Does sportsmanship matter?

Does sportsmanship really matter?  Seriously, does it matter?  Think about that question and how you answered it.

I suppose nearly everyone jumped in and immediately said, yes.  Or, better yet, shouted yes or absolutely, sportsmanship definitely matters.  Many of the personalities who read this blog would even argue that sportsmanship is more important than the outcome of competition.

Then why is that every week I look at our local newspaper, the outcomes and results of individuals and teams are championed while sportsmanship isn't even mentioned?  Why aren't people held accountable for poor sportsmanship?  Why do we give an over-abundance of medals and trophies for results and hardly any for what really matters?  Would we dare to keep an earned trophy from a child who demonstrated poor sportsmanship?  The thing we reward the most reveals what we value the most.   When spending time researching the priorities of the youth sports culture in my community and elsewhere, I'm hard pressed to find anything that publicly recognizes good sportsmanship.  Additionally, national, state and local organizations aren't taking a stand and promoting the value of good sportsmanship.  Most of those website don't even mention the word in their mission or vision.  So, is it realistic for me to believe that sportsmanship actually doesn't matter?

The mother of one of my athletes told me that a unsportsmanlike situation that occurred during a wrestling match was having a negative impact on her son.  Of course, she used it as a teachable moment to inform her son that sportsmanship does, in fact, matter.  It was an ugly scene that involved a father-coach, his son and his wife and my athlete happen to catch from the outside.  The dad was out-of-line and several people talked about the incident throughout the weekend.  Very little was done to hold the party accountable and, in the end, after a weekend of competition, the family left with a first place trophy and anticipation for the next event.  Several people learned from the situation, however, it's doubtful that the offenders did and I can expect to see another blow-up at a tournament in the near future.  The message that was unintentionally delivered is that sportsmanship does not matter.

One of my concerns is that poor sportsmanship was condoned because it would have been far too difficult to hold anyone accountable, especially a child, during that situation.  I understand that and empathize with those involved.  Who's responsibility was it to hold him accountable?  The tournament director, the referee, another coach, another parent?  Maybe all of them?  It's also concerning that the aforementioned father didn't have clear expectations on what type of behavior is appropriate and inappropriate.  It's difficult to hold someone to standards that aren't first clearly presented by his community, club, organization, tournament, etc.  My main concern, though, is the affect situations like this have on those around the situation or in the background who aren't directly involved.  They're the reason pro-action and action needs to take place.

Law enforcement would have been called and child services would have been notified if this occurred in any other public setting outside of the sports world.  Unfortunately, this type of behavior has come to be expected at youth sporting events and it's all together unhealthy.  People are quick to defend the offenders because they've been there themselves, know the individuals on a personal level, think a certain child can "handle it" or allow for this within the confines of sports.  We have to stop defending this type of behavior because it's wrong and it's unhealthy.  An individual might have a fast metabolism, be active, have great genetics and indulging in unhealthy food doesn't have an immediate effect on his/her outward appearance, but that doesn't mean the food is healthy.  Those who are at "ground zero" during these explosions may have developed tough skin and regular tournament goers may have become desensitized to the immediate impact of these actions, however, that doesn't change unhealthy to healthy.  The shrapnel flies far and impales itself in others leaving permanent emotional scars in onlookers like the mother mentioned earlier indicated.  Those are the most vulnerable in these situations because they don't get the explanation behind the scenes or the apology after being confronted.

Does sportsmanship matter?  If you believe it does, how should our sports culture handle an incident like this?  What can we do to be proactive?