Teaching Your Kids Good Sportsmanship
Good sportsmanship has always been considered an important trait possessed by any successful athletic program. However, it doesn't always mean that it is practiced and enforced. Many would argue that the very role that athletics plays in the life of an individual, especially a young person, is to learn good sportsmanship along with team work, discipline, and hard work.
For any program that doesn't stress the importance of good sportsmanship on and off the field is failing in their ultimate goal. So what is the best way to teach kids good sportsmanship, especially when they see examples to the contrary not only among their peers, but on the professional arena as well? The answer is the same as it has always been throughout time. When teaching anyone any skill or principal, it is best taught by example.
Parental Example
Despite what some people think, kids are always watching their parents. They notice what they say and what they do. They take note of how their parents react in any given situation. If you don't believe it, hang out with a four year old for a matter of minutes and they will most likely use their parent's slang about any given situation, for good or for bad.
If parents want to teach their kids good sportsmanship it starts with them and their example of sportsmanship. The attitude a parent has regarding the game or a particular call by the official is noticed and then put into practice by their children more often than not. Parents, good sportsmanship starts with you.
Coaching Example
Like parents, coaches are adults that can have a massive impact on a young person's life, for better or for worse. It really should be one of the greatest criteria of qualification for any coaching position. Coaches not only are responsible to teach their players the rules of the game and how to play the game, but perhaps more importantly they are to teach by example the way the game should be played. Coaches are not only coaching young people in an athletic game, but also, they are teaching them about the game of life.
Team Capitan's/ Peers Example
It may be true that the most powerful type of example is the example one sets for his/her own peers. In an athletic setting these youth leaders are usually called team captains and as with coaches, one of the most important qualifications should be their character and the example they will set for their teammates. If team members witness a captain consistently showing good sportsmanship on and off the field, there is a good chance that this will have a great impact on the sportsmanship of the entire team.
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