Sportsmanship Spirit in Sports

Sportsmanship is a topic that is often overlooked by many athletes and spectators. It is a key element to the game of sports, but is often not recognized as being so. “One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than a hundred teaching it,” said Knute Rockne, one of the greatest coaches in the history of American football.   Good sportsmanship can be noticed through a visual and auditory sense. However, one may simply ask, “how does one learn good sportsmanship?” One can understand sportsmanship better by knowing that a key asset of it is respect. Ultimately, sportsmanship is best understood when it is displayed in a praiseworthy manner.

To further our knowledge of what sportsmanship is really perceived as, it is crucial to link it to a word that many humans have heard in the course of their lifetime-respect. Respect could be defined as admiring someone for their qualities, accomplishments, and abilities. In sports, one is most likely to respect another who has achieved a lot. Respect is essential to this topic because it is what sportsmanship revolves around. Sportsmanship is not only about respecting your peers in a sporting event, but also the game, the referee, and to be gracious whether you lose or win.

As a spectator, coach, or child that is participating in an activity, you can always tell what good sportsmanship is and what is not through observing. The epitome of witnessing this could be described in this story; two famous runners, John Landy and Ron Clarke were a part of the 1956 Australian national championships. They partook in the mile, and were head-to-head throughout the race. On the third lap, Clarke, who was ahead of Landy by not too much, tripped. Landy, who was looking to do well in the race, tried to leap over Clarke. During his leap, he unintentionally scraped Clarke’s arm with the spikes on the bottom of his running shoes. Instead of pursuing the rest of the runners, Landy, showing the signification of sportsmanship stopped and helped...