Altitude determines attitude

In my spare time, I like to referee high school basketball games. It’s my way of giving back to the sport and remaining updated with the various trends and attitudes exemplified by contemporary young athletes. One disturbing trend that came to my notice this past season was that over the span of the 30 or more games I officiated, I didn’t observe (with the possible exception of a pre-game captains’ conference) a single positive interaction between members of opposing teams. Players were so completely focused on the big game and desire to win, that there was no question of camaraderie, let alone utilising the opportunity to make new friends. Admittedly this doesn’t bother most people as much as it bothers me. The dominant sentiment seems to be that positive feelings towards opponents and competitiveness cannot co-exist on the same playing field. Genext youth are being schooled to believe that the only purpose of entering the sports arena is to win — and to defeat the opposition. However, I think this is a dangerous attitude to encourage. It leads to unsavoury incidents like when a young, female Hispanic basketball player was heckled from the stands with comments like, “Go back to Mexico!” There is a saying often featured on motivational posters that says: “Your attitude determines your altitude.” In other words, a positive attitude is the pre-requisite of upward mobility. But I believe the reverse is also true: “A negative attitude pulls you down.” This applies to sports as well as to life. The attitudes we exhibit towards others help us rise or fall. For example, which attitude do you believe will serve your child best in the long run? The attitude that sport is a battlefield dominated by warriors in which opponents are enemies to be defeated, or that sport is a cooperative endeavour in which the goal of all players is to bring out the best in themselves to create a composition (and competition) of the highest level? Despite the intense competition we witness daily, I firmly believe it is the latter that will better prepare young people to contribute and reap the fruits of success. In corporate and adult life, we are repeatedly reminded of leaders who are successful because they are great team players, practice inclusion and work with diverse people. Moreover latterly, there is greater appreciation of “co-opetition” in corporate America through companies who partner with each other in one business arena and compete in others. Another of my observations as a basketball referee is that players usually mirror the attitudes of adults around them. Invariably if a coach is a whiner, his or her players are whiners as well. If the coach is an aggressive, in-your-face individual, the players exhibit the same aggressive brusqueness in their style of play. Given the impressionable stage of young athletes, the adults they interact with greatly impact their attitude and behaviour — on and off the field. If, as a referee, I am the target of verbal abuse from adults in…