A storm of sportsmanship

Competition is all around us - sometimes it's warranted and sometimes it isn't.

There's sibling competition, there's competition at the workplace, plenty of competition with academics, and, of course, there's sports.

When it comes to sports, competition can become so intense, so powerful, it can bring out the worst in pro, amateur and minor athletes. Recently, a pro baseball coach in Japan took a swing at an umpire; Patrice Cormier levelled Mikael Tam with an elbow in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, leaving Tam in convulsions on the ice; and Aaron Asham of the Philadelphia Flyers accused Matt Cooke of the Pittsburgh Penguins of biting during a NHL game this past weekend.

Although pro and junior athletes play at a very high level, a level most of us will only dream of, it seems the main reason athletes play sports in the first place is overlooked - because of the enjoyment level.

Of course, when a game gets out of hand on the scoreboard, all fans expect to see a brouhaha of some sort. Players don't want to get blown out, and fans don't want to see their team embarrassed.

Recently, during the Gander Collegiate Concordes high school hockey game against the Botwood Warriors, there was a little pushing and shoving going on in front of the Warrior's goal, leaving a Botwood fan, an adult male, to yell "Let 'em go!" toward the referee. The insensitive comment was made with a group of junior high school students sitting to the left of the "fan."

A week after the high school game, the Glovertown Minor Hockey Association hosted an atom tournament, and although this level of hockey is far less than high school, junior or NHL, the kids enthusiasm for the game is just as high.

During a game against a team from Marystown, the Glovertown kids found themselves outmatched and outsized. It was clear that the Marystown team was a level above the Glovertown Tornadoes, but it didn't matter. The name of the game is ice time and participation.

As the game wore on and it was evident the Marystown team was going to win, a number of things happened on and off the ice that Hockey Canada should use as a tool when it comes to sportsmanship. The parents of the Glovertown youth never stopped supporting the home team, and seemed to get louder as the game became more lopsided. They continually cheered in support of a shell-shocked Glovertown goalie, urged the players to continue skating, and when the Tornadoes scored its lone goal of the contest, the dozen or so Tornadoe fans nearly blew the roof off the building.

The actions of the fans were pure sportsmanship, and defined what it means to be true fans of the game. However, when the game ended, those fans got a taste of what being a team is all about. Although the Tornadoes lost by more than a fair margin, and even though they probably didn't like losing by such a margin, the team bombarded their goaltender at the end of the game as if they just won the Stanley Cup. In fact, the Tornadoes celebrated more than the team that actually won the game. There was a huge dogpile in the crease area, with players rolling over each other, high-fiving each other, and having a great time on the ice.

Although only atom players, the Tornadoes exemplified what it means to enjoy the game of hockey - whether you win or lose.

info@ganderbeacon.ca