So You Want to be a Better Spectator?
“The ability to cooperate is far more important to
human welfare than
the ability to compete. Success is a journey, not a
destination. Winning and
losing are temporary, but friendships last forever….”
John Kessel
USA Volleyball
Far more than the winning and losing are the lessons
learned through sports. Socrates said, “ I believe that we
cannot live better than in seeking to become still better
than we are.” Team sports are unique in their core
cooperative nature and their capacity to build character.
The ability to cooperate is far more important to human
welfare than the ability to compete. Success is a journey,
not a destination. Winning and losing are temporary, but
friendships last forever, is a Chinese proverb of great
truth.
Below are five tips for becoming a better spectator.
Tip # 1 Keep POSITIVE support, encouragement,
cheerleading and general hollering and yelling to a MAXIMUM
on the sidelines.
When players are working hard, they need and deserve
everyone’s encouragement and support. They need to know you
are there. Most teams have a tough enough time developing a
sense of teamwork and achievement as they are also
developing their skills. They DO NOT need to hear YOUR
anxiety piled on top of their own when the game is going
poorly.
Tip #2 Just one word on criticizing players,
coaches or referees. DON’T.
Publicly criticizing players on your team can really hurt
morale. Athletes will already have an excellent idea, from
all the practicing they have already done, as to their
errors. They do NOT need reminders from their families,
friends and other spectators. The players for the other team
are also doing their best and in truth are probably no more
aggressive than the players on your team. Criticism is
simply poor sportsmanship and leads to unnecessary bad
feelings on and off the playing area. The unfortunate
spectacle of an adult shouting insults at a child or other
adults is disgusting. Sport is a game, not a war. When the
opponents make a great play, give them positive
encouragement too. The officials are making judgment calls
on each and every play, and will err at times, though less
often than the best player on your team.
Tip #3 Leave the coaching to the coach.
Coaches are already there on the bench to guide the
players and in the stress of the game there needs to be just
one source of feedback, that from the coach. If you think an
athlete is not doing what should be done, tell the coaches
in private, not the player. Your child may be doing
exactly what the coaches have instructed. Parents can help
a player’s development much better working with the coaches,
not independently.
Tip #4 Set an example through your actions and
words.
Degrading actions and words are the bane of sports
character development. Leave the gym better than you found
it in, physically and verbally by being a great role model.
Tip #5 Remember, it’s just a GAME.
It is supposed to be FUN. Please remember, YOUR attitude
in the bleachers can affect the mood and success of the
team. Emotions run high in competition, and feelings are
easily hurt. Be tolerant. The place to talk about the game
with the coaches is not in the gym, and not around the
players.
Take a moment to read the Olympic Creed and the Oath of
Athletes:
The most important thing in the Olympic Games
is not to
win but to take part, just as the most important
thing in
life is not the triumph but the struggle. The
essential
thing is not to have conquered but to have fought
well.
In the name of all competitors, I promise
that we will
take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and
abiding by all the rules which govern them in the
true
spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and
the
honor of our teams.
- Baron Pierre de Coubertin
Remember, on every Olympic medal awarded, in Latin, is
Citius, Altius, Fortius. – Swifter, Higher,
Stronger.
It does NOT translate into “swiftest, highest,
strongest.” The idea is to help each player, regardless of
age or skill, develop their own selves to bemore….as in
swifter, higher, and stronger…getting better every day, for
this process of learning and self improvement in each child
is a journey, not a destination. |