The premise of this post comes from the game that I had this weekend. I played a good game but something happened during the game that got me thinking about the professional nature football players display on the field in terms of their sportsmanship. For those that don’t know what the term ’sportsmanship’ means, Dictionary defines sportsmanship as the following:

1. The character, practice, or skill of a sportsman.
2. Sportsmanlike conduct, as fairness, courtesy, being a cheerful loser, etc.

Let’s Go With Definition Number Two

Now, let me tell you the story. Our team was down a goal and there must have been around 5 minutes left on the clock. With some quick scrambling and desperation, my friend was able to hit the ball past the keeper into the back of the net. Great celebrations were had by all, especially out on the pitch. Some of them ran to the sideline, I assumed to celebrate in front of our supporters, but no, the goal scorer and another ran straight to the opposition bench and started taunting them saying something along the lines of “What happened there? I scored didn’t I?” in a very sarcastic tone. The coach of the opposition was furious and didn’t appreciate what they were doing. I couldn’t agree more. I ran over and told off my team mates, telling them that what they were doing was very unprofessional and unsportsmanlike.

Disappointing Stuff To See

To see my own team mates displaying such behaviour really dented the image of our team and tainted the goal they scored, in my opinion. Many agreed with me, and as a Christian team, it was totally out of left field (excuse the pun). It then got me thinking about other players that play this beautiful game called football. Is this kind of ugly behaviour going on often? The definition for sportsmanship says being courteous, and that wasn’t displayed. Some of you may think that I’m taking this too far, but it is something that creates chaos if not dealt with properly and ruins the spirit of the game. It was great to see the coach and my team mates shake hands afterwards with no hard feelings, so I was glad to see that. This all comes back to being professional in a game, and when you display that kind of attitude, that respect aimed towards you will go very far, never underestimate that.