A Note About Sportmanship

I have been going to A Meets for 13 years now, and I have very rarely seen the type of poor sportsmanship evidenced by last week's opponent and this week's opponent.  I think that is important to highlight because I don't want parents who are newer to A Meets to think this is the standard behavior for most NVSL teams.

Regardless of the bad behavior of our opponents, the philosophy of the Gator team, which starts at the top with Coach Paul Makin, is that poor sportsmanship is not the way to respond to poor sportsmanship. 

After all, it is just a swim meet.  It is more fun to win than to lose, but the community bonding for kids and parents, as well as swimming improvement for the kids are the main goals.  We've had fun in 5-0 years that end in championships, and we've had fun in 0-5 years that end in demotion.  There is zero reason to be spiteful and angry toward the other team.  We win with class and we lose with class.  We have fun and show respect when we win, and we do the same when we lose.

Both the skit and signs with fake blood were appalling, as was the teenagers trespassing last night and their ugly attempt at intimidation on deck (combined with their 11-12 relay dropping F-bombs on Wednesday to our 11-12 girls!).  Frankly, the latter behavior was even worse because they were going to win the meet anyhow -- win with class.

The more usual way of the NVSL came after our meet with Vienna Woods -- when both teams did the handshake line with each other.  That's what swim meets are all about.

We can not control what other teams do.  We can only control what we do.  I can assure you that between Carol and I, Coach Paul, and Jim and Tonda Phalen (incoming team reps), the Gators will continue to focus on setting a good example for EVERY swimmer on the team -- A Meet or non-A Meet.  The coaches know they have to lead by example, and they do.

At the start of each meet, our announcer, John Passacantando, reads this paragraph from the NVSL:

The Northern Virginia Swimming League was founded in 1956 to sponsor competitive swimming and diving events and activities among community swimming pools of Northern Virginia, and to develop in the children participating in this program--

A love for the sport, advanced aquatic skills, teamwork, and the principles of good sportsmanship.

The Gators will continue to make that our mission statement.