SPORTSMANSHIP

Sportsmanship: noun; sportsmanlike conduct; as fairness, courtesy, being a cheerful loser. Words related to sportsmanship: fairness, honesty, honor, principle.

We are playing in these tennis leagues for fun, so there should always be good sportsmanship on the court. Am I right or am I wrong? At the beginning of the match, you introduce yourself to your opponents. You warm up against your opponents and just keep the ball in play. It’s not fun when your opponent “wins the warm-up” which means you never really get a chance to hit the ball. At the beginning of the actual match, you say good match to everyone. At the end of the match, you shake hands, regardless of who won and talk about what a fun match it was and what good players they are. Don’t you love the players that give you the little two-finger hand shake like you have severe cooties or something?

That’s not always the case, though, is it? You get the ones that complain their partner did not play well. Or you have the ones that had the sun in their eyes the whole time, or had the wrong racket, or had a bad night–blah, blah, blah.

Then, you get the teams that are trying to manipulate other teams into beating certain teams they don’t like. It was heard not too long ago that one team actually offered another team in the area a fruit basket if they took all lines off the team they were playing that week. REALLY?

At the end of the season, the league gives a Sportsmanship Award to the team all other teams have nominated. Does this award mean they had the best snacks or that they were really the best sportsman on the court? Hard to tell.

Let’s remember–it’s just tennis. It’s all for fun. It’s for recreation and to get away from the kids and the hubby a while and make new friends. Walk on the court and be a good sport!

Let’s take it to the net ladies!