Sportsmanship

Jul 14th, 2006 by Accidental Thinker

I could learn a thing or two from my daughter.

This morning, Maia had a "gym meet" to conclude an Olympics-themed week in gymnastics camp, giving the hard-working campers a chance to show off their newly acquired acrobatic prowess. It was cute, but long, and I was tempted to sneak out and head back to work. It’s budget time and I had some related numbers that had to be crunched today, so two and a half hours out of my morning wasn’t exactly timely.

I’m glad I stayed.

At the end of the meet, medals were awarded to all, but it was a small handful of trophies nearby that commanded the notice of at least some of the aspiring gymnasts. Who would be taking home the top prizes? There were some excellent athletes in the bunch, so I was already preparing to ease Maia’s disappointment at not receiving one of those coveted awards. I was ever so wrong. It turns out that the trophies weren’t for performance at all. They were sportsmanship awards, as voted on by their peers. My darling daughter was one of the recipients.

I’m proud of Maia on so many levels. First, I’m glad to know that she demonstrates the attributes of a good sport even when we aren’t around to remind her. And the fact that she won a sportsmanship award made me realize that my earlier mental preparations had been completely unnecessary. Being the good sport she is, I’m sure she would have handled NOT receiving a trophy with grace.

We’re so proud of Maia for winning such an important character award. As far as Kent is concerned, it’s the most important sporting recognition of all. And of course Maia is proud of herself, too. She was beaming (unobtrusively, in a very sportsmanlike, non-showing-off way). She made me promise to tell everyone at work about her trophy, but I’m doing her one better. I’m telling the entire blogosphere!

Posted in Family |

14 Responses to “Sportsmanship”

on 15 Jul 2006 at 7:30 am1Miss Cellania

Wonderful! You are right to be proud. When I think about what my wishes are for my kids, I would want them to be kind above all, because that will get you more happiness in the long run than money or talent or intelligence. Good sportsmanship skills will stick with Maia forever, after athletic ability is gone.
on 16 Jul 2006 at 1:26 am2Karin

Good for her! You’re obviously doing something right 🙂 I hope you find a great place to display her treasure 🙂
on 16 Jul 2006 at 7:37 am3Herb

Good job. It would be nice if more professional players got an award like that.
on 16 Jul 2006 at 6:03 pm4poopie

I agree…that award is worth more than anything based on performance!
on 16 Jul 2006 at 8:33 pm5Mike (ex scientia)

Congrats Maia!!! Ya know, I remember when kids sports were about character building; focus, disciple, patience, losing and winning with humility and grace – the joy of the game. Now it’s about bullying loud mouth parents that ruin the games for the kids. Thanx for sharing another positive, Monique. 😉
on 16 Jul 2006 at 9:11 pm6Paul N.

Congratulations, Maia! Good job. Keep up the great work!
on 17 Jul 2006 at 9:00 am7Fred

Congrats to Maia! What a great job. I’ve met plenty of winners who wouldn’t deserve this trophy; she should be proud.
on 17 Jul 2006 at 10:06 pm8bornfool

Congrats to Maia! and her proud mama. 🙂
on 21 Jul 2006 at 9:52 am9LZ Blogger

Miai sounds like a GREAT kid! But be the environment! ~ jb///
on 21 Jul 2006 at 10:00 am10LZ Blogger

Maia Maia Maia MaiaMaia Maia Maia Maia Maia Maia MaiaMaia Maia ! ~ Don’t know if it is dyslexia or bad typing… but I’m SORRY for the typo! ~ jb///
on 23 Jul 2006 at 12:26 pm11FTS

Winning means nothing without honor. Good going!
on 24 Jul 2006 at 6:24 pm12Mike

Hey, we KNOW you’re in there …. can’t you come out and play, Monique ??? 🙂
on 26 Jul 2006 at 2:19 pm13Simply Coll

Congrats to Maia. You have every reason to be proud.
on 31 Jul 2006 at 9:38 pm14Peach

You should be proud! That is so wonderful! I just watched the video from your next post and I can’t help but say…you are blessed to have such a wonderful little girl!