Sportsmanship? Fair Play? CLass?

[default]

Gotta agree with Yeeehhh!!!!!!

 

[default]

Must have been bad behavior week at Whitehall. After fielding a ground ball my 3rd baseman was in her throwing motion and the other teams 3rd base coach yells "throw it away."

 

[default]

When I read this I just had to laugh because not only am I a softball mom, I am an Ice Hockey mom. As you all may know the reputation of hockey is pretty rough. We rarely come across the bad sportsmanship and unacceptable behavior by parents and coaches at the rink. When we do, it is truly awful.

One of these occassions has been in Troy. That is why I had to chuckle. I now wonder if it is the same group of parents that are 'off ice' ball parents like us. I wouldn't doubt it.
After losing to our team my husband, the coach, went to shake the hand of the opposing coach and was greated with an f@#-you. Meanwhile by the lockerrooms the parents were bad mouthing our kids in the hallway. It was a narrow hallway in which our boys had to walk through a 'gauntlet' of profanities and degrading comments.
Since I am the team manager I stopped scheduling games there. It is right up the road from us but we will no longer play them.

Some people take it all too seriously. Especially since these are children. They are learning from our examples. Can you imagine what will happen when the kids take this behavior to other places like school and work. Just think if they didn't like what the teacher had to say about a grade, can they call another teacher and make an appeal? Do they begin bad mouthing the kid at the spelling bee that got the word right when they got it wrong.

I know this is sports but we feel the way we learn and behave during sporting events carries over in the way we behave in life. Team work, support, healthy competition, appreciate others (even opponents, when out done)

It is a priviledge to play on these teams. Just like it is a privledge to go to a good school or work at a great company. There are so many kids out there that don't have this priviledge. The parents need to be reminded of that sometimes.
Just cause little missy can hit the ball over the fence or catch anything that comes her way, it doesn't give her or her family the right to behave as though they are entitled or above the rules. Just because they can 'afford' to pay the big bucks to put missy on a team, doesn't mean she always deserves it.

The rest of us are there because we love the game. Some we win, some we lose. But what really matters is that we got to play. We got to play against other people that love it as much as we do.
so many kids don't get to play. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves how lucky the kids are that they are a part of something special.....they are part of a team. They get the chance to swing that bat, hit that ball and try to out run that defense. They get the chance to catch that ball, make that throw and tag that runner. That is what its all about.

Aren't we lucky!

 

[default]

Lionsfastpitch: I have to say the behavior of that third base coach ranks among the top five in my book of classless acts. Amazing.

 

[default]

This past Sunday we were in the Championship game playing a team we had beaten in pool play and sent to the looser's bracket. They worked their way back to us. We were the only team to beat them the entire weekend and our pitcher beat them twice with very good games. She was pitching again, and very well I might add. She is up to bat and gets hit in hands by a pitch. Umpire calls foul ball. She is about ready to cry shaking her hands. The PARENTS shout from behind the fence "Hit her again, so she can't pitch!!" Unbelievable but true.

 

[default]

At 10u that is insane!!! I am so glad that our team parents don't behave that way. I think the worst I have ever heard from our parents is one dad was cheering for our pitcher and the batter had 1 strike, got a foul and he yelled Good Job *****, now dispose of her...it was kind of funny because it was so off the wall for him and he immediately felt bad because he said it probably sounded bad but all he meant was get her out. I am hoping that no one who heard took it as mean. He is a really great guy. Always positive with everything with the girls. I will say that the most shocking poor and disgusting sportsmanship I have ever seen was when I was in high school and the opposing cheerleaders spit on our football players. So I guess it is everywhere and will be until all parents let their children know (starting by example when they are young-very young) that such behavior is unacceptable. But that isn't going to happen when the parents are worse than the kids. :'(

 

[default]

How about a team that was upset they lost to us, so all the girls spit in their hands just before we greeted each other after the game. We didn't know about it till our girls complained to the coaches and told us what happend! If parents are brining up their kids to act like this, how are the going to handle failure latter in life?

 

[default]

With all these examples of poor sportsmanship, I would like to send kudos for great sportsmanship out to the Pittsburgh Spirit Black coaching staff. These guys were exremely classy and conducted themselves and their girls top notch.

During our game with them our girls were diving back to bases quite a few times and they were constantly reminding their fielders to not step on our girls hands or to be careful about it. They showed a genuine concern for our players as well as their own.

A little good to go with all this bad.

Doug
Breakers of Rocky River

 

[default]

if Pitt Spirit Black was the same team we saw at NSA@Berliner, i second the kudos...great staff, great kids (especially that catcher)

 

[default]

Much of the bad behaviour we've seen this summer has been from adults. A few weeks ago, dd was shocked to hear the opposing team's parents that were sitting along third base line talking trash very loudly about our pitcher. She said it was hard, but they ignored them knowing what comes around goes around.

 

[default]

we've run into bad parent/maybe assisstant coaches behavior twice this season, but i was more annoyed than anything...our DD's only really commented about anything one time,...we just walk away and think, win or lose, at least we had class and since you really cant air it out here, either say it to them at the field or kick back, pop open a nice, cool hatorade and play the next game

 

[default]

We have all experienced a bit of "ugliness" out of the mouths of sideline observers. ?While many of us may want to verbalize dissatisfaction with a umpire's call or frustration with how our girls are playing...or whatever; it is so very important to remember that this really is for our precious girls who, afterall, are just that...girls. ?Not professionals! ?Our girls have had the pleasure of getting to know a rival 10u team so well that the girls on each team actually cheer for each other's teams whenever they are not involved in a game. ?In fact, last weekend after we beat this rival team, knocking them out of the championship game...they came over to our field after their consolation game to cheer our girls to victory!! ?That's real sportsmanship that we parents can learn a lesson from isn't it?!