With two basketball players, a cheerleader, and a dancer, we have been to a ridiculous number of basketball games this week. Tonight we saw two amazing games (and we’re not done yet). The first was 5th/6th grade girls and the second was 5th/6th grade boys. The girls game went right down to the very end, and the boys game went into overtime. It’s heartbreaking that someone had to lose—the players on both teams really worked hard.
The fans were respectful, too, I thought. Our teams ended up winning both games, so maybe I’m seeing it through that lens, but I clapped just as hard for the other team at the end as I did for ours.
I love hard fought games, but they are so much better when good sportsmanship is displayed by all involved.
I’m actually fairly convinced that the best thing competitive athletics can teach kids is how to lose. There’s always going to be somebody bigger, stronger, faster. I know a lot of adults who clearly never learned this (and other) lessons. They expect to always get their way, lose their temper & swear when they don’t, etc.