Sportsmanship Is Respect

To the Editor,

After reading Mr Hennessey’s “The Biggest Missed Shot” in The Bee, it brought back memories from experiences in the past both personally and professionally. I am a sports physical therapist/athletic trainer and conditioning specialist who has had the privilege to work with a variety of athletes and dedicated my career to helping athletes prevent and rehabilitate injuries as well as condition themselves to excel in their sports. I’ve seen the fundamentals of sports at their best: hitting, passing, running, jumping, throwing, etc. In my experience, however, the most important fundamental is sportsmanship. If you read the definition of “sportsman” in the dictionary it states, “One who engages in field sports, a fair contestant.” In my opinion and experience the dictionary needs to add one more word to its definition, respect. Sportsmanship is respect for the sport, respect for your opponent, respect for the coach, respecting the win as well as the loss, respecting yourself and your abilities to contribute to the team, and most importantly, it’s respecting your teammates regardless of the levels of their abilities.

I’ve seen this “missed shot” many times. We group the child athlete by age, place them on a field or court and let them play. We group them by age because it’s the way it’s always been done; however, children do not develop anatomically, biologically, or physiologically at the same rate. Some develop coordination and skill faster than others, early developers vs. late bloomers. As coaches and parents, we must consider this phenomenon. The coach’s responsibility is to make sure everyone gets a fair chance, teach the fundamentals of the game, make sure they are having fun, and teach and preach good sportsmanship and the respect of the game.

And coaches be aware that a child that may be struggling on the court or field today may be a “late bloomer” and be your future superstar.

Sincerely,

Lee Day

2 Crowsnest Lane, Sandy Hook                                   March 28, 2000