On sportsmanship and high expectations

On Tuesday night, I ventured out in the torrential rain to attend the girls' and boys' basketball games that my students were playing against the archrival diocesan Catholic high school. Most sporting events between our school and this school are more or less cordial and generally well-attended.

I arrived midway through the girls' game due to traffic difficulties, and when I got there, we were leading by 22 points. As the game progressed, the lead shrank to 10 at times, then widened back to 14-16 points for most of the second half. The outcome was never really in any doubt.

Engrossed as I was in the game, I had hardly noticed the cheerleaders on the sidelines till an opposing player went to the line to take some free throw shots. The entire time that she was shooting, the cheerleaders were performing a "Miss It!" cheer. The first time they did it, I was nonplussed. But after the ninth, tenth, and nineteenth times they did it, repeating it with increased vigor every time an opposing player took foul shots in both the girls' and boys' games, I was dismayed. Even more disheartening was the fact that the opposing school's cheerleaders did not do such a cheer when our players went up for free throws.

As a school, we profess to value sportsmanlike conduct. There's a large banner in the gym that says "Sportsmanship is an expectation." I know that the cheerleaders were, at heart, just cheering on their friends and classmates, but I also know that there are many ways to cheer on one's team without tearing down the opponents. I also feel that we ought not have been shown up by our archrivals on our home court.

Even though we won both games by the scoreboard, we didn't walk away with the class and sportsmanship trophies.