Sportsmanship Always Counts..

Here is a post written in response to the experience a parents child had this past week of Championships.

My hope is that we parents will think about how  we will  teach our children how to win with grace and dignity. Saying things like  ”I will kick your ^&%” isn’t an appropriate strategy and very unnecessary.

A TrackMom writes: “My daughter is ten years old and recently competed in both the AAU and USATF Junior Olympics.  This was her third experience participating at either Track and Field or Cross Country Nationals.  She has commented that one of the things she really likes about the sport is all of the kids that she meets and makes friends with from different teams in our Association and throughout the country.  While as coaches and parents we often emphasize that when you are preparing for a race and when you get on the track, you are not friends but competitors, we know as parents that it is important that after the race is over our children maintain a positive attitude towards each other.

 

As parents, we also try to emphasize that while winning is great, our children should value the experience and also respect their competitors who may not be as strong or do so well.  One thing that is also important is that our children learn to win graciously and acknowledge the efforts of all of the other competitors in a positive manner.

 

During the National meets, the competitors spend a lot of time together waiting for their heat to run or sitting together  before the awards ceremony. Unfortunately, during this time, my daughter was hurt and surprised to hear a top athlete trash talking all of the other competitors including younger kids and her own competitors saying things like “She’s so slow”, “nobody ever going to beat me”, I’m going to kick your ###!.  My daughter was on the awards podium at a time that should have been very happy for her crying at the pure poor sportsmanship from someone who has rarely, if ever, lost a race.   After the awards, my daughter did not want to wear her medal and said she never wanted to go to another competition where this girl was competing.  She said it had nothing to do with whether this girl would beat her, but about how unpleasant it was to be next to her for an hour or more on multiple days.  Some might say this is sour grapes but my daughter has a National Championship under her belt so she knows what she is talking about and how to win graciously. 

 

I was amazed to watch multiple award ceremonies at both Greensboro and AAU and not see these children clap when the others received their medals or congratulate each other.  Track and Field has been a great experience for my daughter; however, we are preparing her for life and making sure she is a well-rounded happy child who is respected by others.  Obviously, as competitors they can earn respect on the track based on performance but as parents it is more important that we teach them to earn the respect and admiration of others by what they do off the track”.

Lauren hasn’t recently told be about any girls being mean or rude. Most have been friendly and we have met many wonderful families. I hope that this is just an outside incident not a regular occurance of youth athletes across all divisions. The best qualities of the human condition can be developed from the experience of participating in the sport of track and field.