The day is Tuesday the 19th of May, or as Southampton Football Club knew it, Doomsday. On that day, Southampton were expelled from the EFL Championship play-off final and handed a 4-point deduction for the following season. For two weeks prior, Southampton had spied Middlesborough’s training sessions prior to the play-off semi-final. This cost Southampton a potential 250 million revenue, and the chance of returning to the Premier League at the first time of asking. But why was the punishment so harsh? And why was it that even some Southampton fans, accepted the punishment? The reason was because Southampton had shown a complete lack of sportsmanship toward their opponents and had acted in a manner which is not condoned by the EFL or by the FA or the fans of football.
The reason we value sportsmanship so highly, is because it’s the thread of competition; it’s the essence of fair play and respect between both teammates and opponents. Sportsmanship embodies many of our School Values: integrity, inclusivity and respect. Sportsmanship, however, is much more than showing respect to the rules, and not cheating. It’s about how you react to success, and more importantly, how you rally from your failures. A good sportsman shows respect and dignity whatever the outcome of an event. They are gracious in victory, and following defeat, they accept their loss, and that their opponent, on the day was better than them, rather than looking for excuses, or blaming the referee. As they say, a good loser always beats a bad winner. A good loser does not allow the result to affect their self-confidence; indeed, it is quite the contrary. Good sportsmen use their losses as fuel and motivation to keep going, however poor the performance. In sports, you often hear the phrase “bounce back”, and this is the right attitude to have following defeat. This allows you to be a stronger competitor, and a better sportsman. This attitude is not just limited to sports; you can bring this mindset into your everyday life. Failure is not the absence of success; it is the neglect of attempts. Following a test, which you did worse than you hoped, you can either tell yourself the questions were difficult, or you can try to decipher exactly where you went wrong, and how to avoid those mistakes in the future.
To conclude, I’d like to share a quote by Albus Dumbledore from Harry Potter: “it is our choices that show who we truly are, far more than our abilities”.
Nicholas
Senior Prefect