What Exactly is a Good Sport?

Most people will tell you it has to do with winning and losing. Some will say it is about being honest, playing hard, and playing fair. Others will tell you it is about accepting outcomes, both good and bad. A few people will tell you that sportsmanship is nothing more than a way to teach our children to be kind to others. But these are really only the surface of what it means to be a good sport.

When we talk about what it means to be a good sport, we are not just talking about how we behave when we win or when we lose. We aren’t only talking about playing time, how we treat officials, or giving our best effort. To me, being a good sport is about being a better human being through sport: using a game to help us to grow as a person, a community, and a world.

I often refer to something I once heard from a speaker at a workshop, “the game is never more important than the people you play with.” When I watch the video above I am reminded of that quote, and of all the good that can come of sports.

Yes, of course we can be competitive, we can work hard, achieve goals, and become a team. But who’s team are we ultimately on? What is it we are really trying to win? Through sports we can do so much more, be so much more. We can give a chance for someone different to shine. It is our differences that make us human, that make us special, and given the chance we can all shine and become something better; we can be more than just “good sports,” we can be more human. 

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