It’s OK to Lose without being a LOSER

This past weekend I attended the Georgia High School Wrestling Championships held at the Gwinnett Civic Center, Duluth, Georgia. It was heralded as the largest high school wrestling venue in the United States. I like wrestling. It requires strength, quickness, endurance, intelligence, and mental toughness. The sport doesn’t build character as much as it reveals character.

At the end of the match each wrestler goes to the center of the match, shakes hands with their opponent, and the referee raises the hand of the winner. Then each wrestler goes to their opponent’s coaching staff, shakes their hand, and proceeds to their respective coaches for congratulations or commiserations. The coaches of the respective wrestlers shake hands as well.

After three full days of watching hundreds of matches I was disappointed at the level of sportsmanship. On completion of the match I saw some wrestlers look at each other, smile, and shake hands; some even hugged. However, in a large majority of matches the wrestlers shook hands without looking at their opponent. In addition, on a number of occasions there was overt unsportsmanlike behavior exhibited such as failure to shake hands, throwing headgear, and screaming obscenities.

It is difficult to look someone in the eye and acknowledge that today they prevailed. Exhibiting good behavior honors you, your teammates, your coaches, and your family. Moreover, people admire good behavior especially when your character is being tested. Acceptable standards of sportsmanship should be an integral part of learning the sport. It should be taught at an early age and reinforced by coaches, parents, and teammates with consequences for slip ups. If no action is taken then kids think their behavior is acceptable. It is not!

One would think that wrestlers competing in a grueling match had expended all their energy. Obviously there was enough in the tank to throw headgear and scream…well maybe all the wasted energy would have been better spent directed to their opponent just a few minutes earlier. Champions lose on occasion but they never lose the lesson.