When i think back to the topical issues of St Bedes rowing & the Aussie cricket team and issues relating to sportsmanship and how individuals perceive sportsmanship. I can't help but relate all of this back to my own experiences playing both rugby/cricket and then onto cycling.
I would consider myself an extremely competitive person. I am not sure if the 'warrior gene' exists but i do know that both my parents were competitive people in their day. Competitiveness is both inherited and developed by the individual athlete.
Parents definitely shape their children depending on their values and beliefs whether the athlete will admit it or not.
Starting with the St Bedes incident. If you are going to 'act the goat' then you as a 16 and 17 year old need to be ready to confront the consequences. Complaining to your parents is not going to cut the mustard. (even if the boys didn't want it blown out of proportion it has). No matter what the boys sporting talent/status or parental wealth taking this kind of issue to high court is utter bullshit. Take it on the chin and move on with a lesson learnt.
Poor Sportsmanship, and definitely would have got no kudos from the national selectors etc etc.
On the issue of the Sportsmanship displayed by the Aussie Cricketers i am split in 2 minds. Yes it may have been over the top sledging. But on the other hand it is their 'backyard' and as a competitor you should be ready for a bit of a psychological rough up…..At the end of the day, once McCullum went early the rest of the team had already lost the psychological battle. (and the Aussie's made sure of that).
I can relate easily enough to this situation, in the past as an up and coming cyclist. I along with many other u19's at the time took my far share of verbal banter (its part of being new on the scene).
To progress to the top level of most sports you need to be able to take that verbal 'sledge' absorb it and then use it as motivation (this is normally called the top 3 inches). Many athletes will crumble and not enjoy the 'banter'. Whilst other athletes will embrace the battle and enjoy the tussle.
So for all those punters out there that are complaining that the Aussie's came out too aggressively with all the sledging just stop for a second and consider how top level sport operates. (have the arm chair writers been to the top level of any sport?). I am 100% a BlackCaps fan and know how they choose to operate. If I was in the BlackCaps set up and we had them under the pump i am sure i would be having a we dig at the batsmen.
I guess this boils down to the concept of Sportsmanship is very much personal and each athlete deals with psychological matters differently.
Have your say.
K H
