TEAMMATES: Friend or Foe?

[triptwister]

Being a good teammate is about sportsmanship. Its about putting others first. Its about friendship. You are your teammate's advocate and cheerleader. You arm yourself with encouragement and high fives.

Are you the Most Valuable Player because you score high in competitions or in workouts?

You see, it is said that if you surround yourself with success then it rubs off on you so that helping others succeed helps you succeed. If you help make winners in your gym then they will help you win too.

My question is:

What do you do in the gym and everywhere else that makes you the most valuable player on the team?

 

[fishchimes]

So I guess since I sometimes want to strangle a couple of my teammates, there's a bit of a problem

To answer your question, I don't really know if I'd call myself the most valuable player. I try to treat annoying people nicely even though my mind is going in a different direction and I try not to cheat on conditioning and I don't complain. Hopefully that counts for something xD

 

[triptwister]

You might have heard that before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes...



[YOUTUBE]tJzvQkcVTe4[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]lOIUZlj0Qjs[/YOUTUBE]

 

[gymnut1]

oh I love Arthur!

 

[gymjourneymom]

My kids think they are all too old for Authur anymore. I miss watching Authur & Little Bear & Franklin with them. They grow up soooo fast!!!

 

[MdGymMom01]

I remember watching Arthur and all those shows too with my kids!

 

[All Chalked Up]

Not complaining takes you a long way with coaches and teamates. Being nice is great, and not cheating during conditioning. I think everyone who does these things are ALL Most Valuable Players!

 

[gymmomntc2e6]

well, I am not a gymnast but my DD is. If you say it is by the highest scores then she is not the MVP by a long shot. She scores decent, but she has some talented teammates that outscore her and sometimes none of her event scores count towards the team total.

But..... She always cheers for her teammates, even if they are her direct competition (age group & level). Hugs them and cheers them up if they have a bad event or meet and is genuinely happy for them when the win( or even just do better than her ) and she does not.

I may be biased as her mom, but I would say it counts for a lot.

 

[fishchimes]

I despise Arthur. He ruined my life (I'm not even kidding, I got so traumatized by an episode when I was 7 I had SAD for 4 years).

I know it sounds like I'm kidding, but I'm not. I'm completely serious.

 

[mariposa]

Sadly, I have to say that it is usually the parents I really wonder about and the ones that truly can make the difference whether a teammate is friend or foe.. I had a dad tell me once, "(Insert name here) almost beat your daughter today!! She is getting closer." I was thinking, seriously?? I don't see things that way, so it was quite an eye opener. The spreadsheets ready to write down every girls score should have given me a clue, but yikes! And at my DDs old gym, one of the moms told my DDs best friend "My girls know that your daughter is the one to beat. They are trying to beat her at meets!" And these girls are all on the same TEAM. Very sad.

That said, I have to say that I am very proud of my daughter as a teammate. She is always excited when someone gets a new skill, even if she is struggling with it, car rides home often include a story of how someone got X skill and she sounds just as excited as if it was her! She is usually the first kid to run over to someone when they are hurt and go get an ice pack. At meets, she will tell someone who got a low score or had a fall all about how she has done it too, not to worry, it happens, etc. Her HC even commented to me about it once at a meet. I was very proud.

My DD may not be the best gymnast, but I think she is a great kid and a friend for sure.

 

[CoachGoofy]

I've had some MVPs lately. Not necessarily in terms of score (being a great gymnast is nice. Being a great person is better), but in terms of being the kind of athlete everyone wants to coach.

I've had conditioning enthusiasts. The ones who convince everyone that getting strong is so much fun. I've had the pep-talk givers, for when I'm the LAST person a frustrated kid wants to talk to. I had a whole group of vocal teammate supporters. I had the one who was truly happy for her teammates when they made state, even though she missed it by 0.3. I had the Little Engine That Could. I had the superstrong supercoordinated obviously talented girl cheering for a teammate to beat her score on a leg lift test.

I have the girls who encourage each other through fears and frustrations and soreness and just bad days. These athletes are all MVPs to me.