USA Youth News

Sportsmanship

March 28, 2008

Sportsmanship refers to the virtues of fairness, self-control, courage, persistence, and is typically regarded as a component of morality, fair play and good character. Good sportsmanship occurs when teammates, opponents, coaches, and officials treat each other with respect.

Our Youth learn the basics of sportsmanship from the adults in their lives, especially from their parents and coaches. Youth who see adults behaving in a sportsmanlike way gradually come to understand that the real winners in sports are those who know how to persevere and to behave with dignity — whether they win or lose. Parents can help their children understand that good sportsmanship includes small gestures, and efforts. It starts with something as simple as shaking hands with your opponent , and includes acknowledging good performances made by others, and accepting bad calls gracefully. Displaying good sportsmanship isn't always easy: It can be tough to congratulate the opposing team after losing.

Learning good sportsmanship means finding that the positive attitude learned on the sport field will carry over into other areas of life. At school, you're able to appreciate the contributions made by classmates and know how to work as part of a team to complete a project. In adult life, you will enjoy more success at work, because a big part of learning good sportsmanship is learning to be respectful of others, including customers, coworkers, and bosses.

Five Facets of Sportsmanship

  1. Full commitment to participation (working hard during practice and competition, acknowledging mistakes, and trying to improve)
  2. Respect and concern for rules and officials
  3. Respect and concern for social conventions (shaking hands, recognizing the good performance of an opponent)
  4. Respect and concern for the opponent (lending equipment to the opponent, agreeing to participate even if the opponent is late)
  5. Avoiding poor attitudes toward participation ( not showing temper after a loss or mistake)

USA Youth at Mid-Eastern Regional Conformation Show

Mideastern Regional Breed Warden, Michele Scarberry, gives a big thanks to the youth members who helped make the recent regional conformation show a smashing success!

  • Katarina Pankratz (10 years) - she handled a dog in the show, and ran the 50/50 raffle.
  • Brandon McKendrick (15 years) - he helped with the rocket recall and the steak dinner.
  • Jessica Matarrese (16 years) - she helped set up for the show
  • Dominic Scarberry (13) - helped set up for the meeting, cleaned up trash and helped handlers move crates in & out of hotel rooms

Sara & Margaret excel at the North Central Championships

Oct 5, 2007 — by Sheri Trudrung
Photo by Michelle Stephens
(L to R) Sara Wiese with Watz, SV Judge Rui Mueller, Jennifer Acevedo (trial secretary) and Margaret Trudrung with Chana

We were happy to see two youth competitors in the 2007 North Central Regional Championships! Sara Wiese with Watz and Margaret Trudrung with Chana. Both girls did a super job and the judge, Rudi Mueller, made very favorable comments in each of their critiques. Ironically, both girls were the same age and it was only the second schutzhund trial for each. However, they both looked like seasoned veterans!

Sara Wiese and Watz zum Jurgenshof had a bit of trouble on the track but her stadium work was very good. She finished with 18-87-90.

Margaret Trudrung and Chana von der Wilden Nachbarschaft had a bit of trouble on the track also but finished with 90 92 95 -- 277. Margaret won the High Auslander trophy and was thrilled to qualify for the nationals! Margaret trains with the Middle Tennessee Working Dog Association. MTWDA is excited to see our first youth handler in the 2007 Nationals.

Sara Wiese and Watz zum Jurgenshof SchH3 IPO3 kkl1 is owned by Marty Saso & Wolfgang Mueller Margaret Trudrung and Chana von der Wilden Nachbarschaft SchH 3 kkl2 is owned by Mary Bowden.