Sportsmanship: Is it Simple Human Decency?

Finding articles about poor sports is a little like shooting into a barrel of fish. Or, as simple as Googling "sports." Poor sports make the news; entitled crybabies steal headlines. Poor sports get rewarded with time and attention and sometimes even money.

But, if CHILL Manager is promoting sportsmanship, we should be able to produce stories about what good sportsmanship looks like.

So I started researching things like "Good Sports," "Good Sportsmanship," and "Positive Sportsmanship." I read many articles about athletes helping other athletes out on the field or around the track. I read about teams allowing kids who would otherwise never touch the ball get a freebie touchdown. I read about athletes giving up their own dreams just to make sure another athlete was safe.

See this post by Scott Allen: 10 Acts of Good Sportsmanship. There are tear-jerkers in there. There are stories that make you nod and think, "That shows real character."

Yes, those are all amazing stories of sportsmanship.

When I compared the heart-warming tales of rejecting racism during the Olympics or fighting through excruciating pain to cross a finish line to a definition of sportsmanship, one of the things they had in common was that someone (coach or athlete) wasn't willing to win at all costs. The other thing they had in common was this: Every act was one of simple human decency.

The reason CHILL Manager came into existence is that I saw a lack of sportsmanship (think: decency) in youth sports in my sport and in my area. Not everyone, certainly, was lacking. Just enough to make it unpleasant for others and potentially cause a downward spiral in acceptable parent/player behavior. It was in response to the need for more attention on sportsmanship that CHILL Manager was born.

I've often wondered when it is that someone decides that decency can sit on the end of the bench picking daisies while the rest of the game goes on. At what point does a coach think, "It's okay to cheat"? When does a parent resolve, "I'm going to scream at that official until she changes her mind"? How does a player learn, "I can trip him this way and the official won't notice"? I worry about a youth sports culture in which decency isn't a main consideration under which games are played, but is the leftover, if-we-get-time, piece of gaming. Believe it or not, telling someone "good game" because it's required isn't the same as infusing a team, or a league, or an entire sport with sportsmanship.

Promoting sportsmanship means being willing to reward higher-hanging fruit when it comes to acceptable attitudes and behaviors from parents at games. But here's a cynical question: If sportsmanship is the same as simple human decency, why should we reward it as if it's something special? Shouldn't just expect it?

Ideally, yes. But in a sports-focused culture that rewards the opposite, it's time to start a rebellion -- and create an army of parents, coaches, and athletes who are willing to reinforce only that behavior that is decent. It won't be easy to go against the urge to win at all costs, but it's the right thing to do.

Won't you join us?

For more information about CHILL Manager, go to www.chillmanager.org or contact me directly at jennimcmc@ymail.com.