SPORTSMANSHIP

 

We all the love the game of basketball, and love to play it and watch it, and to teach kids how to play the game up their ever-evolving abilities.  But I see basketball-and all sports, really-as a terrific opportunity for kids to learn and appreciate and exercise some important life-long values and skills.  So our purpose here is to help the kids have some fun while they are learning the game in a way that helps them to develop these values and skills:

 

1. good sportsmanship and proper perspective as one way to “win” (no matter what the score is);
2. being both a gracious winner and a gracious loser (learning how to accept and process a loss as just part of the flow
  rather than a traumatic failure);
3. respecting everyone involved (opponents, teammates, officials and coaches); and
4. identifying with a team, and working with a team toward common goals, with teammates of widely varying
  abilities and personalities.

 

We stress an emphasis on fun, sportsmanship and skills development above winning and competition.  We all like to win, and athletic competition can be great fun, but competition without a classy attitude is not fun, and winning without class is downright obnoxious.  We hope that all of our coaches discuss sportsmanship and good attitudes with their players, and that they will model proper perspectives and behaviors in our games.

Adapted from: The Coaches Notebook, by Steve Jordan