Of Spirit and Sportsmanship (01-22-07)

When I began my position at Hill City High School, I was greeted with a bit of good news. Our school had won the league sportsmanship award.

Now, to some, that might not be that big of a deal. To me, however, good sportsmanship ranks up there with Mom and apple pie.

So I went to student body with a challenge (I do enjoy giving a good challenge!): Be proud. Act proud.

In other words, I told the students that they had every right to be proud. They had won the league sportsmanship award. Now, though, it was time to back up their past achievements with their future actions.

This week I have been the one who is proud – proud of the way our students and our fans have presented and behaved themselves at the basketball games our Mid-Continent League Basketball tournament. The games have been competitive, close, and thrilling. Not every call has gone our way, and not every score ended up the way we would have liked. The starting time wasn’t always the best, and the weather did its best to keep us away. Yet, throughout it all, from my perspective, the Hill City fans rose above the distractions to support their teams while proving while they possess the best spirit and sportsmanship in the league.

Let’s start with our student cheering section. They have amazing spirit. I first witnessed their willingness to do whatever it took to support their team at sub-state volleyball this year in Oakley. There, the entire football team came to the games dressed in wild red white and black outfits, many with wigs or other decorations, and all sporting the names and numbers of their favorite players. When we made a score, they roared in unison and executed several perfectly choreographed chants and movements.

This week, I saw a repeat of this incredible spirit. Except this time, the girl’s team (along with several of our boys) donned colorful costumes for our boy’s team. They were equally ebullient and enthusiastic with their cheers and actions. And now they were joined by our re-vamped cheerleading squad, that led the entire crowd time and again in well rehearsed and energetic cheers.

And this brings me to the sportsmanship. Now, I’m not going to say that our fans were perfect. However, considering the tense nature of these games, and considering what I observed from the fans of other teams, we have every right to BE PROUD. Not only did many of the adult fans stand and join the students and cheerleaders in vocally supporting our team (something I did not see a lot of across the gym), but our fans remained (for the most part) positive, even when things didn’t go our way.

The best example of this occurred during our boy’s game with Smith Center. After one non-whistle, one of our fans yelled angrily, “Are you just going to let them tackle each other!”

I happened to be sitting across the aisle from this person, and felt it my duty to give them a stern look. The person caught me eye, and broke into a sheepish grin. “Sorry,” the fan said with a shrug of the shoulders.

“I feel you frustration,” I told the fan, “I feel your frustration.”

And that was it. In fact, that was the worst thing I heard from our adult boosters all week.

Okay, I admit that there were probably many more negative remarks directed at the court that I did not hear, and I’m sure that there is work remaining to be done in that area for all fans. Berating refs is like complaining about the weather. It does absolutely no good, but sometimes it makes us feel a little better. But overall, I felt that throughout what was a pretty challenging week, we all rose to the challenge. Hill City can be proud of our student athletes, our student fans, and of ourselves. We attended each game (no matter the time or the weather) in great numbers. Our band and our cheerleaders filled Gross Coliseum with incredible pep and vigor. Our fans did more smiling than growling, and behaved admirably both during and after each game.

From my perspective, when it comes to spirit and sportsmanship, we have much of which to be proud. Go Ringnecks!