TGHA Update
March 6, 2007
Final Night of Practices
Home Games
Good Luck to 16Us at States
March 6 is National Sportsmanship Day!
Final Night of Practices
Thursday March 8 is the final night of practices for the TGHA regular season.
Regular times for Thursday at Cass Park will be followed.
Home Games
Sat. March 10 12:15 p.m. 13U vs. Canandaigua 12U Cass Park
Sat. March 10 5:15 p.m. 19U vs. Ithaca Sirens Cass Park
Sun. March 11 12:45 p.m. House Ice Time Cass Park
Sun. March 11 2:00 p.m. Initiation Ice Time RINK
Good Luck to 16U Shooting Stars at States
The 16U travel team will represent TGHA at the 16U Tier 2 States at the Clinton
Arena March 9-11. Good luck girls and coaches!!
March 6 is National Sportsmanship Day!
http://www.internationalsport.com/nsd/index.cfm
THREE GREAT GUIDEPOSTS FOR BETTER SPORTSMANSHIP
In his forthcoming “The Encyclopedia of Sports Parenting,” NSD founder and
author Dan Doyle offers three guideposts for encouraging and maintaining good
sportsmanship. The guideposts are the Five Principles of Honorable Competition,
The Dirty Dozen, and the Nine Rules of Competitive Self-Restraint.
GUIDEPOST I: The Five Principles of Honorable Competition
Tell your child that the following principles are at the heart of learning to
compete honorably.
1. Respect the game. This includes showing respect for opponents, referees,
coaches and fans.
2. Play by the rules, and within the spirit of the rules. Don’t try to get
away with cheating or taking shortcuts just because you think no one will notice
or catch you. The only real victories are honest victories, untainted by
cheating or gamesmanship.
3. Play your best, and understand that doing your best does not mean
embarrassing or humiliating your opponent.
4. Don’t punch back, play harder. When provoked, an athlete should ascend
to the highest level of honorable competition by increasing focus and intensity,
not by reacting in an undisciplined, unproductive way.
5. Employ competitive self-restraint – play hard but with self-control.
Point out that failure to play within the spirit of the rules usually involves
sneaky or intimidating gamesmanship tactics. Since a wonderful benefit of
sports lies in the practice of honorable competition, feel free to approach your
school or recreation league administrators to request that the five principles
of honorable competition be included in program objectives.
GUIDEPOST II: THE DIRTY DOZEN
In addition to teaching and reinforcing the five principles of honorable
competition, it is helpful to give young athletes a specific list of
unacceptable sports behaviors. Clear examples make it easier for children to
understand, remember, and make correct choices when they are suddenly confronted
with difficult situations.
Remember, some of the behaviors on the unacceptable list may not specifically
violate game rules, but they do violate the spirit of the rules. Make it
absolutely clear that the following 12 tactics or behaviors – the so-called
Dirty Dozen – are not allowed!
1. Fighting, even if another player starts or attempts to start a fight.
2. Any form of cheating, such as dishonest line calls or fouls.
3. Gamesmanship tactics, including harassment, heckling, trash talking, or
other questionable methods to gain competitive advantage.
4. Scolding, bullying, teasing, or humiliating one’s teammate. At times,
high school and college players, especially team captains, appropriately exhort
or chastise other teammates, but this is different from simply scolding a
youngster who is less skilled or makes a mistake.
5. Arguing with referees, coaches, teammates or fans.
6. Blaming others for your personal errors.
7. Throwing tantrums or otherwise displaying anger after a mistake, loss, or
poor performance.
8. Selfish behavior, including ball hogging, bragging and failure to respect
team rules.
9. Intentionally aggressive physical acts which are not part of a
competitive, fairly played game. This includes contact intended to hurt
someone, illegally stop or impede a player, or retaliate and get revenge.
10. Confrontational stances or faces conveying an “I dare you” or an “I can
intimidate you” attitude.
11. Extreme attention getting or self-congratulatory posturing after a
touchdown, home run, or basket. This is different from hugging or
congratulating a teammate.
12. Profanity or vulgar language.
When you observe any of the above behaviors, use them as a starting point for
discussion with your child. Emphasize that many bad decisions and impulsive
behaviors result from losing one’s temper or self-control. Explain that
self-control and self-discipline are essential elements in becoming an athlete
who is admired as an honorable competitor.
GUIDEPOST III: The Nine Rules of “Competitive Self-Restraint”
As soon as your child begins playing sports, explain that the rules for each
sport define what kinds of physical contact are and are not permitted. Here are
nine points to teach your athlete about physical contact, self-control and
non-violent responses:
1. There will be times when you get bumped, hit or shoved. Be prepared for
such possibilities, and try not to take them personally or allow them to upset
you.
2. Whether you are accidentally or intentionally hit, tripped or hurt by
someone, do not hit back, retaliate or argue with other players.
3. You must step back and let the officials and coaches deal with any
problems. When stepping back, avoid confrontational eye contact, posturing or
nasty comments, because they can provoke a fight.
4. Very few athletes play well when they lose control. If you become angry,
upset or hit someone, negative consequences could result, including:
· Hurting another player or yourself.
· Losing your focus on the game.
· Embarrassing yourself, your team, your coach, and your family.
· Getting penalized or kicked out of the game.
· Getting suspended from future games.
· Getting kicked off of the team.
· Disrupting your team’s concentration.
5. Self-control requires mental practice to prevent being caught off guard
when an incident occurs. (It is wise to discuss problem scenarios and desired
responses with young athletes).
6. Practice the “don’t punch back, play harder” motto. Whenever you are
provoked in a practice, scrimmage or game, repeat this motto to yourself.
7. Never use profanity or trash talking when addressing other players,
coaches, officials or spectators. Such tactics could spin out of control and
provoke a fight.
8. Never assume it is acceptable to copy poor behavior of sports
professionals, whether it is fighting, verbal or physical intimidation, or
arguing with others. Athletic skill alone does not make someone a true role
model. A true athletic role model is one who combines athletic skill with good
sportsmanship, good character, self-control and hard work.
9. Play as hard as you can, but within the rules.
Mary M. Grainger
421 Highland Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
Phone 607-257-3268
Fax 607-257-0483
Cell 607-280-4380