As a parent I feel that good sportsmanship is something that is very important. I want my children to be competitive, but I do not want them to be mean to other teams, I do not want them to not tell other teams good luck and be friendly with them. Good sportsmanship starts at home and also in the gym. I have personally seen parents who come up to coaches from other teams and tell them they are cheating. When children see their parents acting like this or bad-mouthing other teams, how are they supposed to not think that it is okay?

Here are some tips for good sportsmanship:

    -Encourage your child to be friendly with cheerleaders from other teams, tell them good luck before they go on the floor.
   
    -Be encouraging to other teams; we all know that sometimes things drop – no team is going to go there and nail it every time they hit the floor. Tell teams that they did a great job when you see them after; yes they might have dropped their period, but their jumps were AMAZING!
   
    -Cheer other teams on; lets face it not every gym had 200+ cheerleaders. And that means when their teams are on, it would be nice to have some extra people cheering them on!!
   
    - I think it’s great when teams hand out “good luck” candy to other teams, not only does this show good sportsmanship- but who doesn’t love candy!!!
     
And the most important thing for parents is to remember that your kids follow your lead, if they see you being catty with parents from other gyms then why should they think that they should be catty with girls or guys from other gyms?
 
If you have any other tips on sportsmanship send me a email- I would love to put a list of do and don’t together!!!