All-Star No Sportsmanship

[ShelbyNicoleK19]

I was at Jamfest this weekend and i just wanted to show one example of this. Im not going to mention level or teams involved. My team was on the floor and a team that we have competed against 3 times before and have placed 1st against was standing down in the front pointing at every mistake we had made (which we were having a terrible weekend and had ALOT of mistakes) They were being very rude to us and kept putting us down. When we were at awards and we got our placement (which was not good but we derserved it for our performances both days) The other team, pretty much all the girls, turned around and gave us a dirty look then turned around but only for them to place 3 places higher than us and get 4th? this is not right and we go against them later in the seasons also and im really hoping there sportsmanship gets better. When we have goten 1st against them in the past we never said anything to them we still clapped for them and told them good job but for them to only treat us bad when they did beat us? any advice on this on how to deal with this? also im not trying to be rude about this but i found this not right for my team

 

[Emily Jane]

Are you a coach? If you are maybe you could talk to their coach and explain what happened and that you would like to end the bad relationship between the teams?

 

[ShelbyNicoleK19]

No im an athlete. and we are like an hour apart from eachother gyms and so we go against eachother alot and i dont like this at all and i dont like how we respect them as much as possible and cheer them on but they put us down and are rude to us.

 

[cheergirlbrey]

There is really no excuse for bad sportsmanship! Coaches and parents alike should not allow it nor should any organization. Sure you may get one or two nasty kids (ad some just have off days) but a whole team.....well it must be learned and accepted somewhere. Cheer Crazy- just keep showing your kids what's right and that sometimes all you can do is take the higher road! Good luck in the rest of your season!

 

[ShelbyNicoleK19]

Thanks cheergirlbrey! i hope everything works out and good luck to your team/gym in the rest of your season as well

 

[cheermeup]

Some teams have very poor sportsmanship.

When we were at a national competition, my kids' team was in first place by a hair after day 1. They had a major error on Day 2 so the second place team only had to hit and they would win.

This other team went after us, they were doing their running tumbling and every time a pass would hit, they would wink or wave at our girls who were lined up next to the stage watching them. They ended up hitting so they won and they were rude on the stage during awards too.

I told my girls that they would have to let it go, because you can't be responsible for people's actions, you can only be responsible for your reaction. I told them that what goes around comes around and their concern was to just be good sports and to represent our gym appropriately.

As a parent, I feel bad for the kids who are at gyms that allow the poor sportsmanship. What are these kids learning? I can't imagine what the internal gym culture is like when this behavior is tolerated. I'm just thankful to not be a gym like that.

 

[Sharkie]

in my country it's really bad too. at competitions here are usually around 6 teams only. Last year was our first year competing, we only started 5 months before, so we weren't that good yet. I told my team to be nice to the other teams, to cheer for them during the competition and I was happy to see they followed my advice. I heard the sportmanship was bad here, but never thought it would be this bad. None of the other teams clapped for the others. instead they were boo-ing the entire routine and shouting names or laughing with everything. it was horrible!
even worse was backstage. one of my bases got kicked against the knee. they said it was an accident, but the way they were laughing showed the oposite. one team couldnt find their uniforms, they were trown in the sink and shower. another teams make-up was gone, two girls spitting on another one....it was really nasty!

of course my team was really angry afterwards. I told them to use that anger and use it as a motivation to work even harder to beat all of them next year. they know they should be rolemodels and cheerleaders should have a positive attitude no matter what. and just to ignore all the other teams bad reactions and in fact to keep cheering for them next year and just be really nice. It will be hard but at least we shouldnt be embarrassed about ourselves.

I talked with some of the other teams coaches, but it was obvious where those young cheerleaders learned it from. it's sad. I also thought about maybe talk with the judges before the competition this year. im not sure if that will make a difference but at least i can try.

so for you id also advice to let your coach talk with their coaches and mention it to the organisation if it's really bad. many rulesbooks include that bad sportmanship is not allowed. and for your team, stay positive, ignore them and focus on yourselves and the other teams that are friendly. good luck!!!

 

[ShelbyNicoleK19]

Thanks for the advice. sorry that happened to your team thats terrible! good luck to your gym this year also