It’s Time To Teach Our Children Good Sportsmanship – They Are The Sports Players Of The Future!

Sports is an integral part of almost every child’s life. However too often these days were hear of conflict and controversy on the field or in the game that makes us wonder what we are teaching our children about good sportsmanship. These children are the future ambassadors for our country, they are the sports players of the future. Isn’t it time we teach our children good sportsmanship?

Have you ever noticed the negative messages media sends out relating to sports achievements? The very loudly send a message that if you’re not first you simply don’t count. Sadly these messages are also occasionally making it to the field through parents and couches that get so rapped up in winning they forget about the “game.”

Whatever happened to the rules of sportsmanship? Why have we reached the stage where winning at all costs is what’s important? You can still encourage and teach good sportsmanship in your kids.

Start by being your child’s role model. Always offer encouragement and praise for all sports players even your child’s opponents. Don’t tease or demean any child, referee, or coach while attending a game. Keep your criticism to yourself.

Check your own agenda and be honest about what you want from your child in sports. Are you hoping for them to learn team spirit and sportsmanship or do you dream that they are the next sports star? Children participating in sports should be encouraged to develop skills and self worth. If your goals are for bragging rights then do your child a favor and refrain from being involved in their sports activities.

As the parent you are the one who sets the rules and the lessons you want to teach your child. Those lessons should also include good sportsmanship as a player and a spectator. Whenever you spot your child behaving in a manner that is not conducive to good sportsmanship you need to address it with your child privately.

As a parent you should expect nothing less than good sportsmanship from the coaches. They are there to nurture sportsmanship and sports skills. Your coach should never tolerate cheating, criticism of teammates, losing ones temper, showboating, trash talk or taunting of other players, or arguing with refs. It is the coaches’ job to instill good sportsmanship in the players and if they are not fulfilling their requirements then the parents need to insist a new coach be assigned.

Your job as a parent is to help your child stay committed and focused. You need to encourage them to obtain their goals and support them when they do not reach their goals. You need to teach your child that there will be emotional highs and lows in any sport and you need to teach them the correct way to deal with these emotions.

It’s always good to listen to what your child has to say about the game. There are many times they will need your encouragement and support during their competitive efforts.

Sports involvement also teaches important lessons for life. Your child develops good physical fitness skills that they will be able to use throughout their life, they develop active lifestyles which are important to their overall health, and they develop emotional maturity learning to deal with disappointment and victory.

It’s important that you teach your children how to play by the rules. Not only is it important to teach them the game rules it’s important to teach them the rules of competition which means good sportsmanship.

Do not allow them to engage other players in anger. They should also be taught that arguing with the coach, ref, or other officials is inappropriate. Remember to teach them they are part of a team and that their behavior is reflected across the entire team.

Teach them to always respect the efforts of their opponents whether they play better or worse. This is all part of good sportsmanship. Teach them that although the object of the game is to try to win that the overall object is to compete fairly and honorably and do their best.

Whether they win or loose the game if they play honorably and show good sportsmanship they will always be a winner. Our children are the sports players of the future. They are who will represent our cities, states, provinces, and countries. By teaching them good sportsmanship they will always be seen as winners whether they win or loose the game.

Deon Melchior is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit ArticleClick.com. Article Click is a free content article directory. This means that as a publisher you may reprint the articles that are included in our site, as long as the article is unedited and the author box is included with it's live hyperlinks.