SquashTalk> Columns> The Spin > Sportsmanship in Squash and Basketball [last update was 4-jun-09 ]

Sportsmanship:

... the squash selling point ...

Basketball's Greatest Star Makes their sport look bad © 2009 SquashTalk.com
by Ron Beck (Ron Beck is the editor of SquashTalk and spent five years on the WPSA pro tour)

Nicol David congratulates Vanessa Atkinson in Rye, NY

SQUASH STANDS TALL FOR SPORTSMANSHIP

One of the many well-kept secrets of squash is the proud tradition of sportsmanship in squash at each and every level of the game.

This was brought out to me glaringly here in the US with the recent sad and sordid story of Cleveland basketball star, and face of the sport and of Nike, LeBron James who has exhibited very clearly in the world media spotlight that he has little to no concept of what sportsmanship is all about.  As he and his Cleveland Cavaliers went down in an upset-defeat to the team-centric Orlando Magic, he punctuated the loss by refusing to shake hands with his opposition on their loss (in front of a national audience) and furthermore refusing to talk to the press. When he did show up to talk to the press the following day he stated (and I paraphrase), “I’m not about shaking hands with my opponents.  I am about winning not about congratulating the team that beat me.”  (The commissioner of the NBA now want to meet with James about the image problem he is creating for the sport.)

Contrast that to squash.  Time and time again we have seen the top protagonists in the world, in many cases who don’t care for each other, fight down to the last point in the confining space of a squash court, and then at a minimum, warmly shaking hands, and often even embracing or smiling at each other.  Jonathon Power and Peter Nicol and David Palmer, who played out an intriguing three way rivalry for a decade, fought each and every point hard, jostled for court position, and verbally jostled with the referees.  But when the match was over, these hard competitors never failed to convincingly shake hands, but furthermore often followed that up at the microphone by congratulating the opponent.

Squash is a wonderful sport in that way – one in which the players almost always have the perspective to understand that they will live to play another day, often against the very same opponent sharing the very same small space, and that a firm grounding in mutual respect and honor is important to make that happen.

Not only at the pro level.  The smallest juniors learn right away that the handshake at the end of the game (and sometimes at the beginning too) is important.  And the highly competitive collegiate teams bury their disappointment in their handshake and honoring of their opponent.

Almost without exception, the coaches who teach each generation of competitors how to compete, are the steadfast guardian of this fine element of squash.

A few that I have come across come to mind.  Like Al Molloy from U Penn, who was in charge of some of the toughest competitors of the game, but always insisted on the letter of the law as far as sportsmanship is concerned.  Dave Talbott from Yale, who has always had perspective on that, in times of team frustration.  Malcolm Willstrop, whose players always seem to exemplify the concept. The coaches and advisor who made Amr Shabana the fine example of sportsmanship that he is.  And of course many more - they are all about the world in our sport.

We are taught that sports is about more than winning and losing – it is about embracing and internalizing harder concepts such as sportsmanship.  

In that sense, Squash must be the most compelling candidate for the Oympics that can be envisioned.

The sad story is that selfish and self serving histrionics on the part of media-icons such as LeBron James are seen by half the world, and then serve as the object lesson learned by a generation of eleven year old aspiring athletes, while squash, with its terrific ethics and competitive purity, labors in relative obscurity, still waiting patiently for the IOC to open the door.  And yes, basketball IS in the Olympics and yes, LeBron James will be the big star.