Post-Game Sportsmanship

Today's blog was written by Natalie Schmid, a Play Like a Champion summer intern.  Natalie is a rising high school junior and a swimmer and soccer player on her school's team.

One of the toughest times to be a good sport is after a big game, whether you win or lose. Most of the time we think about bad sportsmanship coming from the opponent who lost the game because they might be angry about losing, but what we don’t think as much about it the winner’s sportsmanship. After a big game the winners are entitled to be happy and celebrate, just as the losers are bound to be a little upset, but there is a fine line as to how much is too much.

Often times, professional athletes do not set the best examples of sportsmanship, especially with after game interviews while the emotions running still high from the game or match, but this was not the case after this weekend's men’s final at Wimbledon. The final match this year at Wimbledon was between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.  After a hard-fought match Djokovic came out on top and Federer saw his would be 18^th Grand Slam title slip away.  The match was a classic, with amazing serves and volleys throughout. Following the match, though was when the sportsmanship shined. Djokovic was quoted saying, “Thank you for letting me win today” to Federer just after saying that, “It is by far the best quality tennis…that I’ve ever been a part of.” Djokovic does such a nice job of acknowledging how good his opponent is and doesn’t just gloat about his victory.  These comments were especially touching as int he past, Djokovic has been criticized for excessive celebration, so it's good to see that he realizes he is a role-model.  Federer also showed good sportsmanship from the losing end saying, “Winning or losing it’s always something special and something you’ll remember” and then later saying, “The disappointment of the match itself went pretty quickly.” Two professional athletes on such a large stage, there is no doubt that their sportsmanship will be an example for many young athletes.

Photo courtesy of New York Times, credit: Sang Tan

Sportsmanship can be one of the hardest things to master as a young athlete because for most people, playing sports is a way to compete. Competitiveness is a fun thing, especially in youth and high school sports because it makes the games so much more intense, but after being so intense it can be hard to snap back out of that mindset and remember it is just a game.  For the winners, after a hard fought match they are so proud of the victory that all they want to do is celebrate.  I know this feeling, but I also know how it feels to lose a tight match.  All athletes need to remember to practice sportsmanship like Djokovic and Federer did. They should recognize the hard fought game and celebrate the quality play that happened while still being happy about the victory. Whereas the losers have a right be disappointed that they didn’t win, but should also celebrate the game and the effort given just as Federer did. Games are, after all, meant to be fun. 

Gay Athletes and the Ongoing Challenge of Full Acceptance

Play Like a Champion Founder and Director Professor Clark Power recently published a piece on athletes who are  gay in the Huffington Post.  The original post can be found here, or is excerpted below.

Media attention has rightly focused on Jason Collins and Michael Sam who have courageously confronted a homophobic professional sports culture. Like Jackie Robinson, they have exposed the intolerant underside not only of NBA and NFL locker rooms, but of American culture itself.

This week, University of Notre Dame varsity tennis player, Matt Dooley, joined Jason Collins and Michael Sam by coming out publicly as a gay male. In a brutally honest first-person account of his agonized struggle for self-acceptance, Matt Dooley illustrates the challenge of self-acceptance in a hostile environment. As he wrestled with his sexual identity, his Catholic education made him feel even more apprehensive about his future: "The Church's teachings were not exactly adding up with where my life was headed."

Matt writes that he never fully acknowledged to himself that he was gay until his sophomore year in college. That realization brought with it self-condemnation: "I was wrong, undeserving of respect, and I had a life that was not worth living." In his sophomore year, Matt attempted suicide: "Death was better than accepting -- or revealing -- that I was gay."

After he left the psychiatric ward, Matt's tennis team became his lifeline. As the second anniversary of his suicide attempt approached in September, he came out to his team. To his surprise, they all embraced him. Matt's life changed from one of despair to hope. He and his team both became stronger. Matt is now involved with others at Notre Dame in reaching out to other gay athletes.

Like Jason Collins and Michael Sam, Matt Dooley asks for nothing more or less than the respect that any human being deserves. Yet, as Matt Dooley's story demonstrates, one cannot demand respect from others until one comes to respect oneself. Self-respect is nurtured in groups, like the Notre Dame Tennis team, where morality matters and coaches and players commit themselves to care for and trust in each other.

Educational and religious leaders have a responsibility to make schools and churches places where young people, whatever their sexuality, can learn to study, play, pray and love with self-respect, gratitude and hope.