Importance Of Sportsmanship In Sport

This purpose of this task is to evaluate the values of sportsmanship and Olympism of a particular sport. The sport that I have chosen to examine is rugby union. The definition of sportsmanship is to show “conduct (such as fairness, respect for one's opponent, and graciousness in winning or losing) becoming to one participating in a sport”. https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/sportsmanship To demonstrate sportsmanship while competing in a sport you would exhibit fair and generous behaviour and treatment of others. Olympism is the demonstration of the spirit or ideals of the Olympic games and being an advocate or promoting the principles of the Games. The values of these two principles in sport means that people would play without

The five major values of sportsmanship are being cooperative, be fair, be gracious, be honourable and be humble. When a person playing a sport works together as part of the team, follows the rules, accepts others’ contributions, doesn’t take all the credit and plays hard, this helps bring the best out of everyone. Sportsmanship is one of the most important aspects of the game. Rugby is a game where things can get tense, particularly when two highly competitive teams go head to head. Things can get personal or heated and this can sometimes be witnessed when Australia and New Zealand play against each other, through the glares given during the Hakka or the penalties given away when two players take offense to how the other tackled or similar. An example of sportsmanship in rugby is when at the end of a game the teams shakes each other hands, as well as those of the referee and coaches to congratulate the winner. When a player is injured during play and needs to be taken from the field, all the players applaud his contribution that he made to the game as he leaves the

If the players do not respect each other and the skills and contribution that each player brings to the game, then they will not perform as well as the team that the players do show respect towards each other. Rugby players have a lot of respect for the game and its traditions, they show respect for their coaches, officials and opposition players and they earn respect from their team mates through how they behave both on and off the field. An example of this could be a professional rugby team where the players may not play in the same team but come together to represent their country. The All Blacks are an example of this, as they bring a strong sense of tradition to the game and that level of respect is seen from the moment they walk onto the field. “Rugby’s values of teamwork, respect, enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship are what makes the game special” (England rugby). Each player knows they have the respect of their team mates and demonstrates respect to each other throughout the match.
The Fijian rugby team showed great respect to Princess Anne as she presented them with their gold medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016. As the Princess approached each player they dropped to their knee, which is sign of respect in the Fijian culture. Another example of rugby players showing respect in the Olympics is when players swap their jerseys at the end of major games. By swapping their jerseys they say that they respect