RAS = Random Acts of Sportsmanship were noticed in 3 different gyms, acknowledging 3 different roles. As is taught in the CYC's Coaching to Make a Positive Difference class, there are 4 roles at every game. The roles and their responsibilities are as follows:
Players play, Coaches coach, Officials officiate and Fans positively encourage!
The Sportsmanship Brigade of the St. Louis Sports Commission attended the 8th grade girls game at St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and found a player on each team that played hard, encouraged their teammates and had a blast. They were Molly Bastida for SMMA and Annie Leisure for St. Catherine Laboure. Brigade leader, Solomon Alexander said this about the two girls "Honestly, it was fun watching them having so much fun. Their infectious personalities definitely left an impression on the Brigade. Both ladies were recognized for a tremendous show of sportsmanship during the game." Molly and Annie, thanks for exemplifying sportsmanship in your role as players.
(as as side note: Sportsmanship Brigade members were seen grooving to the halftime music. In hope of recognizing their talents, they have been nominated to appear on Dancing with the Stars...good luck!)
The next RAS honoree is Our Lady of Festus 4th grade girls coach Rarick. In last weekends tightly contested game against SMMA the score was tied at 11-11 with only 3 minutes left in the game. A SMMA player was driving to the basket and took an accidental elbow to the face. The ref blew the whistle and called a foul but the SMMA girl was hurt and, naturally, was in tears. SMMA only had 5 players at the game, and had used all their timeouts. OLF only had one left themselves.
At that point, in a completely unselfish, caring and very sportsmanlike act, Coach Rarick called his final timeout so that the injured SMMA player could take a minute and gather her composure. To highlight his sportsmanship even further, it should be noted that the injured player had scored 10 of SMMA's 11 points in the game.
When play resumed, the girls all played hard and finished the game. The game ended in an 11-11 tie. Coach
Rarick had a number of fans from both schools come up afterwards and shake his hand. Obviously, winning the game was not the priority for this coach, the safety of the girl and sportsmanship were. He exemplified what kind of coach we’d all like to see coach our children. This recognition was sent to us by a SMMA parent. Thank you for sharing a coach's Random Act of Sportsmanship.
And finally, in another 4th grade girls game we received this note of praise for an official from the mother of a player on the visiting team. "I wanted to share a positive officiating experience with you. My 4th grade daughter was playing basketball a St. Mary Magdalen on Saturday at the 10:30 game. As happens at most games there was an adult and a younger official. I’m sure it is very hard at that age and skill level to find the balance of what to call and what to let go a little. They both did a very good job officiating the game. I was very impressed with the young man. He was confident in his calls, blew his whistle loud, but most important explained to the girls what they did wrong. For a young kid to be that confident is very positive and makes the game flow better. After the game I thanked both of the officials and complimented them on how they handled 4th grade girls." The RAS private eyes are tracking down the names of these two referees who were recognized for their Random Act of Sportsmanship while officiating.
If you spot a Random Act of Sportsmanship while at a game, please forward a brief note describing the act to buzzswanston@archstl.org . We are especially looking for a RAS by fans! We want to celebrate every RAS, because we believe Good Sportsmanship makes for Great Sports!
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