Unsportsmanlike Cheers
Image by lbgll via Flickr
Incessant Hum of the Cheer
Softball is wrought with an incessant hum of the cheer . It is at times enlightening, at times motivational, at times informative, and at times funny. But, it should NEVER be unsportsmanlike.
Rules Violations
Some cheers are naturally unsportsmanlike. I don’t know if coaches don’t recognize this or don’t care. Either way, they are unacceptable. Rule 4.06(2) states that "no manager, coach or player, shall at any time, whether from the bench or the playing field or elsewhere, use language which will in any manner refer to or reflect upon opposing players, manager, coach, an umpire, or spectators."
This rule effectively eliminated the "chatter" we used to do as kids. Remember, "hey batter , batter, batter, batter, hey batter, batter, batter, batter, SWING!". This was a motivational thing the coaches used to keep their kids focused more than a tactic to distract the batter. But, our PC world will not tolerate such actions, so it has been banned.
Some Offenders
The cheers I hear coming out of some softball dugouts are in blatant violation of this rule. Some that come to mind?
"3 and 0 now, whatcha gonna do now, walk her, walk her"
"We’re #1, we’re never #2, we’re gonna beat the woopsies out of you, the woopsies out of you"
And the worst of all:
"We stole on you, yeah we stole on you, while you were picking your nose, yeah, we stole on you"
Those are the three I can think of off the top of my head, there are plenty more that are obviously in violation of this rule and definitely unsportsmanlike.
Essentially, any cheer that is derogatory to the other team is unsportsmanlike. Why would you want to taunt a team you were beating, or awaken a team that you have under control? Regardless of the situation, cheers should not berate the other team.
All for Positive Cheers
Now I am all for cheers! Love them! Love the team spirit, love the comraddery, love the way they bring the team together. But ALL cheers should be just that, positive cheers FOR your team, or player, and YOUR team or player only. I don’t care if Little League had that rule or not, this should be a common courtesy and respect between teams, I shouldn’t have to mention it here. But, I do.
Respect your opponent, treat them with dignity, and, win or lose, always conduct yourself with pride.
Do you know a disrespectful cheer? Let’s get a list going!
Flames are very Strong
I don’t want to get too cocky, but our softball team, the Flames are very strong. Not only are they a very talented team, they are one of the funnest teams I have ever coached. They really are coming together and being around them is a joy.
Our first game was last night and I was pleasantly surprised. While I knew we had a good defense and very powerful hitting, our pitching was very suspect! Enter our new (for now anyway) star and team leader.
I have coached this girl for four years now. She is very talented but never really lived up to her talent. She didn’t like pitching, even though she had great potential, she didn’t like being hot, even though we live in Florida! She had little or no confidence and doubted herself.
I don’t know what happened this year, but she has come out of her shell completely! She is leading the team’s cheers and showing a level of confidence she never showed before. Confidence is a very shaky thing though and we will need to help her work through the difficult times she will inevitably face over the long season we have here in the south.
Tonight we held a light practice. FCAT testing is taking place in our county and this is serious business. During that practice this girl continued to lead the team. As we were leaving she asked me who was pitching. I told her I was planning on her. Her reply? “yeessssssssss”. A far cry from the one who didn’t care either way for 3 years.
Hopefully she will maintain this attitude as we march towards our top team championship!
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