Winning with Grace and Losing with Dignity

After a National Basketball Association Finals, the most valuable player sometimes parades around as though he is the only person that matters. He may act as if his teammates do not exist. It is obvious, if he does this, that he thinks he is better than everyone else. He is not content with rejoicing in the hard work done by his entire team.

This type of grandstanding behavior does not occur at AYC. Instead, the goal is to have fun! Everyone cheers for and assists one another. Healthy competition helps you develop your personality and equips you for both success and setbacks in life.

Early on at camp, it was hard to win with grace and lose with dignity. Once, when I lost a game against another team, I was unhappy. I wanted to angrily kick the ball because I was so mad.

But camp taught me this behavior was wrong. Following instruction from the ministry and examples of others, I learned to choose the route of dignity. I learned to congratulate the other team.

Later, when my team won a game against the counselors, I held in my feelings of wanting to cheer and praise myself. Instead, I shook their hands and congratulated them on a game well played.

AYC has also taught me to be more encouraging. When I played volleyball, fellow campers wanted to give up. But I showed them a different way to hit the ball and it helped them. I knew the consequences of getting into a negative attitude and did not want to see them fall into the same trap.

Helping others to become better at certain sports and play harder made me feel good, even if I did not win certain games. After all, a little encouragement goes a long way.

Cheering for both the winning and losing teams was also a positive experience. While at the sports complex during camp, I cheered for both the winning and losing teams. I realized that in the end it did not matter who won or lost—just that we had fun!

You should always strive to be kind and positive, regardless of what happens while playing sports. Being humble about winning and always encouraging everyone is key to making sure that you stay in a right attitude, always losing with dignity and winning with grace.