Winning Through Points Well Taken

Good sportsmanship begins with parents as good role models.

Unfortunately, Thomas Junta did not exhibit good sportsmanship. He is the father accused of beating another father, Michael Costin, to death at a pickup hockey game in suburban Boston earlier this month. It is a sad commentary about parental enthusiasm, parents living vicariously through the athletic achievements of their kids.

Fortunately, this behavior is a rarity. We all have seen parents berating their kids, arguing with umpires or reprimanding a coach in the name of supporting their kids.

Children learn by example. Parents have an opportunity to teach about sportsmanship every time they attend a game or practice. A game is only a game, not the dominant script of success or failure of their child.

Basketball legend Michael Jordan has advised parents to let kids learn to enjoy a sport and the mental part will follow. It was Jordan’s love of basketball, not an overzealous parent, that gave him the mental edge to excel.

The Grid Kids Contact Football League is a refreshing program run at the Valley YMCA. This full-contact league, which begins its third year in late August, is for Spokane-area fifth- and sixth-graders. This league instills enjoyment of the game, good sportsmanship and values.

Players and parents receive a code of ethics they must sign before they can participate. The main goal of the program is to provide a positive experience. The program also teaches four core values: caring, honesty, respect and responsibility.

The eight-game season is held at various high schools. Parents are not allowed along the sidelines and must remain in the stands. With parents at a distance and the track as a buffer, the players are able to concentrate on the game and take instruction from their coaches. So far, their success rate is 100 percent, with no parent removed from a game.

Program leaders also pick coaches carefully. Coaches submit a letter of application and then are interviewed by three YMCA staffers. They attend over nine hours of training on rules, policy procedures and expectations.

Pat Estes, the Valley YMCA Youth Sports Director, said they are serious about supporting kids. When parents yell for their children, they are drawing attention to themselves, not to the children, Estes said. The program is for the kids, not for the parents or coaches. He said kids are taught that winning is important but that other things occur during a game, like teamwork or improvement, which may not be reflected in a win.

Sports can be a metaphor for success, but that’s best achieved in a context of good sportsmanship. Parents can teach that by their actions.