Rivalry in Sports Needs to Stay On The Field

Through out the many years sports has been around, rivalries have formed, people have picked their teams, which is supposed to be fun and good natured but it has been taken over by hate and trash. It appears these days that athletes are more prone to showing their hate towards each other on social media than they are taking it out on each other in the actual game.

Twitter has played a large role in this behind the screen talk. Across the state we have many popular rivalries such as Olympus and Skyline, Alta and Corner Canyon, and one of the most popular, our very own rivalry with East. This year over social media, I noticed Twitter becoming a place where its okay to harass other and the more retweets and favorites the better for the bully. Athletes and even coaches engaged in belittling the opponents and showing off the property vandalizing. But, when push comes to shove it seems the talk on Twitter doesn’t compare to the walk in the game.

Not too long ago, Alta high school was attack by rival high school Corner Canyon. Students vandalized Alta’s campus and made it clear that the hate was still burning. It seems as if East painting over our H rock has become a very hate-filled tradition. Although many years have been unsuccessful, Highland students have been able to paint the E in front of East black. All of these cases of vandalizing ones property have only caused conflict, and in most cases serious conflict. Rivalry in supports is supposed to act as a great motivator for players, not a distraction from why they’re really playing the game.

A unique thing I have noticed with most sports teams and coaches at Highland is their ability to ignore the conflict and focus on what matters most, the game. Football coach Brody Benson is one of many that focuses on the game, not the talk. Over the years Benson has almost acted oblivious to the tensions outside the game to act as an example to his players of what matters the most.

“I’ve always been like that; you can sit there and tell people what you can do, or you can go and work to show people what you can do,” Benson said. “I think the process and the work is more important than getting online and talking about somebody.”

Many athletes lack this state of mind, and many have even been influenced by their coaches who lack this state of mind. As Benson and many athletes have stated, athletes should perform the same whether they are playing a team that is 9-0 or 0-9. As fun as it might be to sit behind a computer screen and say things for reactions, many don’t realize in reality you are wasting your time and the time of others.

I stand strong next to my belief that an athletes can have two types of talents, the talent to perform and the talent to inform. Many Highland athletes show their teammates what appropriate behavior is in and out of the game, as all athletes should. Informing one another that talking is a lot less effective than working to become better with your team during practice. It’s almost like talking trash with out repercussion has become a trend.

Rivalries are supposed to bring communities together and show the athletes that they are supported. The idea of a positive rivalry has almost disappeared in todays society. Athletes and coaches should’t be fearing their well being the week of the rivalry game.

Coaches need to be examples to their athletes. The coaches at Highland are a great example of the saying, “get your head in the game.” Sportsmanship can’t be talking about, it has to be modeled. On the athlete side, it should be known as well as knowing how to play the game.