Justine Jorgensen
"C'mon ref! Are you serious!? How could you not have seen that!?"
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| Richard Wheeler, Wikimedia image |
When I first joined basketball in grade 7, my team quickly figured which of the opposition was fun to play and which was not. There were some teams that displayed good sportsmanship - the matches were about skill, strategy, and endurance. Other teams caused trouble; they scratched and they pushed and they muttered insults under their breath. This definitely took away from the game. It's hard to be focused and unaffected when you've got bite marks on your arm.
Five years later, I still encounter teams that aren't fun to play. In one game last year, we played a skillful team at a tournament. We were missing players and not in the best shape - this isn't an excuse, just truth. The other team was very good, and quickly took the lead. I don't hold this against them at all - I hold against them the fact that they didn't let up the full-court press for the entire game, even when they were beating us by 100 points. If you're winning, and you know you're going to win, then you don't need to keep pounding the other team into the ground. Where is your sportsmanship?
I've gotten angry at opposing players. I've been angry at the way that they play, or the way they act. If a team is playing dirty, I might rage about it on the bench, but I won't be reduced to their level of physical harassment and verbal abuse. Although I admit there have been times when I've come close to letting my tongue loose. But technical fouls aren't productive or in the best interests of the team. It's important to maintain willpower in order to look past pointless disputes and focus on the game.
More so than disrespect between players, I've seen issues between the referee and the players and parents. I've been to many games where the ref is challenged, yelled at. Honestly, referees do so much; you can't play the game without one. They have to follow along with the game, scrutinizing everything that everyone is doing, keeping in mind each rule and regulation of the sport. Just think about that for a second. It must take some thick skin to be a ref too, especially as the age group, and thus the intensity, increases. Take rugby referees for instance: they've agreed to step up in front of two teams who will engage in messy, full body contact (blood might start to flow), as well as the parents. Make a wrong call, and you could have the coach, the fifteen players, and the moms protesting, depending on the team.
Now, I'm guilty when it comes to being angry at refs. I'm competitive. If someone fouls me in basketball, I want it to be called. If someone hits the net in volleyball, I want it to be noticed. Of course, some refs are simply better than others; it's just a fact. But part of playing sports is working with the conditions you're given. It's all about how you deal with adversity - that's competition, after all. I know that I need to stop and remember that, 'No, the ref can't see everything. He doesn't have eyes in the back of his head. Yeah, that call sucked, but move forward.'
There was one time when I encountered an obscene amount of disrespect in a game, especially toward the ref. The sport? Yeah, it was hockey. I was watching one of my brother's home games; he would have been around 8 at the time. The scorekeepers were trying to keep everything organized, but a few times they forgot to stop the clock, letting it run for several seconds. Parents in the stands would notice, call out "Stop the clock!", and all would be fine. Personally, this wasn't a big deal for me. These kids were playing a regulatory sixty-minute game, which I think is pretty long for them - shorter, younger legs... they get tired. In fact, in some of my brother's games, they've purposefully run the clock in order to cut down on the time.
Suddenly, two women from the other side of the area stomped over and screamed at the scorekeepers. "Stop the f***ing clock! You guys are cheating!" Their team was already winning. Substantially, I might add. When our parents mentioned this, they yelled back, "Doesn't matter, you guys are f***ing cheating!" Everything kind of went downhill from there. The other coaches were swearing continuously - in front of 7 and 8-year olds, by the way (classy) - and one kept yelling at the ref's calls. It eventually escalated to the point where the ref, tired of giving unheeded warnings, tossed the coach out of the arena. He walked off the ice, alternately lifting his arms like he was a winner and making rude gestures. The referee was teen, around 16 or 17.
The behaviour of that team disgusts me. It is completely disrespectful and unnecessary. The young ref was doing the best he could, and seriously - it's 8-year olds playing. How much does this one game mean to you? Oh, and that's great behaviour for young children and players to model.
Rugby is another sport in which both my sister and I have had interesting - and negative - experiences. My team was up north for a tournament, playing (and beating) a team we hadn't seen before. One girl became angry and started threatening one of our players. She wanted to fight and was being held back by her friends. Our player didn't fight - instead, as we kept playing, she made sure to tackle the other girl with the fullest extent of her skill. Our teammate played legally and fairly, talking with her actions rather than her words.
While I didn't play rugby last year, being away at boarding school, my sister did. In one of her games, the opposing team was the best in the league. They were good. Unfortunately, they were also dirty, and injuries were sustained. The opposing team, even though they were winning by a very large margin, did not let up; they yelled at the ref and were even yellow-carded. The game ended 91-3 in their favour. In another game, my sister was playing a sevens tournament (instead of fifteen players on the field, there is seven). The other team was so bad, illegally jersey-tackling (which for the most part is easy to spot) and injuring the other team, that the coach approached the ref, who wasn't calling any penalties. The ref would hear none of it, and only reprimanded the coach with a warning. This is one instance where it seems the ref lacked in some respect.
As I said before, I love sports. I'm not saying competition is bad: I like to win. But I like to win fair and square, with a victory originating from hard-earned skill and seamless teamwork. It's a good feeling when you win and know you worked hard for it. It's a good feeling still when you don't win, but you know you gave it your best and discovered that you can do more than you thought, if only you push yourself.
There are athletes, coaches, and parents today that need to think past the adrenalin, or testosterone, or whatever it is pumping through their blood, and focus on the goal. Sports need to be about skill and sportsmanship, without stepping on someone in the process. And of course, having fun. Sports teach life lessons, like how to be a team player, how to focus and work for a goal, and that hard work pays off. It's important that it's these are the kinds of lessons that are being taught and exemplified.
It's time to start with the positive.
Exactly!!
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