Anaheim Basketball League Essay Winners - Summer 2006
Describe how you used the four pillars of character this season to display good sportsmanship.

Marc Catipay
1st Place, age group 5-6
I am now in my 3rd season playing basketball with YMCA. My parents told me that they see a lot of improvement on how I play the game. For me, it is not only on how I play that has improved. For this season, I now understand the true meaning of sportsmanship. Being on time for the weekly practice is my responsibility for this sport. Going to practice lets me play as a teamwork. I do feel bad and sad if we lose the game, but I just think that we need to practice more. Instead of feeling sad, I give high fives to the winning team for they deserve it and surely tried their best too. That for me is sportsmanship. With YMCA, I feel we are a big happy family playing the sport we all love!

Rockets team (Spencer Basham, Andrew Cisneros, Christopher Cypert, Anais Miranda, Maria Perez, Marcus Viramontes)
2nd Place, age group 5-6

Donovan Bosson
1st Place, age group 7-8
Anaheim YMCA has taught me a lot about how to be a better person and adult. In playing sports I have learned the responsibility of being part of a team. That I will have to show up so that the other kids are not disappointed because we don’t have enough people. I have learned to be honest about how good or bad I am at a skill and know that I must try harder. I will never tell a lie or a story about one of the other kids because we are all the same. I learned respect and caring from my coach. He always treats us with kindness even when we are not that good. He just tells us we are and it makes us want to be better. He takes his time to teach us things that nobody else takes the time to. I want to be good at basketball someday, but without the YMCA I wouldn’t ever get to play. They let me be me. And if I make a mistake, it’s not scary. I’ll just try harder.

Cassie Padilla
2nd Place, age group 7-8
We all like to be winners but never the losers and that can’t always happen. I used to get upset when we would be losing and stomp my feet and yell. But that got me nowhere but tired. By doing that, I wasn’t showing respect to my coach, team, and me. I needed to learn to be a more caring person, but that didn’t mean I had to be happy when we won or sad we lost. I needed to show that no matter what happened, I had to smile or I would have to punish myself to do lunges and squats. That would make me a more responsible player with a better attitude. I don’t want to grow up and be like the older kids that are in the same age group with my sister. Bad manners with the referees and players aren’t ways of being good sports. They need to be honest and think if they were playing the best they could or not. I would never want to be in a team with those kind of players.

Feby Boediarto
1st Place, age group 9-11
The season is almost over, but what a season it has been! I met so many great people, especially the coaches. I have terrific teammates, and shared an incredible time on the basketball court. Sportsmanship is another synonym for having a wonderful attitude. Using respect, responsibility, a caring attitude and honesty, sums up the whole word of “sportsmanship.” During this awesome season, I used the four pillars to guide me through great sportsmanship!!

Respect is used in life a lot and should be used a lot. Respect helped me achieve great sportsmanship by: 1) Giving my teammates the respect/compliment them if they gave a “wow” shot, or even if they just try. 2) I also show respect by just having fun on the court and be friendly with my peers. 3) I think everyone should respect anyone who is older than they are. I showed respect toward my coaches by listening to their directions and helping them whenever they needed something. In the end, the respect will come back to you. I hope anyone who comes into the next season uses this pillar wisely.

Responsibility makes sportsmanship easier. The way I used responsibility this season was acting mature and not acting immature or rude. Responsibility also means coming to the games and bringing the snacks when it’s their turn. Coming to all your games and being on time achieves a higher responsibility rate. They say the people who are mature and do the right things are the ones who have more fun in the right way!!

Caring! Everyone should care about other people. Everyone should care about whom they cherish and who cherishes them. Taking care of coaches, teammates, other teams and the basketball court makes great responsibility, respect, and honesty, which equals to great sportsmanship. See how the pillars all connect! I know that caring gives off extra points for sportsmanship and should be used often.

Honesty! Using honesty would get you very far in life. Being yourself also makes you an honest person and I know I showed that this season. I used honesty this season by being myself and not bragging when I won or gave up when I lost. I never met anyone on my team before, but it seems like I knew them for years. I think the thought came through my head because we were so honest and caring to each other.

There you have the four pillars and the cause I used for it. I really look forward to another season and using the four pillars again. Playing basketball is not about winning; it’s about having fun and trying your best. I hope the four pillars would guide anyone in life and in playing any sports as it helped me! Remember respect, responsibility, caring attitude and honesty makes the whole package for the word “sportsmanship!”

Jesse Foley
2nd Place, age group 9-11
The four pillars has helped me in my everyday life by keeping me remember things to do and by telling the truth when I have to. Honesty: By telling the truth so people will know I am a man of my word. Then I know people can count on me to do things, and just be there for them. Respect: To respect of others, their way of life and to know that we all are different, and that’s a good thing. Responsibility: To remember things that need to be done, without being told, just getting the job done. Caring: To care about others’ feelings and to help people with their problems, just being there for someone other than yourself. So all these four pillars don’t seem like a big deal, but it makes me who I am today. Now if we can just get the adults to live by them, maybe there wouldn’t be wars and so much hatred in the world today. Now that’s a thought!!!!

Francis Ang
1st Place, age group 12-14
The four pillars of character are respect, responsibility, caring, and honesty. They affect my sportsmanship by me applying these characteristics to my game and attitude. I use the four pillars to inspire myself to do my 100% every game so our team can win and to have fun. I feel the anxiety and adrenaline in my body to pump me up for the game.

I think that respect is the most important and essential trait to me because most people use it daily in their ongoing lives. I give respect for the other players because they give it back to me. I show respect on the court by not bragging when I win and not throwing tantrums when I lose. There is a saying, “If you want respect you have to earn it.” Respect is shown in all aspects; for example sports, families, jobs, and life.

Honest impacts my sportsmanship by driving me to not lying and cheating during games or anytime with my team. During games I agree that I committed the foul without arguing with the referees. When I miss practice I call my coach to tell him the truth why I’m not going to practice.

Responsibility aided me to display good sportsmanship by knowing what is right and wrong on the court. It told me not to get angry at the referees when they made bad calls and just let my coach do the arguing. My responsibility was to participate at the games or practices or to call my coach if I couldn’t make it, to bring the snacks on my day of the game, and to bring my basketball shoes and water. I used responsibility to play my part in my team and to listen to my coach to help me become a better player.

I used caring to display my sportsmanship by making a deal with myself to play with everything I got to show my team that I care. I wouldn’t want to show my team that I am a person that just cares about himself. I show caring by high fiving my teammates on an awesome job they did or what they need to do better to make our team succeed. I care because I love basketball.

When I see people without sportsmanship I say to myself “Remember the four pillars.” They will help you throughout your life and your causes. The YMCA has affected my life through the great values given from the great coaches I meet and talented players that I challenge.

Chris Gee
2nd Place, age group  12-14
Having good sportsmanship is very important for basketball and every other sport. Sportsmanship involved being a good sport, respecting coaches, players, and referees, and also being a good sport whether you win or lose.

Respect is a very big part of sportsmanship. I respect other players by not getting into fights with them during the game when they do something I don’t like. I also respect my teammates by not blaming them after the game when we lose, which has happened a lot this season. I also respect my coach by listening to him most of the time and trusting his judgments and listening to his advice. I also have to respect the referees by not arguing with them, but unfortunately I have done that a lot. I should not complain every time they miss a call because their job can be hard sometimes, and they’re only volunteers so I shouldn’t expect the best calls out of them.

Responsibility is also included in sportsmanship. I am responsible by doing all the things that I mentioned in respect. I also am responsible by showing up to games and practices, and contributing and helping out the team. I am also responsible by making sure everyone is doing what they are supposed to do, and if they are doing something wrong I give suggestions.

Caring is another character of sportsmanship. Caring is a character of sportsmanship because when someone gets hurt, it is important for me to support that person and care for him/her. I also care that my team wins so I try my best and contribute as much as I can in scoring, assists, rebounds, steals, etc. If a teammate does not care about winning, it affects all the players who want to win.

Honesty also plays a big role in sportsmanship. Honesty mostly involves the player and the referee. If you foul someone, you should be honest and admit that you fouled the person and not make excuses. Honesty is also admitting that the other team beat you, which I have a hard time with since I hate losing. Normally I blame the referee on their calls but you can’t do anything about it and most likely the other team didn’t get all of the calls they wanted.

That is how I used the four pillars this season.

Jonathan Ellis
1st Place, age group 15-17
The YMCA is all about sportsmanship. Sportsmanship is all about respect, responsibility, caring and honesty. These represent great traits that all athletes should have. This is the four pillars of character. I will talk about three great moments in the YMCA that displayed the pillars of character.

The first time I set foot in the Downtown Youth Center, it was evaluation day. It was my first time joining up so I was a little nervous and hesitant because I don’t feel comfortable around crowds. So I was waiting in line next to someone that I haven’t met before. He introduced himself; in time he happened to be my teammate. His name was Lucas. He was to play defense on me, but before that he wished me good luck. This is a perfect example of respect and caring. This incident taught me what the Y is all about.

Another moment in the Y was at game time. The ball was on our side of the court. A shot went up and missed, so I went up for the rebound and so did the other team. I hit the ball out of bounds, but it was hard to tell who hit the ball last. So the ref didn’t know either. So he questioned me. I told him the truth that I hit the ball out. He said thanks for the honesty, and the game continued seamlessly.

The last pillar that needs to be covered is responsibility. I go to as many games and practices that I can, even though I can’t make it all due to previous commitments. I try to get in as much basketball as possible.

This experience at the Y has been as memorable as it’s been fun. The pillars of character create stronger bonds at the Y and if you abide to the rules, it will be a great experience for all members of the YMCA.

Lucas Fetsch
2nd Place, age group 15-17
While I sat and thought about who I could choose that showed the most sportsmanship on my team, I realized that not one person on my team would qualify for that position. Choosing one player would be impossible, because each player shows sportsmanship in their own way. Each player followed the Y’s teaching and implemented the four pillars of character: caring, respect, honesty, and responsibility; into their life on and off the court.

A very important aspect of sportsmanship is being respectful. Fighting, cussing, and cheap shots are all very unsportsmanlike actions, but if you have respect for the other team this wouldn’t happen. After every game, win or lose, my whole team will congratulate the other team with high fives. To me, this is the ultimate act of sportsmanship.

Being honest is not always easy, but it is always the right thing. The refs have one of the hardest jobs out on the court, and complaining coaches and players don’t make it any easier. A player with integrity will inform the ref if he or she made a wrong call and do anything in his power to make it easier for them. Doing this is a great showing of your sportsmanship.

Usually players with high sportsmanship are leaders, and leaders need responsibility. Responsible players don’t blame their mistakes on other players or coaches. They step up to the challenges that are faced to them and overcome them. But, even though they are a leader, they know when to step down. They realize that it’s not their team, it’s the coach’s. If someone doesn’t understand something they help them out, let them know what they are doing wrong, and how they can fix it.

Although all of those are very important factors of sportsmanship, the most important would have to be pride. Every player on the court has to have pride for himself, his team, and the YMCA. Each player represents the Y, and if you are a bad sport then you will give the Y a bad image. A person with pride would never let this happen to something so important to him, thus making him a good sport.