Sportsmanship

Sportsmanship is an aspiration or ethos that a sport or activity will be enjoyed for its own sake, and with proper consideration for fairness, ethics, respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors.

[1] Sportsmanship can be conceptualized as an enduring and relatively stable characteristic or disposition such that individuals differ in the way they are generally expected to behave in sports situations.

[3] These elements may also cause conflict, as a person may desire to win more than to play in equity and fairness and thus resulting in a clash within the aspects of sportsmanship.

[5] Since every sport is rule-driven, the most common offence of bad sportsmanship is the act of cheating or breaking the rules to gain an unfair advantage; this is called unsportsmanlike conduct.

Not showing respect to the other team is considered as being a bad sportsman and could lead to demoralising effects; as Leslie Howe describes: "If a pitcher in baseball decides to pitch not to his maximum ability suggest that the batter is not at an adequate level, [it] could lead to the batter to have low self-confidence or worth.

Athletics, on the other hand, is essentially a competitive activity, which has for its end victory in the contest and which is characterized of dedication, sacrifice and intensity.

[6]: 3  Rudd and Stoll provide an example from 1995, when a U.S. high school athletic league banned the post-game handshake that was a part of sports such as football and basketball.

[13] Sportsmanship can be affected by contributing factors such as the players' values and attitudes towards the sport and also on professional role models.