All-Star Is It Just Me Or Is Sportsmanship At Level 5 Getting Bad?!

[garretttt]

We have it good. Football/basketball fans are 10x worse.

 

[Hi! It's me!]

We have it good. Football/basketball fans are 10x worse.

Soccer fans. Enough said.

 

[Justacoach]

Lots of bad sportsmanship at UCA this wknd. Our kids' signs got torn down and ripped in half at the hotel, ACE parents were ecstatic we fell the first day and had touchdowns the second day, and some mini 2 kids were bawling their eyes out at awards because they got 2nd.

 

[ufomom]

I actually think it is okay to give a mini kid a pass for crying. Obviously they should be learning to do better, blah blah blah, come on, they are little kids trying to learn to handle disappointment and self control.

 

[Ashay]

This past weekend at BATC I saw so many teams cheering eachother on in warm ups it was almost shocking because this is very rare. Before my senior 4 team got on the first mat at warm ups there was a team doing an illegal inversion in their pyramid, it didnt take me more then 10 seconds to go over and inform them of the illegal move, they were not sure how to fix it so myself and another one of our coaches helped them, point is I didnt care if they were in our division or not i just wanted to make sure they wouldnt get a deduction. Our kids watched as we helped this team and they were amazed at how much we cared about another team. As a coach we make sure to teach our girls good sportsmanship and how to be good role models for the younger atheltes in our gym. Its important to make sure parents, athletes, owners and coaches are all displaying good sportsmanship all the time in the gym or not!

 

[canttouchthis]

i would also like to point out that fans can create bad sportsmanship too. i personally don't like world cup. i'm not saying that they aren't good, because they are. I've always been a cheer extreme fan even as a little girl competing against maddie gardner so i naturally pull for them, but i open my mouth and say it and i get attacked. the little sayings against each other can carry over. my friend is on a local team and a fan from another was making comments to their face saying "they suck" and "can't tumble to save their lives". A fan! she didn't even cheer for the opposing team! people just need to learn respect.

oh yeah def. about the cea thing people hear you like them and the go wild.

 

[KikiD22]

I don't know about level 5, but I have seen some bad sportsmanship down at the mini 1 level!! That scares me more than anything!!

YES!! However, being the parent of a Mini 1 athlete, I can most certainly tell you that it is coming from the parents or the parents are not doing a good job of teaching their little ones that sort of behavior is not acceptable. I think one of the most valuable lessons in sports, and something I make sure to instill in my CP, is not only winning graciously but also losing graciously. Sadly though, I have seen a few incidents of poor sportmanship at the Mini age level this season, both locally and at nationals, and both times, the parents were either present, just letting it happen, or were the instigators themselves.

 

[Alyssa Bell]

Lots of bad sportsmanship at UCA this wknd. Our kids' signs got torn down and ripped in half at the hotel, ACE parents were ecstatic we fell the first day and had touchdowns the second day, and some mini 2 kids were bawling their eyes out at awards because they got 2nd.

I wasn't actually at UCA, but my friend was this weekend and she told me that she just kept hearing parents and cheerleaders, bashing team.. saying teams suck and just plain rude stuff.

 

[Alyssa Bell]

YES!! However, being the parent of a Mini 1 athlete, I can most certainly tell you that it is coming from the parents or the parents are not doing a good job of teaching their little ones that sort of behavior is not acceptable. I think one of the most valuable lessons in sports, and something I make sure to instill in my CP, is not only winning graciously but also losing graciously. Sadly though, I have seen a few incidents of poor sportmanship at the Mini age level this season, both locally and at nationals, and both times, the parents were either present, just letting it happen, or were the instigators themselves.

Completely agree! there are some mini parents that have some terrible sportsmanship! And that just teaches the younger girls to act that way! Its really sad to see when a mini level girl is being hateful because maybe another team beat them, we should be teaching them good sportsmanship!

 

[cheeringfor3]

There's a lot being said about the coaches being responsible for good sportsmanship. What about parenting? These are things that should be started in the home and continued at the gym.

I agree with you 100% and, as a parent, I personally wouldn't choose a gym for my kids where bad sportsmanship is either allowed or encouraged. In everything my kids do, I try to choose organizations that have values consistent with what we teach at home.

 

[cheermommaRN]

Mini cheer can be crazy...I honestly think regarding parents it is the worst division for this behavior. For most of the parents this is their first season, they have no idea how the sport works or anything about rules, the kids are all 8 and under so they are still "mommy's little baby". And if you tell a mom that her little angel is not 1st place...run....Most of the bad sportsmanship I've seen has come from this younger age group. Last year I had a mom from another gym tell my cp "Get over it, you can't be 1st all the time". The crying comes with the age group, last season cp cried the 1st few comps that they placed low in but by the end of the season she realized that sometimes you win and sometimes you don't. She actually likes losing every once in awhile because then "it makes the wins so much more exciting".

 

[5-6-7-8]

As a team mom, I try to remember to reinforce sportsmanship as much as I can. With the minis, they often forget, or don't really know, "competition etiquette." We give little rewards for the girl who claps the most for other teams, says the most "Good Lucks" back stage, etc. What that age won't do for a few skittles, LOL!!

 

[MyssMyst]

As a team mom, I try to remember to reinforce sportsmanship as much as I can. With the minis, they often forget, or don't really know, "competition etiquette." We give little rewards for the girl who claps the most for other teams, says the most "Good Lucks" back stage, etc. What that age won't do for a few skittles, LOL!!

I wish more teams did this. I love your gym already!

 

[mommadonna]

There's a lot being said about the coaches being responsible for good sportsmanship. What about parenting? These are things that should be started in the home and continued at the gym.

Amen!!! It just goes back to basic manners. I would never bring my child up thinking it is okay to bad-mouth others. It's crazy that some parents look the other way. It's ESPECIALLY crazy to see the parents joining in and doing it too!!! If you don't have something nice to say, keep it to yourself. A part of what I want my cp to learn from this sport is how to conduct herself and how to lose gracefully. (not that I want her to lose, but I'm just sayin...:p)

 

[Katie]

its EVERY level. i get jealously, but PLEASE contain yourselves.