Local News
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Conduct part of the game in Fostoria sportsSTAFF WRITER
The term "sportsmanship" brings to mind concepts of conduct, attitude, fair play, courtesy, grace in losing.
Extreme stories of sportsmanship -- both good and bad -- frequently make national headlines, from ponytail grabbing in an NCAA soccer game to helping an injured softball player on an opposing team run the bases.
Fostoria High School and St. Wendelin coaches stress good sportsmanship and expect athletes to reflect well on the team and the school. And often sportsmanship is defined by the sport.
"We talk to them about the implications of what happens if you don't display good sportsmanship," FHS boys basketball coach Rick Renz said. "We just reinforce it through everything we do. These guys are role models for the school and the community, and we expect them to act that way."
Mat Swortcheck, head coach of FHS' girls team, says Lady Red players are well aware of violence in basketball games and understand it will not be tolerated.
"I think our image at Fostoria is not always the greatest, but I think our kids oftentimes exceed our reputation," he said.
St. Wendelin girls basketball head coach Aaron Smith says poor sportsmanship generally hasn't been a problem within the teams he's coached over the past five years.
"Our rivalries that we have with teams, they seem to end at the end of games," Smith said. "We always talk to the kids that we win with dignity and we lose with dignity."
Although play can get rough in basketball, a sport like wrestling lends itself to displays of poor sportsmanship. But most of those are limited to the mat, coaches say.
"In wrestling you see bad sportsmanship quite a bit, being a tough sport and one-on-one against each other," St. Wendelin coach Bryan Lippert said. "But they all calm down after the heat of the battle and shake hands and walk away like a man."
It is the nature of the sport, FHS coach Nick Davis said.
"A lot of guys get frustrated, they get down a couple of points and maybe the guy on top is stalling and the ref's not calling it, so they get frustrated and might throw an elbow or something like that. That happens."
Davis is quick to point out the difference between what happens on the mat and what happens after matches.
"I would say among the wrestling community, there's pretty good sportsmanship. More off the mat than on the mat."
Brandon August, a senior wrestler at FHS, has seen numerous examples of good and bad sportsmanship.
"There's some kids that are really good with it," August said. "They'll shake your hand after matches or they'll actually participate in practice, like they'll let you do the moves, they won't hold you back or fight you."
August said there are those who, if they lose the match, throw their headgear. "I've actually seen someone throw a chair at a wall," he said.
Another senior on the team, Jake Solether, has observed many of the same types of incidents, however Solether, who also plays varsity football, has also noticed differences between the two sports.
"Wrestling is more personal because it's one-on-one," Solether said. "It's either you win or you lose. It's not a team effort, it's just you. So people take that a lot harder than regular football."
Good sportsmanship is not limited to physical contact or team sports.
Amy Stultz, swimming coach for FHS and St. Wendelin, says although swimmers race as individuals, there are numerous opportunities for athletes to display camaraderie and teamwork.
"I think swimming is one of the best sports to practice sportsmanship, because you are an individual, you are a team," Stultz said. "You might be swimming against your team member in an event and in the next event you're swimming with them on a relay. So it's a good example of being able to put aside your individual to look for the team."
Stultz points out Fostoria and St. Wendelin practice together on a daily basis and compete in meets together. Furthermore, her athletes have bonded with the teams at Columbian and Calvert.
"There is a lot of intermixing between our team and Tiffin," Stultz said. "They know each other and they're supportive of each other, even though they're on another team."
Mark Berton, a senior on St. Wendelin's basketball team, says that type of camaraderie is evident in the Mohawks' postgame meals.
"The other teams, they talk to us about just random stuff after the games," Berton said. "They're being nice, even if they destroyed us or we destroyed them."
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Ph: (419) 435-6641 • Fax: (419) 435-9073
113 E. Center St. • P.O. Box 947
Fostoria, OH 44830
The Findlay Publishing Company
P.O. Box 609
Findlay, OH 45839-0609
Phone: (419) 422-5151
www.findlaypublishing.com
Please read our privacy guidelines
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