Sportsmanship

Only one stop remains on the MHSAA "Battle of the Fans" tour. Friday is Snowcoming at Petoskey High, and the Blue Crew has the fifth and final shot at proving it's the top student cheering section in Michigan this winter.

Representatives from the Detroit, Lansing, Flint, Holland and Kalamazoo areas make up this year's group of MHSAA Class B Scholar-Athlete Award winners, announced Tuesday. They are the second of three groups to be recognized this year based on athletic, academic and comm...

Despite boasting one of the state’s largest high schools, Rockford has always taken pride in being something of a small-town community. Still, there are nearly 2,600 students in grades 9-12. But a hard-fought victory – like Friday’s one-point win over...

From the reaches of the Upper Peninsula to the southern border of the Lower, and Great Lakes coast to coast, this year's MHSAA Class C and D Scholar-Athlete Award winners were drawn from all over Michigan and brought a variety of athletic, academic and community outreac...

Representatives from the MHSAA and its Student Advistory Council took the "Battle of the Fans" tour to Rockford on Friday. And what did we find? Roughly 500 members of Ram Nation willing their team to a one-point win over rival Hudsonville.  Check back Tuesday aft...

I encourage every student to go out and cheer on your classmates. You will have more fun than you could ever imagine.

Everything about Reese is small – the dot on the map, the town itself, its population, its number of retail stores, the high school gym. But one thing looms large, especially for opponents stepping into the school’s gym this winter: the spirit of the Rowd...

For many high school hoops fans, halftime is a break – perhaps an opportunity to grab a pop or some popcorn, catch up with old friends, or at least take a seat and catch a breath. But for the Grand Rapids Christian student cheering section, it’s no time ...

The hometown Eagles hosted Freeland in a boys basketball game Saturday night. And a 250-student chicken dance broke out.

Five finalists -- Frankenmuth, Grand Rapids Christian, Petoskey, Reese and Rockford -- have been selected for the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s inaugural “Battle of the Fans,” which will recognize the top student cheering section from amo...

These are examples of the ugly side of competition.  While it’s not like the dark side of the moon that we on Earth never see, it’s a side seen more often than we’d like in sports. 

Here’s a piece from the Athletic Business Newswire (Aug. 19, 2010) that underscores the importance of our sportsmanship efforts.

We need to put our foot back on the gas pedal of good sportsmanship in this decade. It’s not corny; it’s not trite; it’s not trivial.  It’s essential to educational athletics.