blessed with a great coach that instills sportsmanship in our players. Our team is not the best team, in terms of winning, we aren’t the worst either. The important lesson to be learned here is that we are a team who is proud whether we win or loose. We are proud because we played an honest, respectful game. We kept our heads held high. I remember our first game we lost 14-1. Our boys were jumping up and down because we scored one point. Victory! This season has been full of paper losses but most importantly full of winners in our hearts. Tonight was no different. We were up against the most rotten coach in the league. Coming into the game we knew that he holds a bad reputation not only in the baseball league but also football. Parents were bellowing how he cheats, is unsportsmanlike, yells bad names at opponents team players (children), and broke rules to stack his team. You all know what I am talking about. How come every town has one of these coaches and how do they get away with it? The game was gut wrenching for the parents, many calling out in frustration. After awhile I saw that our boys were oblivious to the entire situation. They were in the dugout turning their hats inside out and cheering on their teammates. They made errors and they shook their heads. The coach yelled, “Do better next time”. Isn’t this what baseball is about.

Shame on this other so called “Coach”. I do not believe he is worthy of the title. Shame on him for teaching his team how to be unsportsmanlike. Shame on The City of Rock Hill for continuing to let this happen every year!