Good sportsmanship is the most important aspect of the game. Sometimes games will get intense, heated and personal; therefore, sportsmanship must be learned in order to be practiced in sticky situations. If athletes weren’t reprimanded for unfit behavior, there would be no guidelines for others to follow. Of course there’s talent and hard work, which are both very important parts of sports, but without sportsmanship and self-discipline, there would likely be chaos throughout various levels of play. When athletes go “Beyond the Game,” they look outside of what it takes to win, but decide to be a good teammate, a good opponent and a good person. Everyone may have a tad bit different definition of good sportsmanship, but first-class sportsmanship leads to the same goal of high-level of competition with the outcome of creating champions who excel both on and off the playing fields.

The ability to be a good sport and display good sportsmanship is dependent on whether we possess the human values of self-discipline, responsibility, integrity, respect and courage.

Good sportsmanship begins and ends with you!