Field of Dreams
How sportsmanship translates in the real world.
by Cal Ripken, Jr.
TWEENS & TEENS News May 2007
Every summer, more than one thousand
young athletes come to our teaching academy
in Aberdeen, Maryland for baseball and softball
camps. Many of these kids dream about someday
becoming professional athletes.
It used to be that only boy athletes could
dream of reaching such lofty heights through
athletic participation. But, with the advent
of women’s professional basketball,
softball and soccer leagues in recent years,
girl athletes are now able to share those
dreams.
While it’s great to dream and strive
for success in all of your endeavors, the
reality is that a very small percentage of
athletes ever get the opportunity to play
a sport professionally. In fact, only a handful
of the athletes we meet at sports camp will
play at the collegiate level. More, but probably
not the majority, will play for a varsity
team in high school.
At some point, all of us— even the most
successful professional athletes— have
to venture into the business world—
what some people like to call the “real
world.” Similarly, though our primary
goal at our camps is to help young baseball
and softball players improve in their respective
sports, we are well aware that there is more
to life than athletics. Many valuable life
lessons can be communicated through sports
participation, and we hope that the young
athletes who attend our camps will take away
something to help them later in life. One
of the key lessons that we hope to impart
is the value of sportsmanship.
When people think of sportsmanship, they naturally
think about sports. Well, sportsmanship is
defined in this way: Someone who plays fair,
sticks to the rules and accepts defeat without
any rancor or bitterness. On the field, a
good sport plays hard and tries his or her
absolute best to win within the scope of the
rules. A good sport doesn’t complain
to the officials, doesn’t “trash
talk” and helps an opponent who falls
down to get back on his or her feet.
When all is said and done, the athlete exhibiting
sportsmanship has no regrets. This athlete
put forth his or her best effort and played
fairly, earning the admiration and respect
of teammates, coaches, officials and opposing
players. Despite being a true competitor,
this person is willing to openly congratulate
opponents and accept even the most disappointing
of outcomes, because he or she knows that
there was nothing more that could have been
done within the rules of the game to change
the end result.
Just because the root “sports”
is part of the word “sportsmanship”
doesn’t mean that sportsmanlike behavior
is important only on athletic fields. In life,
people who are honest, consistently give their
best effort, don’t make excuses, respect
others and are able to accept outcomes without
complaints or grudges are generally the ones
who succeed. They are the type of people that
any wise CEO would want to build a company
or organization around. Because of their attitude,
work ethic and professionalism, those who
exhibit sportsmanlike behavior in the “real
world” earn the respect of their peers,
have many friends and admirers and enjoy the
highest level of job satisfaction.
In turn, people typically go out of their
way to help make a good sport successful.
Plus, good sports are people who go to bed
most nights satisfied, knowing that they have
given their best no matter the particular
day’s events.
In life, every day presents many ups and downs.
There are far more small defeats than major
successes. Good sports don’t get bogged
down with these small setbacks. They accept
outcomes, acknowledge that someone might have
had better ideas and push on toward bigger
and better things. For people of such a mindset,
success is right around the corner. However,
for poor sports there is nothing but excuses
and complaints, which suck up energy and waste
valuable time.
A good sport believes that his or her approach
is the right one, and will not resort to underhanded
or deceitful tactics for the sake of improving
the results. This person goes back to the
drawing board and puts in the time necessary
to achieve a more desirable outcome, confident
that his or her approach will ultimately lead
to success. Poor sports, on the other hand,
are easily frustrated and often resort to
tactics that may prove successful in the short
term, but ultimately come back to haunt them.
Coaches, managers and executives always will
find a place for those who display the characteristics
of good sportsmanship. Others will come and
go— either because they become too miserable,
resort to dishonest tactics or wear out their
welcome. Remember to use sports to develop
your sportsmanlike traits, and you will set
yourself up for success on the field, in the
classroom and beyond.
Cal Ripken, Jr. played for the Baltimore
Orioles and is one of eight players in the
history of the game to amass over 400 home
runs and 3,000 hits. He was a two-time MVP
and a two-time All-Star Game MVP as well as
the 1982 Rookie of the Year. Since retiring
from the game, Ripken has focused his attention
on youth sports and growing the game of baseball
at the grassroots level. Currently, nearly
700,000 kids play Cal Ripken Baseball worldwide.
Ripken’s company, Ripken Baseball, operates
youth baseball and softball academies in Aberdeen,
MD, and Myrtle Beach, SC. Last year he wrote
the book Parenting Young Athletes The Ripken
Way (Gotham).
