MIAA Sportsmanship Essay

            The Wikipedia definition of “Sportsmanship” is an aspiration or ethos that a sport or activity will be enjoyed for its own sake, with proper consideration for fairness, ethics, respect and a sense of fellowship with one’s competitors. To me, sportsmanship is more than being about “fair play” in a sport …it is fair play PERIOD. In work, in politics, in relationships, in families as well as on a team, it is about having a common goal and working together to achieve that goal.  It is about respecting the person standing next to you, encouraging their ideas, and collaborating towards your mutual ambitions. I think there are too many people in jobs, on teams, and in politics that don’t have enough respect for the other people “in the ring” to know when to call it quits.  Instead, ego gets in the way. They feel they could possibly do a better job than their teammate, their co-worker or their party members, and when they fail…everyone suffers. For example, If one member of a political party has a certain personal “agenda” and really isn’t qualified to properly serve the community (or country), and dilutes the political party’s message with hype and drama, the entire political party suffers - credibility is minimized, and beliefs are questioned.  Debating an issue is part of competition but when you stand for the same goals, it isn’t the best to criticize a “teammate." You want the same things even though you may not go about it the same way…even though your styles may be different, you ultimately want the same things.  You want to win, you want to succeed, and you want to lead.  You want to earn that distinction, that goal, that nomination, however, by being fair. I have learned throughout my experiences on the high school volleyball team, and in classroom activities that sometimes I was not the best athlete, nor the smartest in the circle.  By realizing this and accepting that it is okay to not always be the best, I was performing my own act of sportsmanship.  It made a difference in my life because it showed me the way to success- taking a stand back and letting your teammates grow, so together you can achieve, rather than allowing one person build a play/debate/product up for someone else to tear it down the next day. That is not what being a fair player is all about.  It is about having enough sense to realize that you possibly aren’t the best at the game, but working with your teammates, you can change the game all together.