The Importance Of Sportsmanship In Sports

I have grown up watching, playing, and studying many different sports, whether it be football, or baseball, or basketball, or sometimes even soccer. I have always enjoyed playing sports, however, as an athlete, I have a distinct responsibility to practice sportsmanship. Sportsmanship is one of the most important facets of sports today. Sportsmanship allows us athletes to hate the other team for the duration of the game, but respect them at the same time. Sportsmanship is defined as “fair-play, respect for opponents, and polite behavior by someone in a competition.” While this is true, there is more to it. First off, there are some common occurrences in sports that are obviously unsportsmanlike, such as cheap shots. One example of a cheap shot …show more content…
However, the idea of sportsmanship is beginning to die out in the newest generations of athletes. People do not care about each other anymore, they only care about themselves. Kareem Abdul Jabaar, the highest scoring player in NBA history, said, “A lot of young players … are missing out on what the game is all about, especially the whole concept of sportsmanship and teamwork.” I could not agree with him more. It is not only that people are playing selfishly, but that sportsmanship is not taught as much anymore. Mentors, parents, coaches, and even professional athletes do not emphasize the importance of sportsmanship enough. If the ideas of sportsmanship were to go extinct in the future, sports would come to an end shortly after. Two teams could not function and play against each other, in any team sport, if everyone was trying to go at each other’s throats the whole …show more content…
Helping someone up, kneeling while a fellow player is injured, playing by the rules, or simply refraining from saying something hurtful to the opposing team, are all good ways of conducting yourself in a sportsmanlike way. Holding your tongue is very hard to do in the middle of a heated game, but it helps keep the team calm, cool and collected during the game. For example, cussing someone out after they missed a block, saying someone sucks after they struck out, or calling someone a name after they missed a wide-open goal, only discourages that person, causing them to play worse than before. Sportsmanship, not encouraged enough in today’s society, can go a long way. Not only does it make individual players feel positive, but it can set a mood for the whole team, causing the team, as a group, play