Maya's Sports(wo)manship!

My daughter Maya plays basketball. My daughter Maya plays a lot of sports and is usually pretty good at anything she tries her hand to...but it's not just that....I've always admired Maya's attitude about playing.....and that came out in her basketball game yesterday. Her school basketball team played a school from 'the city'.....our highschool is considered in the suburbs.....gee, when I moved into this area 50 years ago they called it the country....hehe....but anyways...the team they were playing was having a difficult time catching up but the worst part was the unsportsmanlike behaviour. Not only did the coach of the other team get a technical for throwing his clip board, with force, to the floor...one of his players got a technical for swearing on the court...and then the junior team who were observing, started pounding their feet on the bleachers every time one of our girls was doing a foul shot. Unfortunately some of the spectators weren't much better......a parent from the opposing team was quite vocal when her team was penalized in any way and when one of the girls from our team accidentally fell on the court...she just killed herself laughing and kept going on about how funny that was. I was appalled.....how are our kids going to learn good sportsmanship when they have that kind of example?

Maya started playing basketball competitively when she was nine years old and she's always had this really neat attitude......she chats to the refs...she even chats with the girls on the opposing team....I observed her talking to one of the girls on the other team yesterday and the other girl was looking quite serious and determined but before long she was smiling and chatting back..but when the play started they both were all business...I thought it was kind of neat...yesterday one of her coaches told her that she needed to be more aggressive on the court...Maya asked what he meant...she said she didn't like getting fouls and he said just go after the ball more.....be more aggressive......I suggested that maybe he meant more assertive...Maya does have long arms and she does get in there and get the ball from the other teams and she's there for the rebounds and you often see her grab the ball and start down the court...but she'll usually pass it to one of her team members that can zig zag through the masses to get to the net. While they're doing that Maya gets into position off to the side and quite often she does what she's known for the best....the three pointers......and all with a fantastic smile on her face....I like that...she's a team player and she enjoys herself,...she never has a temper tantrum on the court...and like I've always told her since she was nine...just go out and have fun...and she does!