Sportsmanship

What a beautiful day today.  Of course I am stuck in the house doing laundry, but that is how it goes as a mom right?  I was able to get out yesterday.  It was my son's football game.  They won, so that is always good, but the other team was playing dirty and when one of our kids reacted, they both got thrown out of the game, and he can't play in the next game either.  It is a real loss for us since the kid is a leader on our team.  We should have realized early on that something like this would happen.  I could hear the way the kids on the other team were talking to each other.  Tempers were high and there was lots of swearing.  At one point, I even turned to my husband and said, "that is all in the coaching."  I truly believe that.  I think that the coach sets the tone for the kids on what will be tolerated.  Will has been very lucky in his football career.  He has had the same coach move up with them each year.  Not only is Coach Mark a successful coach, he also demands respect and good sportsmanship from his players.  When they answer him, they always have to call him sir.  I like that.  I really like that it shows on the field though, our boys come out to play football and they keep the focus on the game.  Normally, our player who got ejected is the one that not only fires up the boys to play, but he is also the one to calm all the other players when tempers flare and is the voice of reason.  One game, after each play, our players were offering a hand to help the other team's players up.  The other team kept slapping their hands away.  He told them to keep offering, if the refs see what they are doing, they will get a penalty.  So it was surprising that he engaged the player in yesterday's game.  Must have been some bad stuff going on that we couldn't see.  He will be missed next game, quite a few of our players will have to step it up next game to try and fill his shoes.
Amy comes home today too.  I really miss her.  Her team did really well in the Durango tournament in Las Vegas.  They went undefeated all the way to the finals, but then lost.  Still a very strong showing for the Griffins.  They got second place out of 48 teams from all over the nation.  Her team works on team bonding and sportsmanship too.  It makes it a pleasure to watch teams that think of team above self.