“Victory is in the quality of competition and not the final score,” said Mike Marshall a former major league baseball player. Sportsmanship can affect the way sports are viewed and how they are played. Sportsmanship is a key thing in sports. It can change how the game is played with just one comment or even physical altercation, defines sportsmanship as behavior presented during a game by players based on values, respect, and integrity of the teams and the players.

  Amra Uvejzovic, a junior on the girls’ Varsity soccer team said,  “Bad sportsmanship in a game is disrespectful to everyone and it is disruptive to the game and how it is played and how it is perceived to fans.” 

There has been a lot of cases of bad sportsmanship throughout high school sports to professional sports and it has even got worse. 

 “Bad sportsmanship is something that everyone who plays a sport runs into at least once or twice in a game, sometimes, even more, it just depends on the team and how they play and what their values are as an individual” A junior on the varsity soccer team,  player Gabriela Hernandez said. 

  “Bad sportsmanship can really affect how aggressive the game is played and it can really affect how players go about the game. It can really get player and fans angry and it can also start altercations on and off the field,” A senior varsity football player Kolbe Hays said. 

Bad sportsmanship has been getting worse in high school sports throughout the USA, competition is one of the biggest contributors to bad sportsmanship in high school sports. Everyone wants to be a winner no matter what it takes.  

  A survey conducted by the Us Youth Soccer Organization in 2013 shed light on a decline in good sportsmanship and how the games are played with younger kids. The article states, “That sportsmanship is considered among the most important lessons taught by youth sports.  Regrettably, approximately 50 percent of parents and coaches believe that sportsmanship has worsened in youth sports since they participated as children, while only 12 percent feel it has improved. Yet, survey results suggest it may be their own behaviors that are contributing to this perception: 60 percent of respondents reported either witnessing or participating in negative or abusive sideline behavior, 26 percent of parents said they have witnessed a verbally abusive coach, and 16 percent of parents said they have witnessed a physical confrontation between parents, 55 percent of coaches have experienced parents yelling negatively at officials or their own kids, and two in five have experienced parents yelling negatively at other kids, referees and other parents.” It was published on January 13th, 2013.

 Bad sportsmanship can really only be resolved by playing the game fair and not stooping down to anyone else’s level of bad sportsmanship, to evaluate oneself and to have self-control. Coaches from all around have encouraged their teams to play with dignity, professionalism, and respect. Parents are starting to encourage their younger children in sports to do the same and have a more positive outlook on the sport their child is playing. “You do not have your last name on a jersey so you are not better than anyone on the field,” said Head Coach George Sirsten.